Land Rights Area Manager – 2 Positions (National positions, recruitment Contingent on Funding). At ZOA

About the job

The Land Rights Area Manager is responsible to coordinate the delivery of trainings at district and sub county level, in order to build capacity on customary land registration processes, in close cooperation with the relevant authorities at sub-county and district level.

The Land Rights Area Manager will be employed by ZOA Uganda and is line managed by the Programme Manager Acholi (Team Leader for the Land Rights CD project).

The Land Rights Area Manager will directly supervise 2 CD officers. They will receive technical support from the Land Rights Advisor (dotted line). They will oversee MEAL activities in the region in relation to the CD activities, with support from the team leader and the MEAL officer CD.

Project specific details:

The overarching objective of the A-GRIP project is to contribute to: “Strengthened, food secure and resilient farming systems through increased accessibility, availability and quality of land tenure security, agriculture and food security services in 16 selected districts of the Busoga, Elgon, Kigezi, Lango, and Rwenzori regions in Uganda.”. The A-GRIP project uses a Results Based Financing (RBF) approach.

The capacity development activities (under outcome area 1 of the A-GRIP project) will be implemented by ZOA in Rwenzori, Busoga and Lango Regions and by other partners in other locations. ZOA has a strong track record in delivering land rights projects in northern Uganda.

Capacity development for customary land management is a prerequisite for the RBF roll-out to be a success. Capacities will be developed at district and sub county levels to fulfil their roles in awareness creation, conflict mediation, land registration and administration. Master Trainers will be assigned to deliver the actual training, with support from the ZOA Land Rights Capacity Development team in the first two years of the project (expected to run from November 2023-October 2026).

Responsibilities

Planning:

• Ensure budget, detailed plans are in place for the regional activities in line with the project design, including district and sub county work plans.
• Ensure regional CD team has clear objectives and work plans to ensure quality implementation of CD activities, in coordination with the team lead.
• Understand approaches within the wider RBF project, being used by project partners, to align and coordinate activities, making suggestions on adaptive planning and design as needed to the team lead.

Implementation

• Project management – organizes and oversees the day-to-day implementation of CD (training) activities as described in the proposal and as agreed with project partners during the inception phase.
• Liaises with and supports Master Trainers, at district and sub county level, in order to deliver the CD activities.
• Ensure all project outputs are delivered and objective achieved in a timely manner.
• Implements procurement, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) plans at regional level.
• Representing ZOA in any regional level working groups or coordination mechanisms in relation to the project, in coordination with the Team Lead.
• Sensitize all stakeholders (beneficiaries, service providers, partners, government and other) on feedback and complaint mechanisms implemented by ZOA Uganda
• Upon receipt of a complaint or feedback, ensure that it is correctly documented following correct reporting procedures.

Technical support and innovation

• Provides technical support to implementation of the CD activities being delivered by the Master Trainers, ensuring technical backstopping of day-to-day queries and questions in relation to Customary land registration processes.
• Liaises directly with the Team Lead and Land Rights Advisor (Technical Advisor ZOA at Kampala level) to ensure any adaptations and changes to project delivery and design are in line with the overall plan, and in coordination with project partners.
• Builds and maintains strong relationships with project partners, local authorities, coordinating partners (those implementing under other Dutch embassy funded projects), and other key project specific sector actors at regional level.
• Any other duty assigned by the team leader.
• Oversee, with the support of the MEAL Advisor and the Land Rights Advisor, the capacity assessment across all targeted Districts in their region of operation.

Documentation and reporting, MEAL

• Reports on the project progress on a monthly basis (internal and external reporting), and contributes to donor reports in line with contractual obligations.
• Identify, document lessons learned and best practices.
• Organize monitoring and data recording systems of activities in the project in coordination with MEAL colleagues and ensure timely data collection and storage/upload.

HR/admin/finance

• Budget oversight of ZOA regional CD budget; Manages regional budget and ensures expenses are incurred in line with approved budget.
• Owner of tasks for review and approval of expenditures and related cost allocations and payments.
• Ensure full utilization of the project approved budget.
• Ensures that project staff are conversant with their job description, ZOA’s internal regulations, standards, policies and donor regulations and get acquainted with their colleagues in the ZOA team.
• Supervises and carries out periodical evaluation of the performance of the staff assigned to the project(s) against established performance objectives in a timely manner.
• Ensures effective leave management within the project team, in liaison with the ZOA HR Team.
• Understand ZOA’s code of conduct and safeguarding policies, ensure adherence to these policies and that project activities are implemented with a “Do No Harm” approach.

Requirements

Knowledge & Experience:

• University degree in Land Management, Social Sciences, Development Studies, International Relations or other relevant field.
• At least 3 years successful project cycle management experience in a similar position, with a focus on land tenure, food security or related areas.
• Experience in working on multi-stakeholder programmes, with sensitivity towards stakeholder relations in the Ugandan context.
• Experience working in Rwenzori, Busoga or Lango regions is a plus.

Skills:

• Participative leadership with clear command of overall operations.
• Sensitive towards HRM and organizational issues;
• Good communication, writing and facilitation skills.
• Innovative, creative and enthusiastic.
• Good computer skills: Ms Excel and Ms Word.
• Self-motivator, able to work with limited supervision.
• Excellent spoken and written command of English.

Attitude:

• High level of personal integrity
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Interpersonal and cross-cultural sensitivity.
• Able to work under pressures and meet deadlines.
• Able to work in a sometimes fluid and insecure environment.
• Commitment to ZOA’s mission, vision and values (see https://www.zoa-international.com/corporate-identity)

Salary and other terms of employment

The Land Rights Area Manager will be based in the region of implementation, where ZOA is responsible for capacity building activities for customary ownership of land, with district and sub county stakeholders.

The Land Rights Area Manager will be report to the Team Lead (PGM Acholi) who is based in Gulu. Travel between the implementation area, Gulu and Kampala is expected. The Area Manager will be eligible for per diem when staying in Gulu or Kampala. Work space for the ZOA team will be available in a partner or DLG office. ZOA will not set up full offices in any of the regions under this project.

The role is 1.0 FTE (40 hrs/ week), Monday to Friday. Some flexibility on working hours may be required, e.g. for travel at weekends, or during reporting times.

The role is recruited at Grade 5a (2024 project scale) in the ZOA Uganda salary scale.