We are Searching for a Community-based Climate Change Adaptation Consultant 

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About Spark’s FCAP

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Spark Microgrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Founded in 2011 in Rwanda, Spark has pioneered a poverty alleviation model that draws on the evidence from ultra poor graduation and community-driven development approaches, known as the facilitated collective action process (FCAP). The FCAP combines a cash grant plus facilitated community meetings and training to catalyze improved household livelihoods, stronger social cohesion, and gender equity in rural poor villages. Alongside its impacts in these specific domains, the FCAP has also proven to provide a durable platform for regular, inclusive village planning and collective action that promotes broader development within a community’s ecosystem of interventions and policies (such as health and education systems, agricultural extension services, and social protection schemes). Given the pervasiveness of climate change impacts that are only intensifying in rural poor communities, Spark is beginning to research, design, and prototype a climate resilience module into the FCAP structure as well as to conceptualize a more intensive environmentally-focused FCAP for implementation with specialized conservation-focused partners. 

Climate change is relevant to the FCAP because poor, rural communities which Spark tends to work with are on the front lines of climate impacts, vulnerable to the most severe impacts, and sensitive to loss of livelihoods, because of their dependence on natural resources. Communities also have the power to adapt and build resilience to climate impacts, if given the information, resources, and support. As frontline agents of change, communities (supported by the FCAP)  are critical to achieving  critical environmental priorities such as energy transitions, forest protection, and disaster risk mitigation and response. The FCAP can be a vehicle to build resilience and drive ‘climate-smart’ development, and provides Governments and Spark’s partners with a key tool to drive local climate action. 

Spark seeks an expert consultant to advise our design team on integrating climate change and environmental management into the FCAP. The consultant needs to have a background in environmental or climate change curriculums and in community development programs. They are expected to provide thought leadership, undertake research, and guide decision-making on key design questions;  including how should climate resilience goals influence partnership structures? What organizations should we be learning from and partnering with? What evaluations and research questions should we include in our M&E agenda to inform sound approaches? What environmental policies and programs exist in Spark countries that should influence our work and vice versa? 

Who you are

You are a thoughtful team player with significant expertise in understanding and applying best practices in climate resilience and conservation at the community level. You thrive in an interdisciplinary team setting, understand community-driven development, and keep up with the body of literature in climate-smart development. You gain energy from turning ideas into reality. You are a thinker, a clear communicator, understanding differing styles and backgrounds and you bring things up to your colleagues proactively that need to be discussed.

The right candidate will be passionate about poverty alleviation but will not want to do ‘development as usual’. S/he will contribute to a culture of learning and evidence-based decision-making within Spark and our partners. 

Responsibilities

• Advise on curriculum design and roll out of environment-centered FCAP
• Analyze and recommend resourcing options that can support communities’ disaster risk management and recovery projects as relevant to their context (i.e. separate pool of grant funding, separate funding channels, etc.)
• Contribute to team-wide learning on best practices in CDD around climate adaptation and mitigation
• Inform research initiatives to assess new levels of climate integration with intensive research and specialized indicators for base through post implementation.
• Build capacity within Spark teams to understand and implement best practices in climate resilient approaches
• Bring a network of conservation, environment, climate orgs and technical partners
• Input to standards around environmentally responsible practices 

Requirements and other considerations

• Educational background in conservation, environmental preservation, climate resilience, or similar field, and 5+ years of experience in related field
• Experience in community-driven development strongly preferred
• Experience in human-centered design
• Familiarity with practices such as climate smart agriculture and community based adaptation is preferred
• Knowledge of cultural, environmental, policy, and operating contexts in Rwanda or Malawi.
• An understanding of the technical situations and barriers faced by individuals living in rural African communities 

Other Information:

Position: Climate Change Adaptation Consultant.

Contract period: 6 month term, starting in September 2023, with potential to extend based on Spark needs. Part-time contract at 10 days a month with possible increase.

Location: Preference will be given to those based in Rwanda, Malawi, or Uganda

Salary: Dependent on location and level of experience. Spark offers competitive consultant fees. 

Application end date: 11^th  August 2023 

To Apply

Follow the Link to apply: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/careers/70 

Application Details:

• Attach your resume and a cover letter that explains why your experience and background make you the ideal candidate for this position. Resume should be no more than two pages.
• Please also include a sample of writing relevant to this position’s responsibilities.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Spark Microgrants provides equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. Employment decisions at Spark are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Spark does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by the law. Spark will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in undue hardship to daily operations.