Institutional Support and Capacity Building Specialist

About the role

The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) is a donor partnership aimed at preserving the Congo Basin forests to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty and support sustainable development. The Institutional Support and Capacity Building Specialist strengthens CAFI's strategy for policy dialogue and country engagement by helping national and subnational institutions access, manage and implement financing from CAFI and other global environmental and climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund. The post reports to the Chief Policy Dialogue and Country Engagement.

Key responsibilities

• Assess institutional capacity gaps in government entities, public financial institutions, civil society organizations and other eligible entities seeking direct access to CAFI or other global funds.
• Support policies, procedures and governance frameworks aligned with CAFI and the requirements of the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund and others.
• Facilitate coordination among ministries, departments and stakeholders, and analyse institutional, governance and political economy factors affecting direct access.
• Ensure fiduciary readiness: financial management, budgeting, internal controls, procurement, fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, whistleblower protection and more.
• Support grievance redress mechanisms and protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSHEA).
• Guide institutional readiness assessments, accreditation and eligibility processes, and turn findings into sequenced strengthening plans.
• Manage institutional technical assistance: baseline studies, tailored training and workshops, guidance materials, terms of reference and monitoring of technical assistance providers.
• Promote stakeholder engagement with governments, NGOs, communities and fund secretariats.

Required profile

• Applicants must follow the tiered application process described in the vacancy title (Tier 0 to Tier 3).
• Core competencies at Level 3: achieving results, thinking innovatively, learning continuously, adapting with agility, acting with determination, engaging and partnering, and enabling diversity and inclusion.
• Competencies in business management, system thinking, portfolio management, climate policy and institutional building, and CSO and relationship management.