Job ID
50130
Job Title
National Coordinator and Sustainable Land Management Expert
To work for
Stars Orbit Consultants and Management Development
Country
Syria
City
Damascus
Field of Work
Environment / Geology - Agriculture
Job Type
Project Based
Military service
Not Specified
Minimum Education Level
Master
Responsibilities
Role
The objective of this consultancy is to carry out the necessary survey work, assessments, consultations, and data collection, and contribute to the development of the full-sized GEF project document. The National Consultant will act as the national coordination lead, working closely with the Team Leader, International Safeguards (SES) Expert, and Gender and Stakeholder Engagement Expert. The consultant will provide field-based data, stakeholder inputs, and technical analysis to ensure that the project design is aligned with national priorities and reflects the three project components.
Deliverables
• In consultation with PPG Team Leader, collect, analyze and provide all background information on policies, regulations, strategies, and planning documents related to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), Drought-resilient land restoration, Integrated Land Management (ILM) and Land-use planning and sustainable land management.
• Collect and analyze baseline information on ongoing and past projects related to land restoration, dryland management, biodiversity, and livelihoods in Iraq.
• Review the existing National LDN Programme and contribute to the development of an implementation-oriented LDN strategy, including identification of gaps, priorities, and financing needs.
• Assess institutional frameworks and inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms related to land restoration, ILM, and land-use planning, and identify barriers to effective coordination.
• Assess capacity needs assessment of government institutions, CSOs, and extension agents, particularly in: (ILM practices, GIS-based land-use planning, Drought-resilient land restoration and Environmental and social safeguards).
• Collect spatial assessment of land use dataset, degraded areas, ecosystem conditions, and land productivity (including NDVI proxies), with ground-truthing.
• Identify and assess degraded dryland and production landscapes, including drivers of land degradation, ecosystem decline, and loss of productivity.
• Contribute to detailed barrier and root cause analysis for each of the project components.
• Survey potential stakeholders and beneficiaries (including community leaders, farmers,
women, and youth) and assess their level of interest and willingness to engage in: Land
restoration, Co-management mechanism and Sustainable livelihood activities.
• Identify and assess on potential pilot sites for land restoration interventions, landscape
connectivity improvements and Integrated land-use planning.
• Assess community dependency on natural resources and degraded lands, and estimate
socio-economic impacts of land degradation.
• Conduct livelihoods and value chain assessments to identify sustainable, genderresponsive
livelihood opportunities (e.g., agroforestry, apiculture, sustainable
agriculture). Support participatory consultations to inform Integrated Land Use Plans
(ILUPs), community co-management arrangements, and restoration priorities.
• Contribute to the assessment of environmental, social, and economic costs and benefits
of proposed interventions.
• Provide recommendations on sustainable land and ecosystem restoration practices,
drought-resilient land management approaches and community-based and genderresponsive
livelihood options.
• Analyze conflict situation (both national and project state/sites) and prepared conflict
sensitivity report.
• Participate fully in the formulation of the project’s Objective, Outcomes, Outputs, and
Activities and Results Framework (baselines, targets, and indicators aligned with GEF
requirements).
• Contribute to the development of theory of change, Stakeholder Engagement Plan,
Gender Action Plan, Environmental and Social Safeguards inputs and Sustainability and
replication strategy.
• Provide inputs for the design of all components.
• Contribute to identification and validation of pilot sites and community-based
implementation mechanisms.
• Participate in the detailed incremental cost analysis to justify GEF intervention.
• Participate in costing of expected project outcomes, outputs, and activities.
• Support the design of capacity-building programmes and GIS-based tools and platforms.
• Present the proposed project interventions during stakeholder consultations and the
project validation workshop.
• Provide inputs to revise the draft project document to address comments and
suggestions from UNDP, GEF Secretariat, Regional Technical Advisors (RTA), and other
reviewers.
The objective of this consultancy is to carry out the necessary survey work, assessments, consultations, and data collection, and contribute to the development of the full-sized GEF project document. The National Consultant will act as the national coordination lead, working closely with the Team Leader, International Safeguards (SES) Expert, and Gender and Stakeholder Engagement Expert. The consultant will provide field-based data, stakeholder inputs, and technical analysis to ensure that the project design is aligned with national priorities and reflects the three project components.
Deliverables
• In consultation with PPG Team Leader, collect, analyze and provide all background information on policies, regulations, strategies, and planning documents related to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), Drought-resilient land restoration, Integrated Land Management (ILM) and Land-use planning and sustainable land management.
• Collect and analyze baseline information on ongoing and past projects related to land restoration, dryland management, biodiversity, and livelihoods in Iraq.
• Review the existing National LDN Programme and contribute to the development of an implementation-oriented LDN strategy, including identification of gaps, priorities, and financing needs.
