Tropical Forestry Specialist

About NCBA CLUSA

For over 70 years, the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) has contributed to high-impact international development projects in more than 85 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Grounded in the seven cooperative principles, NCBA CLUSA’s international development work seeks to alleviate poverty through social and economic empowerment. NCBA CLUSA’s work focuses on building resilient communities, creating economic opportunities, and strengthening cooperatives and producer organizations. Our community-led development approach empowers communities to identify, promote, and manage sustainable, locally generated solutions.

Are you passionate about preserving Puerto Rico’s lush beauty? Do you thrive in the heart of dynamic forestry projects? If so, we want YOU to be our next Tropical Forestry Specialist!

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:

Embark on a thrilling journey as a Tropical Forestry Specialist, where you'll be the maestro of expert guidance, project development, and quality control for forestry services in the captivating landscapes of Puerto Rico. Your mission? To cater to a vibrant clientele spanning public, private, and NGO sectors, and to spread your expertise across diverse forestry domains.

But that's not all – brace yourself for an exhilarating twist! As our Tropical Forestry Specialist, you'll be at the forefront of innovation, seamlessly integrating technical tools and cutting-edge approaches into NCBA CLUSA project activities and implementation. Picture yourself as the trailblazer leading the charge in an anticipated USDA Forest Service project. Your goal? To champion the cause of underserved and small forest landowners, empowering them to thrive in emerging private markets dedicated to climate mitigation and forest resilience.

ESSENTIAL AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide technical oversight to project activity implementation.

• Collaborate with agricultural producers, Non-industrial Private Forest Landowners, and technical assistance providers (e.g., NRCS, Conservation Districts, Watershed groups, and university extension agents) to develop agroforestry plans that align with landowner goals and incorporate climate resilient practices.

• Design and implement training and capacity-building for project partner technicians.

• Develop and maintain positive relationships with forest landowners, producers, coworkers, partner organizations, agencies, research institutions, and others to facilitate program delivery;
• Stay updated on the latest agroforestry research, best practices, and emerging techniques; Stay informed about compatible agricultural and conservation programs available in the region and connect producers to these opportunities.

• Actively participate in thought leadership efforts in related technical areas.

• Contribute to project success stories and project communication efforts.
• Under the direction of the Project Director, contribute to project planning and implementation (including travel to project sites), monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), project reporting, technical quantitative reporting, and data analysis.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support marketing studies to develop and expand innovative markets for wood and forestry products.
• Support project partners leading GHG emission tracking on targeted private forests, land, and farms.
• Represent NCBA CLUSA at relevant meetings and conferences, as necessary.
• Support the process of surveying/assessing forest stands to locate and estimate the quantity of salvageable and commercially viable timber within the stand, using accepted practices and data collection techniques.

EDUCATION, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master's degree in agroforestry, forestry, agriculture, environmental science, or related technical area, or Bachelor's degree with equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in forestry, agroforestry, forest management, and/or climate areas.
• Strong knowledge of sustainability, regenerative agricultural practices, and agroforestry principles;
• Demonstrable experience in understanding agroforestry systems including riparian buffers, silvopasture, forest farming, and alley cropping.
• Experience working with private forest landowners, land managers and agricultural producers in implementing agroforestry systems, conservation planning, and climate adaptation.

• Experience in GIS mapping (ArcGIS or other), data management, and software relevant to agroforestry planning and analysis is preferred.

• Experience with commonly used online conservation tools and accounting systems (such as COMET-Farm).
• Familiarity with USDA rules and regulations.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to work productively with peers across Puerto Rican municipalities and U.S. states.

• Excellent writing skills.

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, to be able to accept and discharge substantial responsibilities, to prioritize work assignments, to meet deadlines, and to exercise professional judgment.

QUALIFICATIONS:

To perform this job successfully the individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential duties.

This position requires a positive attitude, attention to detail, ability to motivate people, ability to set priorities, negotiate, problem solve, and strong interpersonal communication skills.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Ability to fluently read, write, and speak English and Spanish.

TRAVEL:

Travel is required to project sites in Puerto Rico 50% of the time.

To be considered applicants shall forward Cover Letter and CV (preferably in English) to rholt@ncba.coop and a copy to mlaws@ncba.coop with the subject line: “USDA Forest Service Project_ [Tropical Forestry Specialist]”.

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