Careers

The Registered Trustees of the Tanzania Environmental Sustainability Trust is a nation-wide non-profit institution working to mobilize long-term sustainable financing for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, and climate change adaptation in Tanzania. We are always looking for talented, mission-driven people to join us. Browse our current openings below.

Current Openings post

1. Programme Manager

Terms of Reference / Job Description

The Tanzanian Environmental Sustainability Trust (the Trust) is recruiting a Programme Manager to assist in overseeing the Trust’s grantmaking, grantee and project supervision and monitoring and evaluation, under the authority of the Chief Executive Officer. The Programme Manager is a member of the Trust’s Secretariat’s senior management team. The Programme Manager will function as the principal assistant to the CEO and play a key role in resource mobilization efforts of the Trust.

Background

The Trust is a newly established nation-wide non-profit independent institution whose purpose is “…to serve as a catalyst for mobilizing long-term sustainable financing for conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of natural resources, mitigation of and adaptation to climate change challenges and the relief of distress to the public due to pressure on critical ecosystems and landscapes in Tanzania or otherwise affecting the people of Tanzania”.  Its primary role is managing donor funds and making grants to Tanzanian entities to implement activities which further its purposes. It intends to play a significant role in managing private sector offset funding required as a consequence of industry activity, as well as managing funding streams from donor organizations who require these funds to be managed by non-profit and independent entities.   It is governed by a multi-sector Board of Trustees and intends to maintain close relationships with relevant government departments and assist the nation in meeting its national, regional and global environmental and climate obligations.

Responsibilities

The Programme Manager is the “line manager” charged with grant and project management. S/he will serve as the main interface between the Trust and grantees/project implementers.  The Programme Manager is responsible for ensuring that the Trust’s grantmaking processes follow approved policies and are in line with the Trust’s commitments and contract obligations to funders.  S/he acts as the main pragmatic resolver of problems that arise in the course of project implementation. The Programme Manager is bound by the Trust’s policies with respect to conflict of interest. 

The Programme Manager’s specific responsibilities include:

1. Grantmaking procedures

• Develop intimate understanding of the Trust’s Grants Manual and other policies and procedures related to grantmaking and contracting for project implementation.
• Lead in developing grant competitions, calls for proposals, informational materials, application and budget templates, timeline and submission processes and related documents for CEO approval.
• Lead in answering questions, clarifying terms and conditions. Ensure application processes are operational, that submissions are cataloged and acknowledged, that application/applicant confidentiality is maintained as required.
• Assess applications in accordance with terms of grant competition, general policies/criteria and grant specific policies, procedures and criteria. Obtain additional information as directed by CEO, grants committee or other authority, including due diligence materials.

2. Grant management

• The Programme Manager serves as default Grants Officer on all Trust grants and contracts for programmatic outcomes.
• Monitor compliance with grant/contract terms and notify CEO of failure or probable failure on part of grantee/contractor.
• Monitor grantee/contractor activities in the field with regular visits.
• Review and comment on grantee interim and final reports in a timely manner and report concerns to CEO.
• Serve as main point of contact for grantees/contractors reporting difficulties or seeking variance on grant terms or conditions and inform CEO.
• Supervise contracted outside parties (chiefs of party, project managers, project/programme consultants) as assigned.
• Supervise Programme Assistants/Officers as assigned.

3. Monitoring, evaluation and learning

• Serve as the Trust’s lead with respect to monitoring, evaluation and learning from grants and contracts. Regular reports on lessons learned with respect to grantmaking, grantee selection, project design, impact and related matters.
• Supervise MEL specialists as assigned.
• The PM is also responsible for the management and use of knowledge gained from Trust’s funded projects to inform the continuous improvements of the Trust’s funding Strategy, and for communication of Trust Programme information to key stakeholders.

