Intervention Manager

Job Description

The key responsibilities include the following:

Research coordination and facilitation

• Conceptualise, design, and carry out inter- and transdisciplinary research around valuation of ecosystem services, natural capital accounting and cost-benefit analysis of NbS, as a first step in facilitating wider scale adoption and scaling of NbS.
• Perform relevant analyses on economic incentives for building more resilient landscapes in the HKH, which should include building up a portfolio of appropriate innovative financing avenues for biodiversity conservation and landscapes restoration in the HKH, such as biodiversity credits, blended financing for NbS, leading to knowledge products to inform policy and action as well as the design and implementation of such measures and actions.
• Guide relevant publications and knowledge products on incentives (economic, governance, and social) as required and requested by our Regional Member Countries.

Building strong regional and global networks and partnerships for incentivising and financing NbS and building more resilient landscapes

• Systematically identify stakeholders, engage with partners and promote application of economically viable and effective NbS.
• Provide technical inputs to workshops, discussions, and design curriculum on incentive and operationalisation across restoring and regenerating landscapes Contribute to the development of proposals, conceptual frameworks, and methodological approaches relating to business cases for innovative financing.
• Identify emerging research topics related to economic incentives for natural resource conservation and sustainable ecosystem management, and strengthen the capacity needs of our partners as needed to promote inclusive landscape restoration and biodiversity management.
• Reach out to scholars in regional and global institutions, in the natural resource economy and incentives, for collaborative opportunities.

Implementation of innovative incentive mechanisms

• Conceptualise, co-design, and support the actioning of cost-effective and innovative incentive mechanisms to support landscape restoration at scale, building partnerships across relevant institutions.
• Provide technical assistance to ongoing field-based pilots on incentive measures, facilitating learning among stakeholders on the importance of incentive measures to support wider-scale adoption of NbS and other landscape solutions.
• Design actions that improve the economic basis of landscape restoration and biodiversity management, strengthening the relationship between the economy and natural resources, exploring means to reward and incentivise local environmental stewards.

Management of intervention on incentives for biodiversity and landscapes

• Hold accountability for the Intervention, including the quality and timeliness of delivery against results stated in ICIMOD’s Results Framework (2023–26) as well as delivering on the results requirements of any other bilateral projects, such as the Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HIREAP).
• Be responsible for planning, budgeting, and reporting of all activities within the Intervention, including any bilateral donor-funded project.
• Be accountable for the quality and timeliness of result delivery under intervention on Incentives for biodiversity and landscapes.
• Be accountable for staff engagement and management of the team within the intervention, including cross-SG collaboration.
• Ensure that intervention components and activities are well aligned to achieve the MTAP V outcome and targets, and provide clear tasks, roles and responsibilities, considering also staff development needs.
• Ensure that the right professional and technical staff are in place to deliver on the planned results and be responsible to track their progress.
• Ensure implementation of activities in line with ICIMOD’s project management standards and funder requirements, regularly tracking progress against milestones and targets, including spending targets.
• Lead the preparation of annual review, reporting, planning, and budgeting for the interventions and ensure cross-cutting elements on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), biodiversity loss, and climate change are integrated into intervention design.
• Identify risk and communicate to the Action Area Coordinator of the Landscapes Action Area, as and when needed and necessary.

People management

• Provide high-quality line management to staff in the work area as required, including leadership, supervision, and support to reporting staff. Ensure the ongoing learning and development of reporting staff.
• Support the recruitment and capacity building of reporting staff when necessary.

Job Specification

ESSENTIAL

• A postgraduate degree (Master’s or PhD) in Natural Resources or Environmental Economics, or related fields.
• 10 years’ work experience in addition to a Master’s degree or 5 years’ experience with a PhD in relevant field(s).
• Demonstrated experience in designing, developing, and implementing effective incentive measures such as Payment for Ecosystem Services, and innovative financing for biodiversity and NbS, such as biodiversity (climate) credits, blended financing and carbon finance.
• Experience in a wide array of other price-based and rights-based economic incentives measures that have been used for environmental management, such as taxes, subsidies, tradeable permits, and an understanding of opportunities and challenges of such measures.
• Experience of working with interdisciplinary teams, multicultural environment, and in the HKH region is a plus.
• Excellent understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem management, and demonstrated knowledge and experience in economic valuation methods.
• Excellent project management, coordination, and communication skills in English, proven technical/policy writing ability, and research and publication experience in resource economics, including budgeting and financial management for projects.
• A strong commitment to integrating and advancing GESI aspects in and across all workstreams
• Excellent networking ability and strong interpersonal skills.
• Willingness to travel frequently within and outside the region.
• Ability to prepare high-quality progress reports and knowledge outreach products.

DESIRABLE

• Familiarity with economic and environmental issues and the institutions involved in such work in South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya Region, including understanding of research methods in applied economics, such as natural capital accounting and blended financing approaches.
• Experience in integrated, ecosystem-based, and NbS and approaches, including participatory approaches.
• Knowledge of how the private sector works.
• Experience in communicating with a diverse audience.

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