Project Officer – MEL and Project Administration

Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) is an international NGO that supports indigenous and forest peoples to assert their rights to control and manage their territories and forests.

We work with forest peoples in South and Central America, Africa, and Asia, to help them secure their rights, build up their own organisations and negotiate with governments and companies to ensure that any economic and conservation activities on their lands respect their rights to self-determination. For more information see  www.forestpeoples.org. 

FPP is made up of more than 50 dedicated and diverse staff from around the globe, all committed to working together with forest peoples, allies and partners. Within FPP, you will have the opportunity to input into multiple projects and ideas through regular knowledge exchange with other staff and partners, and a passion for working with people from many and varied backgrounds is essential.

The role

The MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) and Admin Officer will be responsible for assisting the “Transformative Pathways” project team with the administrative management of the project and the implementation of its MEL framework. She/he will work with technical staff to oversee tools for data collection, storage, and analysis and will contribute to annual reporting to the donor. On the administrative side, support will be provided to project Finance Officer and Project Manager to ensure timely implementation of administrative and finance procedures and general coordination within the consortium.

“Transformative Pathways” project is expected to start in June 2022. The project will support improved conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity by ensuring that the contributions of Indigenous peoples and local communities are better recognised, supported, and expanded, including in the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. It will be implemented by a consortium of 13 organisations, a majority of whom are Indigenous peoples’ organisations, from across 5 countries. The project directly supports local initiatives for self-determined land and resource governance, producing sited, local, positive biodiversity and cultural outcomes, and co-development of community- owned monitoring frameworks to present evidence and demonstrate outcomes.

This post is guided by FPP’s core principle of peoples’ right to self-determination.

Duties and Key Responsibilities

Admin support

1. Contribute to development and tracking of the project’s work plans and calendar with key dates, deliverables and actions.
2. Assist in preparation of team meetings, including agenda drafting, note-taking, and monitoring of follow-up points. 
3. Support the project team with communication with project partners, e.g. sharing relevant information and news; developing partnership agreements and getting signatures and transactions in place; supporting partners to develop their workplans, budgets, narrative and financial reports.
4. Assist with the compilation and drafting of overall work plans and reporting to the donor.
5. Assist in planning, preparation and organising of project-related events, workshops or meetings, working closely with FPP’s admin/logistics, finance, and comms teams.
6. Liaise with FPP staff and partners to ensure that monthly timesheets are completed.

MEL support

1. Assist partners in the development and monitoring of MEL plans
2. Support the development of tools and templates for data collection and analysis, and partner reporting templates
3. Communicate regularly with consortium partners to follow-up on MEL plans and activities
4. Analyse relevant data on project indicators for reporting including visual presentation of findings where needed
5. Combine data from multiple files or collate information when needed
6. Support MEL-related training for partners or project team when needed
7. Maintain complete and accurate monitoring, evaluation and learning files
8. Possibly accompany the project team on international trips and meetings to lend a hand where needed.
9. Participate in FPP meetings and staff sharings.

Finance Support

1. Facilitate the partner Fund Request Process, sending out timely reminders and collating responses to ensure a smooth process
2. Gather and organise partner supporting documentation in a logical manner, ready for review and audit

Skills and Experience

1. Ability to work effectively as part of a multi-cultural, dispersed team of FPP staff and partners to achieve shared objectives.
2. Proven communications and writing skills, with sensitivity for other cultural norms.
3. Experience with MEL work (essential) and project management and/or implementation.
4. Ability to deal with sometimes hectic and stressful peak periods around key events or launches of publications.
5. Ability and willingness to travel.
6. Proven skills in analysing and condensing down large volumes of information into concise summary documents/reports.
7. Experience in working directly with indigenous and forest-dependent peoples’ organisations and communities is highly desirable.
8. Knowledge of Spanish is desirable.
9. Strong alignment with FPP’s values and principles.

Terms

• Salary range: £28,000 - £32,000 gross/year depending on qualifications and experience
• Permanent full time contract (split into 2 part-time positions may be possible for right candidates)
• Location: Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, UK (remote working would be considered for the right UK based candidate, with the provision of visiting the office (at your own expense) as needed
• Benefits include:
  • 25 days leave per year pro rata, plus all public holidays and the days between Christmas and New Year when the office is closed.
• Reporting to: “Transformative Pathways” Project Manager

To apply for this post

Submit a CV and covering letter to info@forestpeoples.org with your name and Project Officer – MEL and project administration in the subject line.

Closing date for applications: 25th May 2022

Interviews tentatively: early June 2022