United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Mapping Officer

Effective from: April 2016

Duration of contract: Until 31^st September 2019

Reporting to: Mapping Coordinator

Close working relationship with: Central African Republic Coordinator, Democratic Republic of Congo Coordinator; GIS and Database Coordinator, Research and Policy Coordinator, Programmes Admin and Finance Coordinator, Head of Programmes.

The Rainforest Foundation UK

The mission of the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) is to support indigenous peoples and traditional populations of the world’s rainforest to:

• Secure and control the natural resources necessary for their long-term wellbeing and managing these resources in ways which do not harm their environment, violate their culture or compromise their future.


• Develop means to protect their individual and collective rights and to obtain, shape and control basic services from the state.

RFUK considers that an essential first step to protect and manage the tropical forests and to reduce poverty in tropical forest countries is to realise the rights of the traditional and indigenous communities who live in those forests. With secure rights to land and livelihoods, forest peoples can effectively manage forest resources and direct and manage their own development. Founded in 1989, RFUK has in the past 20 years built a solid body of work based on this rights-based approach to development and protection of the rainforest. Although our work is focused on the Congo Basin, where RFUK has worked since 1996, we also work in the Peruvian Amazon.

MappingForRights (MfR)

In close collaboration with civil society organisations and government agencies, RFUK has been developing and undertaking participatory mapping in the Congo Basin for 15 years for supporting indigenous and traditional communities in their efforts to fulfil their rights to land and livelihood.

RFUK has developed advanced methodologies based on new geo-spatial technologies and decentralised mapping support teams enabling communities to record data about their lands and on development needs at a significantly greater accuracy and scale.

In 2011, RFUK launched the MappingForRights platform which brings together expertise in the fields of participatory mapping, geo-spatial technologies and policy development concerned with community and indigenous land rights and improved forest governance in the Congo Basin.

Geographical information generated by local and international organisations is collated in MappingForRights in order to facilitate access to a range of information showing customary occupation and use of land and resources by forest communities, as well as by other forest users, such as logging companies. The visualisation and accessibility of this data can help to engage policy-makers, the private sector and the international community in a vital step towards developing forest policy that help secure local communities’ rights such as community forests.

RFUK expects to launch a regional MappingForRights project in April 2016 that aims at empowering stakeholders in the Congo Basin to use community mapping data and the MappingForRights platform to inform community forest development and other land and forest related policy processes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

General:

The postholder will be responsible for the management of RFUK’s regional MappingForRights (MfR) project.

S/he will work closely with our local project partner organisations in the targeted countries.

S/he will be based at the RFUK London office with frequent travel to the Congo basin region.

Specific responsibilities and tasks:

The Mapping Specialist will be responsible for the following tasks, under the management of the Mapping Coordinator:

1. Project management

• Ensure that the project is implemented and managed according to the programme and project strategy, logframe, budget and timetable;


• Prepare and monitor consultants and partners contracts, as appropriate;


• Conduct regular visits to the countries to guide project implementation and provide support to partners;


• Under the supervision of the Mapping Coordinator, prepare narrative and financial reports of the project, including to donor and for internal monitoring purposes;


• Ensure implementation of programme evaluations and audits, including developing appropriate TORs, advising on suitable external consultants and participating in evaluation visits, as required;


• Participate in regular internal coordination meetings concerning RFUK’s overall programme in the region, as well as representing RFUK in any similar meetings with external organisations;


• Ensure good coordination with other members of the Programmes Team and ensure regular communication and information sharing with them and the wider organization.

