Local Project Coordinator - Équateur Province, DRC for Gender Outcomes in Jurisd

Local Project Coordinator - Équateur Province, DRC for Gender Outcomes in Jurisdictional REDD+ Program

Term: Full time, initial term 1 year
Location: Équateur Province, DRC (Work a min of 4 overlapping hours with the North America Central time zone)

Company Summary

Founded in 2006, Terra Global is a woman-founded, woman-run for-profit social enterprise, and small business. Terra Global's mission is to attract private sector capital to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to produce significant climate change mitigation, community and biodiversity benefits. Terra Global is an industry leader in NbS program development, land-use greenhouse gas and impact quantification, and climate asset creation, with experience in 40 countries at project and jurisdictional scales. Terra Global is the only company with end-to-end knowledge of carbon development and climate finance transactions. We deliver proven expertise working on-the-ground with local partners, while leveraging financial and transaction structuring expertise to equitably balance risk and return between Investors and Investees.

Project Background

The Integrating Gender Outcomes-Based Financing into a JREDD+ Program in Équateur Province, DRC grant is piloting an innovative model that integrates verified gender impact outcomes into a Jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD+) Program in the Équateur Province, DRC and seeking to attract outcome-based finance that complements climate finance. While JREDD+ programs are effective at mobilizing climate finance to reduce deforestation, they do not explicitly measure or fund women’s contributions or activities that benefit women, despite women being central actors in forest conservation and community livelihoods. In the Équateur Province, forest-dependent communities manage extensive forest areas through Community Forest Concessions (CFCLs). Within these systems, women play a critical role in subsistence agriculture and fuelwood, and Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) collection. However, they face persistent structural barriers, including limited access to income-generating opportunities, restricted control over assets, exclusion from decision-making processes, and disproportionate unpaid labor burdens. These factors limit the effectiveness and durability of forest conservation efforts. Inclusive, equitable programs improve compliance, reduce conflict, and bolster environmental outcomes. Despite this, existing REDD+ financing channels often do not explicitly recognize the important role women play in forest conservation.
This pilot aims to address that gap by designing a Gender Based Outcome Finance Program embedded within a JREDD+ Program, using the W+ Standard[1] to define, measure, and verify outcomes across key domains related to women’s empowerment (access to income and assets, time savings, and leadership). The pilot will design a Gender Based Program that benefits approximately 4,556 women across 28 villages in five CFCLs, covering over 115,000 hectares of threatened forest area. This pilot will be co-designed with local partners and beneficiaries through participatory consultations, Theory of Change (TOC) workshops, and capacity building sessions.
Outcomes for the 12-month grant period include:

• Conduct community consultation with gender focus.
• Design Gender-focused activities through a participatory process.
• Define baseline for gender outcomes under the W+ Standard.
• Develop the Monitoring plan in accordance with the W+ Standard.
• Develop the W+ Project Description Document (PDD).
• Pilot the demand for Gender Based Outcome Finance.

Responsibilities

The Local Project Coordinator will provide technical support and coordination for the engagement with Concessions Forestières des Communautés Locales (Local Community Forest Concessions-CFCLs). This will be overseeing and supporting the implementation partners (CFCL operators) to design gender focused activities, collect field data and implement activities to meet W+ Standard requirements. This role will lead the coordination between the Terra Global (International team), implementing partners, and the project participants (CFCLs) in the Équateur Province.
The main activities to be implemented by the Local Project Coordinator will include but are not limited to the following:

Coordinate Field Activities

1. Lead coordination with all local implementation partners, communities, and government stakeholders so that key project activities are implemented on schedule and under budget.
2. Lead and facilitate participatory consultation sessions with communities and partners to gather inputs and feedback and process those inputs in project plans, Theory of Change (TOC) documentation, and other project deliverables.
3. Facilitate inclusive sessions in which women and other under-represented groups can meaningfully participate.
4. Document in-field activities to demonstrate results of engagement processes and FPIC
5. Support data collection to define the baseline conditions for gender outcomes in the project areas.
6. Serve as the day-to-day point of contact person between Terra Global and local partners. Assess and communicate risks, delays, and partner needs to the Terra Global International team in a timely manner.

