CARE is one of the world’s leading international humanitarian and development organizations, committed to helping people in poor communities improve their lives and alleviate poverty. Founded in 1945, CARE is working over 100 countries to fight global poverty and marginalization. CARE has been active in Bangladesh since 1949 and is one of the largest programs in CARE confederation. Women and girls are at the core of all CARE programs because they represent half of the marginalized group and it is not possible to overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. CARE Bangladesh works to implement programs with long-term impacts that result in sustainable changes for the extreme poor and marginalized communities.

CARE is one of the world’s leading international humanitarian and development organizations, committed to helping people in poor communities improve their lives and alleviate poverty. Founded in 1945, CARE is working across 104 countries to fight global poverty and marginalization. CARE has been active in Bangladesh since 1949 being one of the largest country offices of CARE. CARE works to help people achieve social and economic well-being, while being among the best in their fields. CARE put women and girls at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. CARE Bangladesh is currently shifting towards a program approach, where it has developed longer-term impact visions to have more sustainable changes in the lives of the extreme poor and marginalized.

CARE Bangladesh’s Humanitarian and Climate Action Program is committed to provide people affected by disasters and conflicts with life-saving assistance, with a special focus on women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by disasters. Our action also includes preparedness and early action, emergency response and recovery, and resilience and adaptation to climate change and equitable development.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has selected a CARE Bangladesh led consortium to implement the project titled ‘Nature Based Adaptation towards Prosperous and Adept Lives & Livelihoods in Bangladesh (NABAPALLAB/ নবপল্লব)’ in two Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) – Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor. The other consortium members are CNRS, CordAid, C3ER-BRAC University, Dushtha  Shasthya Kendra (DSK), Friendship, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), iDE, and Practical Action.  It is a key component of the Bangladesh-UK Accord on Climate Change and will deliver the adaptation outcome of the FCDO’s flagship Bangladesh Climate and Environment Programme (BCEP). The programme will make a significant contribution in Bangladesh to progress against GoB’s policies and priorities e.g., National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), commitments to biodiversity conservation, ongoing 8th Five Year Plan, etc. And it will also contribute to UK’s commitment to International Climate Finance (ICF).

The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, and Hakaluki Haor, a complex wetland system of the Meghna-Surma River basin, play a crucial role in protecting lives and livelihoods in the southwest coast and northeast Bangladesh respectively.  With a population of over 4 million and a rich habitat with rare species, including tigers, the Sundarbans’ inhabitants are threatened by climate changes due to rising sea levels and frequent cyclones. Over-extraction of forest resources by locals and industrial development in the nearby areas is currently threatening this World Heritage Site. Hakaluki Haor is one of the most extensive marsh wetlands in the country, inhabited by over 200,000 people and 558 animal and bird species and is a breeding ground for fisheries. Due to environmental sensitivity and high anthropogenic pressures such as overharvesting, overfishing, pollution and illegal logging, the Sundarbans mangrove and the Hakaluki Hoar wetland are at a vulnerable stage with climate change exacerbating the current situation.

FCDO’s NABAPALLAB aims to engage biodiversity and natural resource-dependent communities to strengthen the climate resilience of the ECAs, conserve biodiversity, and at the same time, diversify and improve people’s livelihood through innovative nature-based (NBS) and locally led adaptation solutions. Besides, the programme will increase accessibility to climate resilient homes, infrastructure and WASH facilities and promote digital solutions for functional climate information and weather services as one of the key strategies to improve productivity and reduce loss and damage and sufferings from climate shocks and stresses. It will primarily target communities within the 10 km buffer zone of the ECAs, which are critically exposed and vulnerable to climate change impacts and have a lesser capacity to adapt to such changes. It will increase climate resilience of more than 250,000 vulnerable households and ecosystem-based protection and restoration of 5,000km2 area in, especially in the districts of Bagerhat, Satkhira and Khulna in the Sundarbans ECA, and Maulvibazar and Sylhet in Hakaluki Haor.  The project will consider the most marginalised communities, involving stakeholders from multiple strata and ensuring ownership of provided interventions. It will also enhance the capacity of the local government bodies to manage and conserve the ECAs effectively and create an enabling environment to implement relevant government plans and policies related to Eco-System based Adaptation (EBA).