Qualifications

1. Extensive experience with grant and/or project management, particularly environmental grantmaking involving international funding partners (bilateral agencies, UNDP).
2. Deep understanding of strategies for safeguarding biodiversity and climate change adaptation, or demonstrated ability to quickly master key concepts and strategies, including  with respect to mitigation and offsets (the mitigation hierarchy), payment for ecosystem services, carbon markets.
3. Ability to travel, often to remote locations under difficult circumstances, to monitor grantee/contract activities, project impacts and similar developments.
4. Strong writing skills and ability to write clear, compelling reports, assessments, evaluations and similiar documents.
5. Strong understanding of project budgets, grantee financial reporting. Understanding of main ways in which grant funds are misused or diverted.
6. Strong people and problem resolution skills.  Fluency in English and Kiswahili.

Application link: https: //radarrecruitment.vincere.io/careers/job/40947/programme-manager

REQUEST FOR SERVICES / TERM SHEET

2. INFORMATION / COMMUNICATIONS/ COLLABORATION TECHNOLOGY

Summary

The Tanzania Environmental Sustainability Trust, doing business as Chakwetu, is a Trust under Tanzanian law making grants in support of conservation, biodiversity and climate change adaptation.  The institution is in its start-up phase.    The Trust seeks assistance from ICT professionals to fully implement a collaboration-focused ICT environment appropriate to a small team, based on an integrated Microsoft 365 environment (OneDrive, Outlook, Teams, Sharepoint) and a WordPress-based website

Background

The Trust is a grant-making nonprofit institution.  It receives funds from a variety of sources interested in biodiversity conservation and related issues and issues grants to implementing organizations, primarily Tanzanian non-governmental organizations, universities and individual researchers, as well as occasional grants to international organizations. 

It issues requests for proposals (RFPs) largely on-line and through social media (LinkedIn, the website) as well as its mailing lists, receives applications ideally on-line, and receives narrative and financial reports from grantees largely ideally on-line.Key professionals employed at the Trust include a CEO, primarily focused on client and government relations (as well as overall oversight), a Finance and Admin Manager, a Programme Manager and in time and Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, all of whom will supervise lower-level staff.  

The Trust is overseen by a Board of Trustees, who need access to a “board portal”.  

The primary practical business of the Trust includes:

1.   Developing and circulating RFPs to interested parties

2.   Receiving, cataloguing and acknowledging submissions

3.    Evaluation and decision-making related to submissions, including engaging outside experts

4.   Developing project-specific timelines, calendars, information flows, document repositories

5.   Regular CRM-related functions (database of clients, suppliers, other parties; management of communications with same)

6.  Updating website and social media (primarily LinkedIn) and other public communications.The Trust’s ICT must be largely           manageable by competent general staff with occasional external expertise. 

 Specific servicesMicrosoft-centered

1. Microsoft 365.  Transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365, including migration of documents, email addresses            &  messages, calendars, etc….

2. Project Management & Customer Relations Management. Propose and implement solutions fully compatible with Teams          environment.

3.  Integration with WordPress – see below

4. Integration as appropriate with the Trust’s financial management system.

WordPress-centered

1.  Existing wordpress instance to be upgraded with necessary addons & configuration to improvise security.

2. “Customer”-facing pages to be developed, providing easy access to documents, updated information, online applications            and similar functions.

3.  Appropriate integration with Microsoft 365, particularly for client interface (e.g. response to RFPs, link to documents and           CRM interface…).Additional Information/parameters

1.     The Trust currently licenses Microsoft 365, a Google Workspace and a WordPress website hosted by ___________-.

2.     Two websites exist – www.chakwetu.org and www.chakwetutrust.or.tz .  SEO parameters need to direct traffic to the or.tz            site.  The .org site will be closed.  Chakwetu also own multiple domains which need consolidation.  The website and                    domains are currently managed by

3.      The Trust is not interested in bespoke or highly-customised solutions; the final system must be based on widely available            software with strong support from external, Tanzania-based expertise.

4.      The Trust requires specifically experienced assistance.  Interested parties are required to have significant expertise with              collaborative Microsoft 365 environments and integration of project management and CRM functions

Interested parties are required to have significant expertise with WordPress sites, security and integration.Please contact us at recruitment@chakwetu.or.tz with expressions of interest, summary of experience and qualifications, or for additional information.