Ethiopia Restoration Project Manager

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office and occasional travel. You with be based in our office in Addis Ababa. This will initially be a 1 year contract with the possibility of extension. About the Program: WRI’s Restoration Initiative informs, enables, and invests in people that restore degraded land, converting them to socially, economic and environmentally productive lands. WRI’s restoration work in Africa supports the goals of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, AFR100, where with other partners, we have identified more than 700 million hectares of cleared and degraded forest and agricultural lands suitable for restoration across Africa. Since 2023, WRI is supporting landscape-focused restoration in Africa. Done well, landscape-scale restoration can revitalize African landscapes, while enhancing human well-being through food, energy and water systems which conserve, restore and sustain the continent’s rich natural heritage while generating evidence for scaling within and across landscapes. In WRI Africa, restoration is anchored within the Food, Land and Water (FLW) team, which aims at revitalizing and protecting landscapes for people, nature, and climate. The FLW team aims to build the resilience of our natural ecosystems to sustainably provide vital ecosystems services such as food, water, carbon sequestration, and climate regulation. In line with this broader programmatic vision, the Restore Local initiative works across sectors including finance, monitoring, policy, economics, and equity to catalyze funding for locally led restoration. Restore Local focuses across four priority African landscapes spanning Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and—the most recent addition—Ethiopia's Rift Valley. The government of Ethiopia as a global leader in restoration has established the Restoration Special Fund, a landmark opportunity which designates 0.5-1% of the federal revenue to restoration under the Green Legacy Initiative. Catalyzed by this monumental policy, after two years of implementation in the initial three landscapes, Restore Local is expanding to include Ethiopia’s Rift Valley to support the government in the implementation of the Special Fund. Job Highlight: As the Ethiopia Restoration Project Manager, you will build and coordinate the growing team delivering results in Ethiopia. With Restore Local, your primary responsibility will be to build a strong project management structure that brings together members of the finance, policy, and monitoring teams, enabling efficient collaboration and goal delivery in support of the program strategy for Ethiopia. You will also help manage the relationships and inputs of external technical partners who work across government agencies, monitoring bodies, NGOs, and multi-lateral development organizations. In this role, you will be responsible for summarizing and communicating progress both through internal reporting systems and externally with the help of the communications teams. You will also contribute to core operating procedures, such as internal progress reporting, MEL, grant reporting, budgeting, and hiring. You will report to the Senior Technical Advisor and the Policy Director and will work closely with the monitoring, policy, and finance delivery teams across multiple country offices. What you will do: Project management and delivery (70%): Provide project management support to WRI Ethiopia Restoration and Restore Local technical teams (monitoring, policy, finance, & gender and social equity) to ensure timely delivery of project milestones in the workplan. Lead project management responsibilities for the technical task force, serving as primary point of contact for the partners and ensuring follow up on project progress, deliverables, and timelines. Maintain project management system for technical taskforce partners, keeping an up-to-date record of primary contacts, participating members, assigned tasks, recent progress, and deliverables. Follow up with relevant WRI team members to capture progress and recent updates, escalating issues to management as needed. Manage day-to-day coordination between internal team members, including meeting scheduling, progress reporting, and ensuring project management software is up to date. Communications and engagement (20%): Organize and lead engagement and partnership activities Liaise with stakeholders including government partners and the Technical Taskforce members, following up on progress and blockages. Represent WRI in meetings with the national government, taskforce consortia, and other partners. Organize and support the planning and coordination of key events, including workshops with regional governments, National Forest and Landscape Restoration Platform and technical taskforce meetings. Collaborate with the communication team to develop a comms and engagement strategy that captures key insights and lessons learned related to Ethiopia’s implementation of the Green Legacy Initiative and WRI’s restoration work in Ethiopia. Contribute to communication materials like blogs, infographics, and project summaries to be shared with external partners. Administrative support (10%): Coordinate and input into WRI administrative processes (e.g., workshop planning, travel and logistics planning and coordination, project planning, budget planning reviews, donor reporting, among others). Complete administrative paperwork related to contracts, sub-agreements, vendor payment, etc., in collaboration with WRI operations staff. What you will need: Education: You have a completed master’s degree in environmental science, forestry, natural resource management, ecosystem management, restoration ecology, landscape restoration or other relevant fields. Academic training in GIS and remote sensing is an added advantage. Experience: You have 6+ years of professional experience managing dynamic projects. Experience in stakeholder engagement. Experience in people management. Experience coordinating the inputs and activities of technical partners . Experience in landscape restoration or watershed management. Demonstrated understanding of policies and regulatory environment in Ethiopia regarding restoration and natural resource management. Demonstrable writing, oral communication, and presentation skills. Experience with project management software such as Asana or Monday.com. Knowledge of Ethiopian fiscal policy and experience with financing for nature-based solutions would be a plus. Experience in international NGOs is desirable. Languages: Proficiency in verbal and written English and Amharic. What we offer:  A competitive salary   Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US.   The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities.   A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work.   The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI.   Long-term commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours.  Generous leave days that increase with tenure.    Potential Salary: Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors. How to Apply: Please submit a resume with a cover letter by 31 March 2026. You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of applications from qualified candidates. What we offer: Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours Generous leave days that increase with tenure. About Us: World Resources Institute works to improve people’s lives, protect and restore nature and stabilize the climate. As an independent research organization, we leverage our data, expertise and global reach to influence policy and catalyse change across systems like food, land and water; energy; and cities. Our 2,000+ staff work on the ground in more than a dozen focus countries and with partners in over 50 nations. Our mission and values: WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Independence, Integrity, Impact, Partnership and Care. Our culture: WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission including equal opportunities in employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, caste, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status. Our People team carefully reviews all applications. WRI is a trusted partner for change. Using research-based approaches, we work globally and in focus countries to meet people’s essential needs; to protect and restore nature; and to stabilize the climate and build more resilient communities. We aim to fundamentally transform the way the world produces food, uses energy and designs its cities to create a better future for all. We work across several topics affecting people, nature and the climate. We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to promoting a diverse workplace. If you are an individual with disabilities who needs accommodation or you are having difficulty using our website to apply for employment, please contact WRI’s Human Resources department at 202-729-7851. EEO is the Law | Pay Transparency Policy