Job Description
Consultant – Leader – Component 02: Secure Financing Mechanisms for Sustainable Land Management
Assignment Basis
MAHAWELI CONSULTANCY BUREAU
Mahaweli Consultancy Bureau is an organisation under the purview of the Ministry of Irrigation, incorporated to provide consultancy and support services for local and international clients. We have been in business for 23 years, and during this time, we have grown into a reputable organisation by successfully delivering high-priority consultancy and support services for Government and Non-Government Organisations in Sri Lanka. Our vision is to rank our company among the top 10 companies in Sri Lanka by 2030.
We call upon confident individuals with the following criteria to join the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Knuckles Project Strengthening Climate Resilience Of Subsistence Farmers and Agricultural Plantation Communities of the Knuckles Mountain Range.
The GCF Knuckles Project
The Strengthening Climate Resilience of Subsistence Farmers and Agricultural Plantation Communities of the Knuckles Mountain Range project (the GCF Knuckles Project) is a climate adaptation initiative funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and implemented by the Irrigation Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation of the Government of Sri Lanka, with technical support from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).
The project seeks to deliver a paradigm shift in the communities, governance structures, and stakeholders in the project region through sustainable land management practices, sustainable financing mechanisms, and participatory governance structures, to enhance climate-resilient livelihoods and ecosystems, protecting one of Sri Lanka's globally recognised biodiversity hotspots and a key watershed, and enriching Sri Lanka's Knuckles Mountain Range.
Component 2: Secure financing mechanisms for sustainable land management
The second project component aims to establish sustainable financing to support sustainable land management, forest restoration, and hydrological infrastructure from Component 1, while boosting smallholders and subsistence farmers' livelihoods and enabling access to green value chains and increased links to new markets. Output 2.1 and Output 2.2 details follow.
- Output 2.1: Upgraded and More Efficient Green Value Chains: Overseeing the establishment of links to new markets and ensuring local agriculture becomes lucrative enough to sustain adaptive management.
- Output 2.2: Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Mechanism: Overseeing the establishment of mechanisms to transfer financial value from ecosystems services users back to land users who protect the ecosystems.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Component 2 Leader is responsible for the overall execution, coordination, and progress of the two primary outputs under Component 2:
- Output 2.1: Upgraded and More Efficient Green Value Chains: Overseeing the establishment of links to new markets and ensuring local agriculture becomes lucrative enough to sustain adaptive management.
- Output 2.2: Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Mechanism: Overseeing the establishment of mechanisms to transfer financial value from ecosystems services users back to land users who protect the environment.
The Leader must coordinate and provide technical guidance for the following activities:
- Enterprise Development: Providing technical support to operate farms as business enterprises and facilitating the creation of cooperatives or appropriate associations.
- Value Chain Upgrading: Identifying and implementing options for new products, services, and brands (e.g., a national brand) to improve market penetration and enable growth in green value chains.
- PES Business Cases: Developing a portfolio of business cases for performance-based financial transfers based on robust socio-economic and ecological baselines.
- PES Intermediary Body: Overseeing the establishment of a committee within a multi-stakeholder platform to manage payment collection, distribution, and performance monitoring.
- The Leader will be required to spearhead coordination amongst project stakeholders for the effective and coherent implementation of all component activities, including facilitating coordination with agencies such as National Enterprise Development Authority (NERA), Department of Export Agriculture (DEA), the Ministry of Industries, Central Province, the Department of Agrarian Development (DAD), and ICRAF, to design, plan, execute, and monitor activities.
Additional responsibilities include:
- The Leader must coordinate with various agencies, including NERA, the Department of Export Agriculture (DEA), the Ministry of Industries, Central Province, the Department of Agrarian Development (DAD), and ICRAF, to design, plan, execute, and monitor activities.
- They facilitate close cooperation with Divisional and GN-Level administrators, community-based organisations, and private-sector actors to identify bottlenecks, develop community-level capacities, and foster new relationships.
- They support integrating the PES intermediary body into the project's governance structure, including leveraging it to identify and address green value chain and PES opportunities.
- The Leader will be required to closely manage component budgets, contribute to strategic financial planning, and coordinating key procurement activities at the Project Management Unit and implementing partner levels.
- The Leader will ensure all Component 2 activities are aligned with the project's Theory of Change, ensuring activities are designed and executed to deliver the project's Logical Framework targets, while remaining compliant with the Environmental and Social Safeguards.
Qualifications and Experience
- A postgraduate degree in Economics, Agribusiness, Environmental Finance, or related field with a minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience in value chain development, payment for ecosystem services management, or sustainable finance.
- A basic degree in Economics, Agribusiness, Environmental Finance, or a related field with a minimum of 18 years of relevant work experience in value chain development, payment for ecosystem services management, or sustainable finance.
- Knowledge and experience of managing PES-based projects, including concepts such as Theory of Change, Logical Frameworks, and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL).
- Proven ability to work with diverse teams and communities, negotiate competing interests, resolve disputes, and motivate teams, departments, and partners to work cohesively.
- Experience in facilitating multi-stakeholder platforms, working with key Sri Lankan government ministries, departments, and authorities and community-level organisations and leaders.
- Strong financial management capabilities, including experience with financial budgeting, expenditure reporting, and financial analysis.
- Proficiency in Sinhala and English; Tamil language proficiency is an added benefit.
Duty Station, Reporting Line, and Other Information
The primary duty station for this position is the Regional Project Office, Matale, with field visits throughout the project’s upstream and downstream regions. The Component Leader will be required to report to the Project Management Unit office in Colombo and when required.
The position reports directly to the Project Director, GCF Knuckles Project. The initial duration of the position is a six-month assignment, with the possibility of renewal based on performance.
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
Interested candidates are invited to submit their Curriculum Vitae (CV), together with a covering letter, clearly indicating Consultant – Leader – Component 02 in the subject line, via the official online application portal at https://mcb.gov.lk/gkp-career/
Only applications submitted through the above link will be considered.
Please note:
- Only short-listed candidates meeting the above criteria will be contacted for an interview.
- Any form of canvassing will result in disqualification.
Chief Executive Officer, Mahaweli Consultancy Bureau, No. 11, Jawatta Road, Colombo 05.