Project Manager

Job description

WeForest

WeForest is a fast-growing international non-profit organisation headquartered in Belgium and with current projects in Brazil, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Senegal and Zambia. The mission of the organisation is to advance innovative, scalable and lasting solutions to restore forest and landscapes for climate, people and planet. We promote scientific evidence for the ways in which forests contribute to climate change mitigation, beyond their impacts as stocks of carbon, by increasing water availability, enhancing local biodiversity conservation and rural livelihood and resilience.

WeForest has been working with the Katanino Forest Trust to implement improved forest management practices in the Forest Reserve and to catalyse green economic development with communities living in the buffer zone. This project is now transitioning into a monitoring and evaluation phase. The Project Manager is an important role responsible for managing this transition, ensuring that lessons are captured, and that local institutions can sustainably take over activities.

WeForest intends to scale-up our programming in Masaiti District, and has conducted some early stage project scoping on an exciting opportunity to build on the lessons learnt from the Katanino Project. The Project Manager would provide leadership on this new project development.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Project management, coordination and monitoring & evaluation

1.       Deliver on-time, and on-budget, the Katanino Forest Reserve restoration project

2.       Oversee planning, budgeting and project implementation

3.       Liaise with local, district and national authorities on forest restoration and conservation as required

4.       Engage with forest-dependent communities and implement forest friendly livelihoods

Efficient and effective communication with WeForest HQ, Project staff, local communities, Forestry Department and other relevant stakeholders
Efficient and transparent weekly and quarterly reporting to WeForest Zambia Country Director
Technical leadership

Lead socio-economic and ecological resource assessments and monitoring in the project area.
Coordinate with the District Forestry Office, forest restoration activities in Katanino Forest Reserve.
Coordinate with the District Forestry Office, the activities of Village Resource Management Committees (VRMCs) and the Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) of the Katanino Forest Trust.
Coordinate with the JFMC, the activities of registered Cooperatives under the Katanino Forest Trust
5.       Advise and supervise nursery performance and tree planting/ANR activities

6.       Advise and supervise beekeeping, agroforestry and conservation agriculture  activities in the buffer zone

In consultation with communities, Forestry Department and local/national/international businesses, oversee value-chain development for non-timber forest products (including beekeeping and mushroom production)
Facilitate the development, validation and adoption of a Forest Management Plan for Katanino
Lead the local team to excellent programme management, performance and M&E
In close collaboration with the Human Resource Manager, recruit and develop capacity of local team
Organise training for farmers in crop and animal production in collaboration with Government Departments at the district level.
Oversee the development of income generation activities for Katanino Forest Trust to support the implementation of the Forest Management Plan.
Programme development

Lead the operational development of additional forest landscape restoration projects in Masaiti District, in collaboration with technical advisers
If and when required, assist in grant writing to boost the programme
CANDIDATE PROFILE

Essential:

An M.Sc., or equivalent experience in, Forestry, Forest ecology and conservation, Economics, Rural development, Agro-ecology or equivalent
Fluent in English (both speaking and writing)
Minimum 3 years’ relevant experience in community-based forest restoration, management and conservation in a developing country, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa. Experience in Collaborative Partnership Management will be an added advantage .
Demonstrable experience of developing livelihood value chains in collaboration with small-scale farmers, communities and business
Excellent in project management, coordination, training, reporting and communication skills
Flexible in terms of traveling and living conditions
Excellent team player
Ability to develop and manage complex budgets and financial reporting
Experience in developing log frames and work plans and delivering projects against milestones and targets
Ability to use and understand GIS
All academic and professional certificates should be certified by the Zambia Qualification Authority (ZAQA)
A valid practising certificate from a relevant professional body

Desirable:

Knowledge of Lamba/Bemba
Track record with gender-sensitive participatory, governance and inclusion approaches
Track record in grant applications
Track record in writing scientific articles

TASKS

Implement best practices in day to day management of the project activities
Demonstrate leadership and show own initiative
Coordinate and assist the staff under your responsibility
Ensure training and extensionist services towards farmers are up to standards and timely.
Technical advisor ensuring a good partnership with all stakeholders to guarantee project outputs
Ensure collection of quality quantitative & qualitative field data (socio-economic data, forest inventory/vegetation survey, GPS coordinates, etc.)
Facilitate consultancies, project visits and other services on behalf of WeForest/ third parties for scientific studies & analysis.
Appropriate and frequent reporting in full transparency and integrity, being coachable for improvement
Not engaging the organization legally or financially without prior authorisation of the Country Director.
Handling internal information and data as confidential
Ensure a safe working environment for WeForest Staff, local community and other stakeholders as well as the organisation’s assets.

Terms & Conditions

Position: Full-time employee, 5 or 5.5 days per week.

Base: at Katanino Forest Camp, Masaiti District, Copperbelt, Zambia

Start date: As soon as possible, preferably by 5th of August 2025

Package: Competitive package for a small organization, level 4 salary

Interested?

Please send applications to recruitment.zambia@weforest.org with your CV, a motivation letter, and 2 recent references by 18th July 2025.

Make sure to mention the job title in the subject of the email, and to indicate where you saw the job post. In your motivation letter, we would love to read about what makes you interested to work with WeForest.

Due to the anticipated high number of applicants, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We thank you in advance for your interest.