Position Title: Program Officer

Reports to: Freshwater Program Manager

Location: Tunis

Date : December 2022

1 MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT

Freshwater is an essential resource for people and nature. Healthy rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers and glaciers don’t just supply safe drinking water, they also support agriculture, hydropower, flood mitigation, and transportation of goods across the globe. Pressures from agriculture, dam building and climate change, together with poor governance, mean that water is becoming scarce, freshwater systems are polluted and freshwater biodiversity is declining rapidly.

To safeguard freshwater resources for the future, the program Team coordinates and supports the governments in North Africa and other NGOs and Intergovernmental cooperation bodies to sustain freshwater habitats, environmental flows and water governance. The program also benefits from experts on water stewardship, water security, infrastructure, wetlands and governance work in more than 60 countries, using our local experience to inform global debates and vice versa.

2 MAJOR FUNCTIONS

The Freshwater program officer leads and manages the implementation of the Freshwater projects aiming at the preservation of freshwater ecosystems in North Africa, according to agreed objectives and time scale. The Freshwater program officer is also responsible of the project coordination, she/he builds and manages partnerships first with the program partners and also coordinates with local partners composed of civil society actors, the private sector and the government at the relevant administrative levels, he/she Defines terms of reference, develop work plans and implements the project activities, supervises freshwater team members, external consultants and project beneficiaries, follow the progress of project partners and monitors expenses. The program officer coordinates on a daily basis with the WWF managers for project related relations with public institutions, communications, administration and office running issues.

3 Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Supervises, leads, manages and monitors the implementation of the work plans of the Local project coordinator with the support of the Freshwater Manger, ensuring input and endorsement of these plans by WWFNA Directors,
• Leads and manages the implementation of the activities of the freshwater projects, with the strong collaboration with Project Partners.
• Ensures coordination with the project partners and monitors the activities implementation.
• Makes sure that the project activities contribute to WWF North Africa Conservation Strategic Plan
• With support from WWF NA Freshwater Programme Manager, develops work plans for the implementation of the project and makes sure the timeline is respected. When needed revises work plan to cope with adjustments agreed with the WWF Freshwater Programme Manager and all project partners;
• Organization and leading the coordination meetings with project partners and key involved stakeholders;
• Preparation of ToRs to recruit the needed experts and follow the hiring process;
• Guides the freshwater team members with the organization of the logistics for meetings and workshops 
• Adjusts the monitoring framework for the project as detailed in the proposal  and collects data for its implementation;
• Prepares progress technical report and contribute to financial reports for the project according to the schedule agreed with the supervisor;
• Responds to media enquiries and give interviews when and if needed with support of the Communications Officer and/or the supervisor;
• Work closely with WWF North Africa Freshwater Manager in defining strategic directions, identifying opportunities and in scoping donors;
• Support the WWF North Africa Freshwater Manager to develop Fresh water programme in Tunisia and North Africa, scoping opportunities and relating with Tunisia actors as needed;
• Researches and identifies funding opportunities to develop the WWF NA’s freshwater programme portfolio in North Africa ;

4 PROFILE

Required Qualifications. 

• Minimum qualification is Graduate degree (at least Bac + 4) in any or a combination of the following fields: water management, natural science, environmental and social sciences, economics, development, policies.
• Conservation background, basic understanding of IRBM and water ecosystems conservation in North Africa.
• At least 3 years’ experience in water resources management or project management preferably in an international environment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills. Fluency in French and in English are required.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and teamwork. Able to work effectively and harmoniously in a multicultural environment.
• Ability/experience in facilitation stakeholder processes, engaging communities and institutional actors
• Presentation and writing skills to produce presentations for stakeholders, project documents, submissions of positions
• Ability to coordinate technical consultants
• Field project implementation skills, including basic budget management, organization of events.
• Communication skills, ability to talk to the public and media.

Required Skills and Competencies. 

• Embraces the WWF mission and values of the organization: Courage, Integrity, Respect & Collaboration.

5 WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Internal. 

reports and interacts regularly with the WWF NA Freshwater program manager (the direct supervisor); supervises the Freshwater project officers and interns and closely coordinates and interacts with all other assigned project team members.

External. 

Interact with relevant partners both at international; national and local level according to the project objectives.

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.