• Assess institutional frameworks and inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms related to land restoration, ILM, and land-use planning, and identify barriers to effective coordination.
• Assess capacity needs assessment of government institutions, CSOs, and extension agents, particularly in: (ILM practices, GIS-based land-use planning, Drought-resilient land restoration and Environmental and social safeguards).
• Collect spatial assessment of land use dataset, degraded areas, ecosystem conditions, and land productivity (including NDVI proxies), with ground-truthing.
• Identify and assess degraded dryland and production landscapes, including drivers of land degradation, ecosystem decline, and loss of productivity.
• Contribute to detailed barrier and root cause analysis for each of the project components.
• Survey potential stakeholders and beneficiaries (including community leaders, farmers,
women, and youth) and assess their level of interest and willingness to engage in: Land
restoration, Co-management mechanism and Sustainable livelihood activities.
• Identify and assess on potential pilot sites for land restoration interventions, landscape
connectivity improvements and Integrated land-use planning.
• Assess community dependency on natural resources and degraded lands, and estimate
socio-economic impacts of land degradation.
• Conduct livelihoods and value chain assessments to identify sustainable, genderresponsive
livelihood opportunities (e.g., agroforestry, apiculture, sustainable
agriculture). Support participatory consultations to inform Integrated Land Use Plans
(ILUPs), community co-management arrangements, and restoration priorities.
• Contribute to the assessment of environmental, social, and economic costs and benefits
of proposed interventions.
• Provide recommendations on sustainable land and ecosystem restoration practices,
drought-resilient land management approaches and community-based and genderresponsive
livelihood options.
• Analyze conflict situation (both national and project state/sites) and prepared conflict
sensitivity report.
• Participate fully in the formulation of the project’s Objective, Outcomes, Outputs, and
Activities and Results Framework (baselines, targets, and indicators aligned with GEF
requirements).
• Contribute to the development of theory of change, Stakeholder Engagement Plan,
Gender Action Plan, Environmental and Social Safeguards inputs and Sustainability and
replication strategy.
• Provide inputs for the design of all components.
• Contribute to identification and validation of pilot sites and community-based
implementation mechanisms.
• Participate in the detailed incremental cost analysis to justify GEF intervention.
• Participate in costing of expected project outcomes, outputs, and activities.
• Support the design of capacity-building programmes and GIS-based tools and platforms.
• Present the proposed project interventions during stakeholder consultations and the
project validation workshop.
• Provide inputs to revise the draft project document to address comments and
suggestions from UNDP, GEF Secretariat, Regional Technical Advisors (RTA), and other
reviewers.
Qualifications
Qualifications
• Master’s degree in environmental science, land degradation, biodiversity, natural
resource management, or a related field; PhD is an advantage.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience in Land restoration and
sustainable land management or Dryland ecosystems and drought resilience
Biodiversity conservation and environmental management or Climate change
adaptation and/or other relevant fields.
• Proven experience in project design and formulation, Data collection, analysis, and
reporting and Stakeholder engagement and participatory approaches.
• knowledge of national environmental policies and institutional frameworks.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.
• Master’s degree in environmental science, land degradation, biodiversity, natural
resource management, or a related field; PhD is an advantage.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience in Land restoration and
sustainable land management or Dryland ecosystems and drought resilience
Biodiversity conservation and environmental management or Climate change
adaptation and/or other relevant fields.
• Proven experience in project design and formulation, Data collection, analysis, and
reporting and Stakeholder engagement and participatory approaches.
• knowledge of national environmental policies and institutional frameworks.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.
Specific Vacancy Requirements
2. During submission, please use the English language only.
3. Indicate clear years of experience with each job (Month/Year)
4. If the candidate is currently employed by a government institution, he/she must be able to provide an unpaid leave of absence for the duration of the consultancy.
5. Only candidates who are short-listed will be contacted.
6. By submitting your application, you have read the Terms of Reference for this position and agree that any false, wrong, or incomplete information might lead to your disqualification in this recruitment process.
3. Indicate clear years of experience with each job (Month/Year)
4. If the candidate is currently employed by a government institution, he/she must be able to provide an unpaid leave of absence for the duration of the consultancy.
5. Only candidates who are short-listed will be contacted.
6. By submitting your application, you have read the Terms of Reference for this position and agree that any false, wrong, or incomplete information might lead to your disqualification in this recruitment process.
Salary and Benefits
TBD
About us
SOC is a privately held consulting firm based in Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia. SOC specializes in providing Human Resource Management, cash distribution, conducting studies, surveys, vetting, assessments, monitoring and evaluation, data collection and analysis.
Required employees number
1
Posted On
Aug 04, 2026
Expiry Date
Sep 03, 2026
CV Language
English
