Company: Mercy Corps | Location: Katsina State, Nigeria | Job Type: Full-time | Category: Programming | Experience: 5–7 years |
Mercy Corps is recruiting suitably qualified candidates to fill the position of Senior Natural Resource Management Officer. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership for natural resource management and ecosystem restoration activities, ensuring the effective implementation of climate adaptation and resilience interventions across project communities in Katsina State.
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disasters, in hardship, and in more than 40 countries around the world, Mercy Corps partners to put bold solutions into action, helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
Mercy Corps Nigeria implements a variety of programmes with the goal of building productive, secure, and just communities. Its work covers economic development, livelihoods and food security, adolescent girls’ and boys’ empowerment, financial resilience, conflict management, and humanitarian response. Common themes include community engagement, inclusive development, gender, and partnerships with local government, the private sector, and civil society actors.
Department Summary
The Senior Natural Resource Management (NRM) Officer will be part of Mercy Corps Nigeria’s Resilience and Climate Adaptation portfolio and will provide technical leadership for natural resource management and ecosystem restoration activities under the Protecting Food Security Against Flood & Drought Cycles project in Katsina State.
The project aims to strengthen community resilience to climate-induced flooding and prolonged drought through integrated watershed restoration, sustainable land management, climate-smart agriculture, rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems, and community-based natural resource governance. Major interventions include soil and water conservation, vegetative restoration, dune stabilization, sustainable rangeland management, and community capacity strengthening to improve food security and climate resilience.
The Senior Natural Resource Management Officer will lead the design, implementation, quality assurance, and monitoring of all natural resource management interventions while ensuring alignment with Mercy Corps’ resilience programming standards, national environmental policies, and donor requirements.
Job Summary
The Senior Natural Resource Management Officer is responsible for providing strategic and technical leadership for the planning, implementation, supervision, and quality assurance of natural resource management and ecosystem restoration activities across the project.
Working under the supervision of the Technical Project Manager, the incumbent will oversee field implementation of sustainable land management, watershed restoration, climate adaptation, and community natural resource governance interventions while providing technical guidance to project staff, government counterparts, contractors, and community institutions.
The position plays a critical role in ensuring that nature-based solutions effectively reduce flood and drought risks, restore degraded landscapes, improve agricultural productivity, and strengthen community resilience.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership and Programme Management
- Lead the technical design and implementation of all Natural Resource Management (NRM) activities.
- Develop annual and quarterly implementation plans for NRM activities.
- Ensure implementation of technically sound, climate-resilient, and environmentally sustainable approaches.
- Integrate ecosystem restoration and landscape management principles across all project activities.
- Ensure compliance with Mercy Corps technical standards, donor requirements, and national environmental regulations.
- Provide technical support to project management in planning, implementation, adaptive management, and reporting.
- Lead implementation of NRM and ecosystem restoration interventions.
- Ensure interventions improve ecosystem services while protecting productive agricultural and grazing lands from climate-related hazards.
- Provide technical leadership for sustainable agriculture and rangeland management.
- Support integration of natural resource management into agricultural productivity and food security interventions.
Community-Based Natural Resource Governance
- Strengthen community institutions responsible for natural resource management.
- Support establishment and strengthening of Natural Resource Management Committees.
- Facilitate participatory land-use planning.
- Promote inclusive governance involving women, youth, farmers, and pastoralists.
- Support development of community natural resource management plans.
- Strengthen local conflict resolution mechanisms around land, water, and grazing resources.
- Promote sustainable management of shared natural resources.
- Design and facilitate relevant capacity-building programmes.
- Develop practical training materials and field demonstration sites for communities and extension workers.
Environmental Safeguards and Compliance
- Ensure environmental safeguards are integrated throughout project implementation.
- Conduct environmental screening of project activities.
- Monitor environmental impacts of infrastructure and restoration activities.
- Promote biodiversity conservation within project interventions.
- Support compliance with donor environmental requirements.
- Ensure restoration activities contribute to long-term ecosystem sustainability.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
- Work closely with the MEAL team to develop technical indicators for NRM interventions.
- Monitor ecosystem restoration outcomes, vegetation recovery, and land rehabilitation.
- Support the MEAL team in tracking adoption of sustainable land management practices.
- Support field monitoring and technical assessments.
- Document innovations, lessons learned, and best practices.
- Support preparation of technical reports and case studies.
Stakeholder Coordination and Partnership Management
- Develop and maintain effective relationships with all key stakeholders.
- Represent Mercy Corps in technical working groups and environmental coordination forums.
Team Leadership
- Provide technical supervision to:
- Natural Resource Management Officers.
- Agriculture Officers.
- Community Facilitators.
- Field Assistants.
- Build technical capacity of project staff.
- Promote knowledge sharing and continuous learning.
- Support multidisciplinary collaboration across programme teams.
Strategy and Innovation
- Identify innovative approaches for landscape restoration and climate adaptation.
- Contribute technical input to proposal development and business development initiatives.
- Promote evidence-based programming and adaptive management.
- Strengthen partnerships for scaling successful natural resource management interventions.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Forestry, Environmental Management, Environmental Science, Agriculture, Range Management, Geography, Climate Change, or a related discipline.
- Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Environmental Management, Climate Change, Watershed Management, or a related field is highly desirable.
- Minimum of 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience implementing donor-funded natural resource management, climate adaptation, watershed management, environmental restoration, or resilience programmes.
- Demonstrated experience implementing ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management projects.
- Strong technical knowledge of:
- Watershed management.
- Climate adaptation.
- Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
- Ecosystem restoration.
- Soil and water conservation.
- Sustainable rangeland management.
- Community-based natural resource management.
- Experience working with rural communities and local government institutions.
- Excellent facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and community mobilization skills.
- Strong analytical, planning, and technical reporting skills.
- Proficiency in GIS, remote sensing, or environmental monitoring tools is an added advantage.
- Fluency in English is required; knowledge of Hausa and local languages spoken in Katsina State is highly desirable.
Supervisory Responsibility
Directly supervises:
- Community Mobilizers
- Field Assistants
- Environmental Facilitators
- Community Restoration Teams
Provides technical oversight to contractors implementing ecosystem restoration and land rehabilitation activities.
Accountability
Reports Directly To:
- Technical Project Manager
Works Directly With:
- Senior Project Officer
- MEAL Team
- Operations and Procurement Teams
- Finance Team
- Government Technical Departments
- Community Institutions
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to uphold the highest standards of accountability to project participants, local communities, government institutions, and donors. The Senior Natural Resource Management Officer will promote participatory approaches, community ownership, environmental stewardship, and inclusive decision-making throughout project implementation.
Success Factors
The successful Senior Natural Resource Management Officer will combine strong technical expertise in ecosystem restoration and climate resilience with excellent leadership, coordination, and facilitation skills. They will be capable of translating scientific and technical concepts into practical community-based solutions, building strong partnerships with government and communities, and ensuring high-quality implementation of nature-based interventions.
Success requires innovation, sound judgment, adaptability, effective communication, and a commitment to sustainable environmental management.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position will be based in Katsina State, with frequent travel to rural communities and restoration sites. Fieldwork will involve travel to remote areas with limited infrastructure and seasonal accessibility. The incumbent must comply with all Mercy Corps safety and security protocols.
Ongoing Learning
Mercy Corps encourages continuous professional development. Team members are expected to dedicate approximately 5% of their working time to learning, innovation, knowledge sharing, and professional growth.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should apply via the Mercy Corps Careers Page:
Application Closing Date: Not Specified