Careers Vacancy

Inclusive Development Activity for Mission Support (IDAMS) Program Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION

Inclusive Development Activity for Mission Support (IDAMS) Program Manager

Location:  Remote working

Reporting to: FSC-IF Managing Director

Work Percentage: 100%

BACKGROUND

Organization description

In 2019, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) established the FSC Indigenous Foundation (FSC IF) as the operational office for the Permanent Indigenous Peoples’ Committee (PIPC).  FSC IF is a private interest foundation pursuant to Law No. 25 of June 12, 1995 of the Republic of Panama. The mission of the FSC IF is to unlock the enabling environment to secure Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and promote sustainable forest-based solutions within 300 million hectares of Indigenous forests on the planet. The vision is that the global values of Indigenous Peoples, their rights, livelihoods, ecosystem services, natural capital, and territories are recognized and incorporated into forest governance, climate change governance, and market systems.

The FSC Indigenous Foundation brings together public and private sectors as well as CSOs and other stakeholders to integrate collaborative efforts toward incorporating and recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ rights and their livelihoods, ecosystem services, natural capital, and territories into national governance decision-making processes, climate finance and funding mechanisms, and market systems.

FSC IF Mission:

We work to elevate Indigenous Peoples in their contribution to the protection of Mother Earth and recognize them as providers of solutions to global challenges.

FSC IF Vision:

We envision a future where Indigenous-based solutions and Indigenous-led actions generated within one quarter of the Planet safeguard everyone’s future and Mother Earth.

FSC IF Governing Principles:

RESPECT AND RECOGNITION: Our actions respect and recognize the cultural, spiritual, traditional, identity, and landscape diversities and customary rights for self- determined development of indigenous peoples and communities.

TRUST: We drive our actions and partnerships by commitment to trust- building and adopting long-term reciprocal, transparent, accountable, and shared values guided by our ancestors and traditions.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: We promote diversity and inclusion in all interactions and across all aspects of our organization. We use our Indigenous cosmovision and practices to prevent any type of racism, discrimination, violence or oppression.

EQUITY: We promote and value actions and efforts to produce more equitable, diverse, and inclusive results and collective benefit-sharing with equal balance and respect to cultural, gender, ecological, and traditional diversities.

We are committed to work driven by our mission of being guided by and supporting Indigenous Peoples’ values of:

Respect for Mother Earth – Managing our lands, waters, and ecosystems with great respect to nature and care by recognizing that we only borrow them from future generations.

Respect for ancestral knowledge – Keeping our promises to our ancestors to manage nature and the resources provided by the Mother Earth in a sustainable and respectful way.

Inclusive Development Activity for Mission Support (IDAMS)

The purpose of the Inclusive Development Activity for Mission Support Task Order is to provide the USAID Bureau of Development, Democracy and Innovation/ Inclusive Development Hub and USAID field missions with technical and advisory services for research, evaluation, and learning activities worldwide, at the Mission, bureau, and Agency-wide levels.

Through this five-year, $19 million activity, a consortium of organizations (including FSC-IF, Making Cents, Mathematica, Management Systems International (MSI), and UNC-Chapel Hill Global Social Development Innovations, Center for Victims of Torture) will help USAID in assessing the needs of, engaging with, and supporting the priorities of marginalized and underrepresented groups around the world. Each member of the consortium has expertise working with a different vulnerable or marginalized group, the FSC Indigenous Foundation with Indigenous Peoples.

The consortium will work closely with USAID’s Inclusive Development Hub to support Missions and Operating Units to conduct inclusive development analyses, provide technical assistance to help USAID include the voices of vulnerable populations in project design, and build the knowledge base around inclusive development through monitoring, evaluation, research, and knowledge management.

The activity seeks to improve overall development progress through promoting greater local ownership and consideration of the needs of all people, including the most marginalized and vulnerable.

More specifically, IDAMS objective are to:

  • Increase Agency capacity to pursue an inclusive development approach through expanding knowledge of the needs of marginalized and underrepresented groups and/or people in vulnerable situations (MUGPVs) and inclusive development topics
  • Reduce the barriers to developing and managing inclusive development projects, such as integration of inclusive development principles and efforts into broad development activities
  • Expand the general knowledge base of programming for MUGPVs

The consortium will work with Missions and Operating Units in three components:

  • Component 1: Analyses to further inclusive development
  • Component 2: Technical assistance
  • Component 3: Monitoring, evaluation, focused research, and knowledge management

OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION

The FSC-IF seeks a strategic and results-driven IDAMS Program Manager who will lead, coordinate and implement IDAMS activities in Programs across the three components listed above.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Component 1: Analyses to further inclusive development

  • Provide information to USAID Missions and Operating Units (OUs) on how to include Indigenous Peoples to deepen and sustain program impact and improve development outcomes
  • Create frameworks to identify opportunities that exist when Indigenous Peoples are included in the design process
  • Identify local knowledge that can be incorporated into programs
  • Determine whether it is feasible to partner with Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and how such partnerships could work
  • Examine how programming will affect Indigenous Peoples, both positively or adversely

Component 2: Technical assistance

  • Support Missions and OUs to implement co-creation processes that include active participation from Indigenous Peoples
  • Assist Missions and OUs with project design and/or activity amendment documents that incorporate recommendations from inclusive development analyses and evaluations
  • Ensure that Indigenous Peoples have a voice in the design and implementation of development activities and projects

Component 3: Monitoring, evaluation, focused research, and knowledge management

  • Assist the Inclusive Development Hub with: scoping, designing and implementing quantitative and qualitative evaluation studies and assessments; conducting evaluation syntheses or synthetic reviews; providing technical assistance in performance monitoring; providing monitoring services, developing and delivering evaluation and monitoring training
  • Support the Inclusive Development Hub in learning from evidence to adapt programming; and support implementation of knowledge management practices and services
  • Assist in fulfilling discrete research and data requests from the ID Hub
  • Assist the ID Hub with collating, updating, and convening repositories of best practices and technical knowledge around Indigenous Peoples

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience with Indigenous Peoples issues, preferably field experience working or living with an Indigenous community. Being a member of an Indigenous community would be a plus.
  • Experience overseeing and managing teams and programs funded by USAID or other similar donor.
  • At least a master’s level degree in environmental science, policy, business administration, economic development, international development studies, or related areas.
  • Experience in projects with deep knowledge of local community and community landscapes with knowledge of/experience working with key organizations relevant to international development, environment, and Indigenous Peoples.
  • Demonstrated experience providing analysis to improve development outcomes and include vulnerable or marginalized groups.
  • Demonstrated experience providing technical support to projects to include marginalized groups as active participants in all phases of the project cycle.
  • Demonstrated experience in monitoring, evaluation, learning and knowledge management, especially as it relates to inclusive development.
  • Demonstrated experience and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and sustainable development.
  • Demonstrated supervisory experience and ability to motivate team members in multidisciplinary technical, programmatic, and operational settings.
  • Strong oral and written communication, presentation, and negotiation skills in English and either Spanish or French.
  • Ability to respond adequately and efficiently to pressure, meeting deadlines with delivery of exceptional products.
  • Candidates deeply familiar with Indigenous Peoples culture and communities or a native member of an Indigenous People would be a plus.

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit by May 12, 2023 (close of business – 5pm, Panama) to  recruitment.fscif@fsc.org 

  • CV
  • Cover letter (two page maximum) including salary proposal and two professional references.