Rainforest Alliance India is recruiting a motivated and results oriented Senior Technical Associate to lead field level implementation of the project in Karnataka, Transforming agricultural systems and strengthening local economies in high biodiversity areas of India through sustainable landscape management and public-private finance. The post holder will organize and oversee the work of partners and consultants in Karnataka landscape contracted to deliver project outputs and maintain close relationships with the relevant State government Departments and Commodity Boards. The position will be home-based and maintain very close coordination with senior leadership of Kodagu Model Forest Trust (KMFT) and other Civil Society Organization (CSO) partners within the state. The position reports to Senior Project Manager and works in coordination with the other team members, including Senior Associate, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning to ensure the smooth delivery of project outcomes.

Responsibilities:

• Organize and support technically sound project delivery in the project landscape, in accordance with the work plan and aligned with guidance from the Project Manager and Technical Committee;
• Ensure that the technical delivery of the project is socially inclusive, ensuring that women, tribal and other minority groups have equitable access to resources, activities and services that are generated by the project;
• Coordinate with Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) and KMFT and other CSO partners on the investigation, evaluation and selection of the project’s micro-landscapes, bringing to the table relevant land use data sets and maps;
• Agree the annual work plans and budgets of the CSO partners within their contracts, for approval by the Project Manager, and serve as the key interface with them for the project; provide them with technical support and monitor their delivery of their responsibilities and their adherence to gender equity and inclusion;
• Review the policies and legislative frameworks around land use planning in Karnataka and coordinate with the Policy advisor and partners to support the development of the project’s policy approach;
• Identify consultants for tasks specified in the project work plan, coordinate with the Project Manager and supervise their assignment, ensuring timely and complete reporting;
• Liaise with the Coffee Board, the Spices Board, State government Departments and other key institutional stakeholders to align with their programmes in the project landscape and cooperate directly in planning and implementation where possible;
• Attend meetings of the Project Management Unit and the Technical Committee; support the preparation of Technical Committee meetings.