2. Capacity building

• In conjunction with the Mapping Coordinator, prepare and coordinate training and other ongoing support on participatory GIS, MfR, and related techniques for local partner NGOs and government officials in the Congo Basin region;


• Identify new opportunities and techniques for providing training and support for partner organisations and government officials in the region;


• Prepare or support the preparation of training materials, including guides, leaflets and other materials for partner organisations and government officials in the Congo Basin;


• Provide support to consultants and/or partner organisations contracted for training and support to partners


• Monitor and propose relevant technical and methodological developments and advances for potential use in the MfR platform, particularly concerning participatory GIS;

3. Development of MfR as a tool to contribute to forest policies

• Support collection of national datasets (existing community mapping data, existing community forest concessions and pilot projects, REDD, biodiversity, logging, mining, protected areas etc.) where these are not already held on MfR;


• With relevant local partners, develop national plans of engagement with governments for using the MfR database in relevant policy processes;


• Facilitate national workshops to discuss the implications of the MappingForRights database for national community forests policy and other process;


• Liaising with national authorities, national and international institutions, NGO partners and other relevant actors (such as Universities, etc.).

4. Other

• Provide mapping advice to other RFUK team members, as required;


• Supervise the work of consultants, researchers, interns and volunteers as appropriate;


• Represent the organisation in relevant local, national and international fora, on relevant issues, as appropriate, and under the guidance of the Mapping Coordinator;


• Assist in the identification and preparation of new opportunities for programme development, including the preparation of funding proposals relevant for the development of the RFUK Programmes strategy;


• Contribute to the development and implementation of the Programme strategy, especially in the area of community mapping;


• Participate in RFUK’s strategic development, including attending internal meetings, strategy away days etc.;


• Perform other tasks as may from time to time be requested by the Head of Programmes and the Executive Director.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Master’s degree in a relevant subject, such as GIS, forestry, geography, land use planning;


• Knowledge of relevant technology, in particular open source and licenced software including Qgis, Grass, ArcGIS, and other relevant systems such as LANDSAT, ASTER and SRTM image management


• Working experience in participatory mapping;


• Experience in working in developing countries.


• Experience in working with local NGOs


• Experience in delivering training and ongoing mentoring;


• Fluency in English and French, both spoken and written.


• Demonstrable ability to plan work and deliver outputs to agreed deadlines.


• Financial/budget management in a charity/development project context.


• High level of competence in using software packages, including main Microsoft Office applications

Desirable

• Working experience in Africa, especially in the Congo basin region;


• Knowledge and experience of participatory and rights- based approaches to community development and advocacy;


• Experience of working to tight deadlines;


• Knowledge of forest management issues in tropical forests.

Personal Skills and Attributes

Essential

• Empathy with and commitment to the Rainforest Foundation’s Vision and Mission.


• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills – written and oral.


• Careful and conscientious with demonstrable attention to detail.


• Excellent organisational and time management skills with the ability to work under pressure and to multiple deadlines.


• Capacity to dialogue with senior staff of national and international institutions


• Willingness and ability to travel up to 30 weeks per year in the Congo Basin region including in remote forest areas, as well as regular travel to the UK.


• Willingness and ability to learn on the job, keen to undertake training and career development

Desirable

• Interest in human rights & environmental issues


• Good communication skills.

Summary Terms and Conditions

Hours, remuneration and place of work

The post is offered on 3.5 year contract (starting from April 2016), with a 6-month probationary period.

The post is a full time post, based on a 35 hour working week.

The starting salary is £33,421 per annum including London weighting.

Monthly salary is paid by Bank Automated Credit transfer, on the 25th of every month.

Holidays, sick pay and other benefits are provided in accordance with statutory requirements. At present, 30 days paid leave per year are offered.

Non-contributory pension (4% of salary, commencing on satisfactory completion of 6 month probationary period).

The place of work is 233a Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2JT. This is a non-smoking environment. There is no parking provided for the post-holder, although bicycles are allowed in the building.

Equal Opportunities

RF UK is an equal opportunities employer, and makes no discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, age, physical abilities, religious or sexual persuasion. 233a Kentish Town Road unfortunately is not as accessible to those with physical disabilities as the organisation would like, but every effort will be made to provide an accessible and pleasant working environment for all staff, trustees, volunteers and visitors.