LAO PDR: SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES - SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Please note that the deadline is based on Korean Standard Time Zone (KST, UTC+9)

INTRODUCTION TO GGGI

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. To learn more please visit about GGGI web page. 

INTRODUCTION

Forests sit at the center of the international environmental agenda and are increasingly recognized as critical to climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development. In recent years, global commitments including the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests, the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), UNCCD COP16 and UNFCCC COP30 outcomes have reaffirmed the urgent need to halt deforestation and accelerate restoration by 2030.

The European Union (EU) has been a global leader on forests and sustainable value chains, including through the European Green Deal, the EU Forest Partnerships, the Global Gateway, the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR), EU's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, and EU’s associated support for MBD-led forest finance efforts such as the World Bank's Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF), Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL), and GGGI’s EU Sustainable Finance Trust Fund.

In this context, GGGI is implementing the Financing for Forests programme, which aims to enhance forest finance ecosystems in Lao PDR, Mongolia, Guyana, and Colombia over five years by piloting and scaling innovative financing instruments and strengthening the enabling environment for sustainable forest investment, and which is expected to expand to 4 additional countries.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Sustainable Landscapes - Senior Associate will support the implementation of GGGI’s Financing for Forests (F4F) programme, by applying their knowledge of relevant national sustainable landscape sectors to strengthen alignment of F4F interventions with key national policy frameworks (including forestry, agriculture, rangeland, biodiversity, etc.), respective nationally-relevant governance/tenure systems, and relevant socio-economic forest-dependent livelihood and Micro-small-medium Sized Enterprises (MSME) value-chain models.

The Sustainable Landscapes - Senior Associate will support engagement with relevant national and sub-national stakeholders to ensure policy relevance, stakeholder ownership, and overall high-quality delivery of outcomes by the F4F project in their assigned pilot countries.

The Sustainable Landscapes - Senior Associate will report to Forest Finance Senior Officer, Lao PDR, will coordinate with the EU F4F Sustainable Landscapes Lead, and will support the overall delivery of the F4F program in Lao under leadership of the Country Representative.

PURPOSE

This position provides technical and delivery support for GGGI’s F4F programme in their respective pilot country, ensuring that the programme is implemented effectively and efficiency, and that forest finance solution designs and pilots have strong policy relevance, are feasible within the governance systems in place, and are scalable within the forest-dependent communities and MSME intended as beneficiaries, and that the program is implemented effectively and efficiently.

ENGAGEMENT

The role requires pro-active engagement with a diverse array of partners and stakeholders across national and sub-national governments, financial institutions, NGOs/CSOs and beneficiary organizations, and as well as within the GGGI country teams, and GGGI global/regional communities of practice related to Sustainable Landscapes and AFOLU.

Key engagement responsibilities include:

• Facilitate stakeholder identification, engagement, and enhancing alignment of interventions with national and sub-national priorities, ensuring effective collaboration with and among government agencies, financial institutions, civil society, and the private sector.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing with GGGI internal as well as external thematic communities of practice, policy platforms, and professional networks. Supports organization and facilitation of effective F4F governance arrangements through the Programme Steering Committee (PSC), for Country Steering Committees (CSCs), and relevant subsidiary bodies;
• Disseminates policy guidance, stakeholder capacity-building, and communications materials in and between English and relevant national languages;

DELIVERY

This position is accountable for supporting delivery of technical deliverables, capacity-building activities, stakeholder engagement efforts in English and relevant national languages contributing to the F4F country programme’s results, enhancing quality implementation and policy alignment across multiple workstreams. Key delivery responsibilities include:

Technical Outputs:

• Produces reviews of national/subnational policies and governance/tenure frameworks, providing the F4F country team with recommendations to strengthen pilot F4F forest finance interventions design and implementation, supporting documentation of their policy alignment, and any policy/governance/tenure gaps/barriers that may need to be addressed to ensure their success;
• Produces reviews of data and studies related to relevant forestry/agroforestry/ agrosylvoforestry-based production systems, associated value-chain MSME models, providing the F4F country team with recommendations to strengthen pilot F4F forest finance interventions design and implementation, supporting documentation of pilot F4F forest finance interventions’ impacts on livelihoods/MSME financing, and tenure security; any identifying ESS gaps/barriers that may need to be addressed
• Produces technical briefs and presentations sharing of best practices and lessons learned from across the F4F program and GGGI country/regional/global thematic communities of practice for diverse internal and external audiences;