Coordinate Office-based Activities

Support and act as a liaison for Terra Global and the project including:

1. Support all partners to follow best practice communication with Terra Global, including scheduling weekly calls and meetings.
2. Contribute to sections of technical reports, including the W+ Standard Project Description Document (PDD).
3. Support fiscal management procedures for the Équateur Province W+ Pilot.
4. Support the procurement of goods for local partners and participants.
5. Support translation for the international team both remotely and in country (French, local language(s), and English).
6. Ensure consistent and timely flow of information and data from the field to the Terra Global International team.
7. Engage with the provincial and national government and identify governmental focal points within relevant agencies for the success of the Project.

Gender-Focused Programming

1. Provide gender-specific expertise to design gender-sensitive and gender-focused initiatives, in collaboration with partners and communities.
2. Help partners and communities identify opportunities and barriers for women in the project context, and reflect these in activity design.
3. Support the identification and documentation of women’s empowerment outcomes consistent with W+ Standard requirements.

Lead Monitoring Data Collection

Work closely with the local partners and local communities, lead field activities to gather, organize and store field-based data for monitoring the Project. These monitoring data needs tasks include:

1. Collect and report operational data on project activities, using templates and methods required under the grant, W+ Standard, and Terra Global.
2. Maintain organized, accurate records of activities, participants, site visits, and meetings.
3. Prepare regular progress updates and field reports for Terra Global and to fulfill grant reporting requirements.

Secondary Responsibilities: Jurisdictional REDD+ Program Support

The LPC will also support the associated jurisdictional REDD+ Program, which is under development. Time spent on this work is secondary to the W+ pilot. The tasks are as follow:

1. Collaborate with partners and stakeholders on key REDD+ deliverables, including work plans, budgets, and assessments.
2. Carry out other field work for the REDD+ Program as required.
3. Share field insights between the W+ Pilot and the REDD+ Program to ensure the two are aligned.

Qualifications

Required

• DRC national, based in Équateur Province, with knowledge of forest management and the ability to travel frequently to remote rural areas
• Minimum 5 years of work experience in program management and monitoring, including coordination of multiple partners and activities, natural resource management and/or REDD+ projects

Expertise in gender and/or community development work in DRC or a similar context

• Fluency in Lingala, French and English, with strong verbal and written communication skills
• Home-based is in Équateur Province
• Proficiency with MS Office programs, especially Excel and Word
• Experience on drafting progress and monitoring reports
• Familiarity with mobile-based monitoring tools and smartphone applications for field data collection (Kobo, SMART, Survey123 or others)
• Experience in capacity building, facilitation, and promoting adoption of tools and practices at the community level
• Demonstrated success in building strong relationships with government institutions, community organizations, and local stakeholders
• Able to work independently and self-manage deadlines and deliverables
• Exceptional verbal/written communication skills, especially working across cultures
• Access to regular electricity and internet (as is reasonable within DRC’s infrastructure)
• Ability to travel extensively throughout the province and spend 1-2 weeks per month in the field.
• Valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle or motorbike suitable for fieldwork (travel costs will be reimbursed per Terra’s travel policies)
• Interpersonal Skills:
  • Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build trust with women, communities, government officials, and implementation partners.
  • Cultural sensitivity, humility, and respect for local knowledge and customs.
  • Excellent facilitation and active-listening skills, including with underrepresented groups.
  • Diplomacy and sound judgment when navigating competing priorities or sensitive issues.
  • Collaborative working style across field-based and international teams.
  • Strong organization, adaptability, initiative, and practical problem-solving.
  • Ability to communicate complex information clearly to technical and nontechnical audiences.
  • Commitment to confidentiality, safeguarding, inclusion, and ethical conduct.

Desirable

• Demonstrated and successful past performance building relationships and negotiating with governmental authorities (local, regional and national), non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
• Experience implementing community-based projects in field settings, including with local governance structures
• Comfortable working across cultures and maintaining professional relationships with diverse partners

Accepting resumes until position is filled. Compensation will be basis on local rates for similar positions. Interested Applicants can apply in the following link

Originally posted on Himalayas