Senior Natural Resource Management Officer

AI summary

Mercy Corps Nigeria is recruiting a full-time Senior Natural Resource Management Officer for its Resilience and Climate Adaptation portfolio in Katsina State. The role provides technical leadership for natural resource management, ecosystem restoration and climate adaptation activities under the Protecting Food Security Against Flood & Drought Cycles project. The officer will design, implement and oversee interventions such as soil and water conservation, watershed restoration and sustainable land management.

• Full-time Senior Natural Resource Management Officer based in Katsina State.
• Leads ecosystem restoration and climate resilience activities under Mercy Corps' flood/drought project.
• Reports to Technical Project Manager and works with government, MEAL, operations and finance teams.
• Focus on soil/water conservation, watershed restoration, sustainable land management and community governance.

Original source description

Senior Natural Resource Management Officer at Mercy Corps Nigeria ⏲ Aug 3, 2026, 12:24 PM ⋕ View all NGO & Humanitarian / Nonprofit Organizations jobs Mercy Corps is a leading global organization driven by the belief that a better world is possible. In times of disaster, hardship, and crisis, across more than 40 countries, we partner with communities to implement bold solutions that help people overcome adversity and build stronger, more resilient communities from within—now and for the future. Mercy Corps Nigeria implements a wide range of humanitarian and development programs aimed at building productive, secure, and just communities. Our work spans economic development, livelihoods and food security, adolescent girls' and boys' empowerment, financial resilience, conflict management, and humanitarian response. Across all our programming, we prioritize community engagement, inclusive development, gender equality, and partnerships with local government, the private sector, and civil society actors. We are recruiting to fill the position below: Job Title: Senior Natural Resource Management Officer Location: Katsina Employment Type: Full-time 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. Department Summary 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 (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 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. The Position 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. Essential Responsibilities: Technical Leadership and Program Management: Integrate ecosystem restoration and landscape management principles across all project components. Support integration of natural resource management into agricultural productivity and food security interventions. Provide technical support to project management in planning, implementation, adaptive management, and reporting. Provide technical leadership for sustainable agriculture and rangeland management Develop annual and quarterly implementation plans for NRM interventions. Lead implementation of NRM and ecosystem restoration interventions Lead the technical design and implementation of all Natural Resource Management (NRM) activities. Ensure compliance with Mercy Corps technical standards, donor requirements, and national environmental regulations. Ensure interventions improve ecosystem services while protecting productive agricultural and grazing lands from climate-related hazards. Ensure implementation of technically sound, climate-resilient, and environmentally sustainable approaches. Community-Based Natural Resource Governance: Develop practical training materials and field demonstration sites for communities and extension workers. Design and facilitate relevant capacity-building trainings. Support development of community natural resource management plans. Promote inclusive governance involving women, youth, farmers, and pastoralists. Strengthen community institutions responsible for natural resource management. Support establishment and strengthening of Natural Resource Management Committees. Promote sustainable management of shared natural resources. Facilitate participatory land-use planning. Strengthen local conflict resolution mechanisms around land, water, and grazing resources. Environmental Safeguards and Compliance: Ensure restoration activities contribute to long-term ecosystem sustainability. Ensure environmental safeguards are integrated throughout project implementation. Monitor environmental impacts of infrastructure and restoration activities. Promote biodiversity conservation within project interventions. Support compliance with donor environmental requirements. Conduct environmental screening of project activities. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: Work closely with the MEAL team to develop technical indicators for NRM interventions, monitor ecosystem restoration outcomes, assess vegetation recovery and land rehabilitation. Support the MEAL to conduct field monitoring and technical assessments. Support the documentation of innovations, lessons learned, and best practices. Support the MEAL team in tracking adoption of sustainable land management practices. Support the 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: Build technical capacity of project teams. Support multidisciplinary collaboration across programme sectors. Promote knowledge sharing and continuous improvement. Provide technical supervision to Natural Resource Management Officers, Agriculture Officers, Community Facilitators, and Field Assistants. Strategy and Innovation: Identify innovative approaches for landscape restoration and climate resilience. Strengthen partnerships for scaling successful natural resource management models. Contribute technical input to proposal development and business development initiatives. Promote evidence-based programming and adaptive management. Supervisory Responsibility: Provides technical oversight to contractors implementing ecosystem restoration and land rehabilitation activities. Directly supervises: Community Mobilizers, Field Assistants, Environmental Facilitators, Community Restoration Teams Success Factors Success requires innovation, sound judgment, adaptability, effective communication, and a commitment to sustainable environmental management. 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. 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. Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills Strong analytical, planning, and technical reporting skills. 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience: implementing donor-funded natural resource management, climate adaptation, watershed management, environmental restoration, or resilience programmes. Strong technical knowledge of Watershed management, Climate adaptation, Nature-based Solutions (NbS), Ecosystem restoration, Soil and water conservation, Sustainable rangeland management, and Community-based natural resource governance. Master's degree in Natural Resource Management, Environmental Management, Climate Change, Watershed Management, or a related field is highly desirable. Excellent facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and community mobilization skills. Experience: working with rural communities and local government institutions. Fluency in English is required; knowledge of Hausa and local languages spoken in Katsina State is highly desirable. Demonstrated experience: implementing ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management projects. Bachelor's Degree in Natural Resource Management, Forestry, Environmental Management, Environmental Science, Agriculture, Range Management, Geography, Climate Change, or a related discipline. Proficiency in GIS, remote sensing, or environmental monitoring tools is an added advantage. Accountability 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. 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: Click here to apply online Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: We recognize that diversity and inclusion are a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening, and evolving to become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive than we are today. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. Equal Employment Opportunity: We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination based on race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status, or any other protected group in the locations where we work. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have a sustained global impact. Safeguarding & Ethics: We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis. As an applicant, if you witness or experience: any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ( [email protected] ). Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. Application Deadline: 14th August, 2026. View all Jobs in Nigeria Katsina State