Earth Journalism Network Project Officer for Environment and Health

About the Opportunity

Internews is looking for a dynamic Environment & Health Project Officer to join the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) program to support the management of the projects that focus on supporting journalism on topics at the nexus of environment and health. Under the supervision of the EJN Asia-Pacific Project Manager, the Project Officer will oversee the roll-out of activities under two USAID-funded projects:

• The Clean Air Catalyst project led by the World Resources Institute and Environmental Defense Fund, aimed at accelerating clean air solutions in low- and middle-income countries. Internews EJN will be working with journalists in the three pilot cities – Jakarta (Indonesia), Indore (India) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) to raise awareness and understanding of the sources of pollution, and communicate potential solutions; and

• The Tufts University-led STOP Spillover project, for which Internews will be specifically focused on strengthening the capacity of Asian and African countries to develop, test and implement interventions to reduce the risk of priority emerging zoonotic viruses spilling over from animals to people.

The Project Officer will be responsible for the implementation and coordination of the activities for the two projects, and other activities focused on environmental health, ensuring quality control and providing technical assistance in project implementation. More broadly, s/he will be the focal point of EJN for activities at the intersection of environment and health.

Logistics

Internews is seeking to hire a candidate based in one of four cities: Jakarta, Indonesia; Indore or New Delhi, India; or Bangkok, Thailand. This position is designed to be remote-first. However, candidates based in Bangkok, Thailand or Jakarta, Indonsesia who are interested in working from Internews’ offices in these cities should feel free to express that preference. Please note that these offices are currently open in a limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most staff are working remotely until the offices are fully re-opened. The successful candidate may be expected to travel up to 30% of the time across the project region, once it is safe to do so. .

Key Responsibilities include the following:

• Lead the implementation of the activities of the Clean Air Catalyst and STOP Spillover projects, in close coordination with the staff of Internews (EJN, Health and country teams in Indonesia, India and Ethiopia) and other consortium members working in the pilot locations, with a view to successfully deliver the expected outputs and results;
• Support in the selection and onboarding of consultants and partner organizations as appropriate, including overseeing the contractual process, budgets, timelines and reporting, and participate and assist in the completion of such tasks as required;
• Manage the provision of story grants to local journalists, with the support of the story grant mentors and editors;
• Manage the provision of organizational grants to partner groups, and the arrangement of webinars on environmental health topics;
• Ensure financial compliance oversight and timely spending of project budgets, working with EJN Senior Finance Manager based in Thailand on a regular basis;
• Oversee the effective monitoring and evaluation of project activities with the support of Internews M&E Specialists;
• Prepare monthly updates, and quarterly, end-of-year reports and end-of-project reports, as required;
• Maintain consistent communication with all the consortium leaders and partners;
• Coordinate communications and workflow among senior management, project staff and partners;
• Coordinate and supervise consultants as needed to fulfill specialist and programmatic support requirements on projects;
• Participate in meetings and facilitate communication with project consortium leaders, partners and USAID directly or through the EJN Asia-Pacific Project Manager and EJN Executive Director;
• Keep abreast of relevant developments in the political and environmental landscape that could help or hinder project activities and objectives;
• Serve as EJN’s environment and health focal point, by coordinating EJN’s work with Internews Health team, support the development of this area of work through new project development and team’s capacity building;
• Serve as EJN’s representative in Indonesia and work closely with EJN’s Indonesia Content Coordinator and Internews Indonesia team to promote and support EJN’s activities in Indonesia;
• Assist with the development of concept notes and proposals for new projects relating to environment and health;
• Represent Internews and EJN at meetings with stakeholders;
• Any other assignments as required.
• In all duties, an understanding of and demonstrated commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values.

Qualifications We’re Looking For:

Required

• At least five years of international development programmatic experience, including project management, preferably in one or more of the Clean Air Catalyst pilot locations (Jakarta, Indonesia; Indore, India; or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
• English fluency required
• Experience in organizing training workshops and management of small grants
• Report writing experience
• Good understanding of the interconnectedness of environmental, human and animal health
• Ability to prioritize and handle multiple ongoing assignments
• Analytical and problem-solving ability
• Ability to coordinate, manage and motivate staff and partners
• Ability to manage up, coordinating proactively and efficiently with senior management

Preferred

• Previous work experience with U.S. programs and projects
• Experience with media and environment-related projects
• Experience working in Africa and other Asian countries
• Fluency in one or more local languages in the pilot locations
• Experience in journalism and media development
• Experience in dealing with health and/or environmental issues
• Proposal writing experience

Full details here.