To achieve FCDO’s NABAPALLAB goal, CARE and its partners   will work with different ministries specially , Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Department of Forest, Department of Environment (DoE), Ministry of Land, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED),  Bangladesh Water Development Board, Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) etc. of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) at the national, regional and local levels, to implement the most appropriate NbS and Locally-led Adaptations (LLA) solutions for the Sundarbans and Hakaluki haor ecosystems.  The project will ensure direct gains for national adaptation, mitigation and biodiversity conservation objectives in accordance with GoB policy and strategies such as, National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), National Environment Policy, Master Plan of Haor Area, Delta Plan -2100, Bangladesh Water Act 2013, National Forest Policy, National Land Use Policy, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), Bangladesh Climate Change Gender Action Plan (CCGAP) and other related policies and strategies.  This policy alignment and GoB officials support and guidance will be needed at multiple levels of local government institutions, at the district, upazilla and union levels – focusing on community led biodiversity protection and climate change adaptation approach and inclusive climate-biodiversity governance mechanisms. The project will facilitate developing and implementing solutions emerging from communities, government line departments, and from the private sector. This project will replicate proven best practices to scale up innovative models for better conservation and adaptation outcomes.

The Technical Advisor, Government Liaison and Advocacy (GLA) will formulate and lead NABAPALLAB Consortium’s policy engagement approach to make the best use of the structural advantages in relation to existing policy and political commitments such as the biodiversity related strategies in Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). S/he serves as the key focal point of the program with Government of Bangladesh, especially with NABAPALLAB’s focal Ministry –MoEFCC and its departments e.g., DoE, Forest Department etc. as well as other key ministries and their departments. S/he ensures that the GoB is kept abreast with key program developments and CARE gets full buy-in of the Government in implementing the project on the ground. S/he will also lead policy advocacy related to ecology-based adaptation, nature-positive livelihood and infrastructure solutions with the policymakers and private sector stakeholders.   is the Technical Advisor, GLA will closely follow policy development and changes in areas of biodiversity conservation, adaptation and mitigation, inform CARE of changes in GoB policy that could affect program operations and ensure CARE’s participation and inputs in the processes to assist GoB. On an on-going basis, s/he will facilitate meetings, events, liaison with key Govt. officials to secure approvals for project interventions and other day-to-day interactions with Govt. and Private sector entities.

Responsibility # 2: Policy Advocacy, Knowledge Management, and Utilizing Related Budget

35%

Responsibility # 3: Government Liaison, Capacity Building and Networking

30%

As part of this role, the job holder will be expected to adhere to and support CARE Bangladesh’s Safety and Security policy and systems as part of their day-to-day duties, and comply, at all times, with safety & security protocols and directives, including reporting. Staff must maintain situational and self–awareness and be aware of the safety – security-related consequences of their actions upon themselves, their team, and the organization as a whole.

CARE is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct and expects staff to promote the welfare of children, young people and adults at all times. CARE expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our Code of Conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate this commitment are recruited to work with us.

Team Leader, NABAPALLAB, Humanitarian and Climate Action Program

• Minimum 10 years professional experience among of which 3 years (preferably) in climate adaptation and environmental program planning and implementation in similar position with development sector, in   the   senior managerial position preferably in the GoB service.
• Master’s in science or social sciences, development studies/climate and environmental science, disaster management or any related discipline.
• Strong knowledge of GoB systems, functions and policies particularly MoEFCC and key adaptation and mitigation sensitive departments/ministries.
• A good conceptual understanding of climate adaptation, National Adaptation Plan (NAP), and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of Bangladesh.
• Conceptually strong to understand and analyze program strategies and the underlying causes of climate vulnerability including gender dimension.
• Good networking and liaison skills with counterparts and partners.
• Experience in writing concept notes, development of strategies and report writing.
• A good understanding of FCDO rules and regulations
• Excellent computer skills especially in PPT and friendly with communications channels and digital solutions.
• Excellent oral and written English skills.