Operational delivery

• Supports effective programme execution across all outputs and activities, ensuring delivery against targets, milestones, budgets, and quality standards.
• Supports contracting, technical quality assurance and management of technical experts and service providers to support delivery at scale.
• Supports collection of information for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) purposes, and produces technical and administrative reporting outputs for GGGI, the donor, and (where needed) the respective government, and in English and the relevant national language.
• Support effective execution of Programme Steering Committee (PSC), but particularly for the Country Steering Committees (CSCs), and its relevant subsidiary bodies;
• Supports and/or produces input for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) purposes, and technical reporting and administrative reporting needs, for GGGI, the donor, and (where needed) the respective government, and in English and the relevant national language.

REQUIREMENTS

QUALIFICATIONS

[Education]

• University degree (Master’s level preferred) in the field of Agriculture, Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Rangeland management, Biology, Environmental science, Public Policy, Sustainable Development, or a related field.

[Experience]

• Preferred at least 4 years of relevant professional experience in implementing projects related to Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Rangeland management within the country· Demonstrated experience in engaging with and facilitating engagement in national policy, research, and/or advocacy platforms, working groups, and professional networks in the national context.
• Demonstrated experience in implementing projects in partnership with relevant national ministries, and in organizing stakeholder consultations in the national context.
• Demonstrated experience in producing high-quality policy briefs, technical reports, presentations and/or publications, and/or capacity building materials related to Agriculture, Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Rangeland management, or a related field.
• Experience in studying or working outside of the home country, and/or working for international organization preferred.

[Languages]

• Full professional proficiency in the national language (written and spoken) is required.
• Advanced proficiency in English (written and spoken) is required.

FUNCTIONAL

• Strong technical understanding of national forestry, agriculture, rangeland management, protected area management, agro-industry, eco-tourism policies, and governance/tenure mechanisms, and preferably exposure to those in at least 1 other country;
• Strong technical understanding of national forest/agroforestry/sylvoagroforestry production systems, agro-industry MSMEs, eco-tourism MSMEs, and preferably exposure to those in at least 1 other country;
• Effective use of standard Microsoft office systems: Word, Excel, PowerPoint essential; experience with Geographic Information Systems, statistical analysis software preferred;
• Proven ability to engage effectively with diverse types of stakeholders and networks, and in organizing/facilitating meetings with senior government officials and project stakeholders.
• Proven analytical, technical writing and presentation skills, including production of high-quality knowledge products and technical frameworks.
• Basic knowledge of programme management skills, including planning, budgeting, delivery tracking, and reporting preferred.

CORPORATE

• Strong alignment with GGGI’s mission, vision, and values.
• Promotes an organizational culture of integrity, trust, transparency, accountability, and partnership.
• Demonstrates strong ethical commitment for responsible use of donor and public resources.
• Willingness to work within a global team that may require availability to work outside of working hours.
• Commitment to contributing to GGGI’s F4F, country, regional and global teams, recognizing that these are dynamic, inclusive, and multi-cultural workplaces, in which awareness and tolerance of other cultural perspectives is critical.

WORKING CONDITIONS 

The Sustainable Landscapes - Senior Associate is an X7 grade level in GGGI's Country Salary Scale. Determination of base salary is subject to the candidate's experience, academic background, and internal equity. 

In addition to the base salary, the contract includes a 15% contribution toward a retirement or long-term savings plan, 27 days of annual leave, and private health insurance coverage (including dental and vision). 

GGGI is committed to providing a work environment that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate diverse life-cycle challenges and assist Staff members to achieve a better balance between work and personal/family commitments, thus ensuring high performance, long-term productivity, and well-being of Staff members. 

The deadline for applications will follow the official announcement and is based on Korean Standard Time (KST). Shortlisted candidates may be invited to submit a writing sample or attend a technical interview.