Under the authority of the Program Manager and in close operational coordination with the the PSD Liberia’s technical team and Project Officers at headquarters, the Head of component for Natural Resources, Value Chains & Environmental Sustainability will hold two complementary mandates. He will:

- (i) act as the project’s senior technical lead on environmental sustainability, climate resilience, and natural resources management (NRM), providing guidance to the full team and ensuring these dimensions are genuinely mainstreamed; and

- (ii) provide strategic oversight and quality assurance for the two implementing partners responsible for the cassava and wood processing components.

The position-holder will ensure that private sector development and value chain objectives are systematically linked to environmental and NRM considerations, and that the project’s Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and climate commitments translate into concrete, monitored actions at the field level.

The following list of assignments is not exhaustive, and additional technical tasks may be assigned by the Project Manager within the scope of the position-holder’s responsibilities.

•        Own and lead the implementation of the project’s Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), ensuring that all project activities comply with EU environmental standards, EF’s environmental due diligence requirements, and Liberia’s National Climate Adaptation Plan (2020–2030) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments

•        Serve as the project’s primary technical reference on environmental sustainability, climate-smart practices, and NRM for all team members, implementing partners, and external experts; provide guidance, training, and quality review on these topics as needed

•        Ensure that climate resilience and environmental sustainability are genuinely integrated into the design, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of all project activities across all three value chains, including activities managed by ILO under Component 3 (in coordination)

•        Lead the project’s engagement on compliance with the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EU 2023/1115), the EU-Liberia Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), and the LiberTrace timber traceability system; identify risks and recommend mitigation measures

•        Provide technical oversight for the integration of climate-smart agricultural practices in cassava (conservation agriculture, soil health management, post-harvest loss reduction) and sustainable forest management practices in wood processing (Reduced Impact Logging (RIL), traceability, chainsaw milling regulation compliance, certification)

•        Ensure that NRM and environmental sustainability considerations are reflected in PPD inputs, policy briefs, and advocacy positions developed under Component 1, including on topics related to the FDA’s Road Map for Forest Sector Rejuvenation, aquaculture environmental standards, and circular economy practices in cassava

•        Identify and manage technical experts for environmental sustainability and NRM assignments; draft ToRs, evaluate deliverables, and ensure quality of outputs

•        Ensure the “Do No Harm” principle is operationalised across the project, with particular attention to environmental risks in the forestry and aquaculture sectors

•        Ensure regular monitoring of environmental sustainability indicators in the project’s MEAL framework; flag deviations and propose corrective actions

•        Act as the primary point of oversight and quality control for the two implementing partners (IPs) responsible for the cassava and wood processing/forestry value chain components under Component 2 (Results O.2.1 and O.2.2)

•        Review and validate workplans, technical reports, deliverables, and financial narratives; ensure alignment with the project’s logical framework indicators, technical standards, and cross-cutting requirements (gender, inclusion, environmental sustainability) implementation bottlenecks early and propose solutions in consultation with the Project Manager and the technical team

•        Conduct regular field visits to implementation sites to monitor progress, verify activities and reported results, engage directly with beneficiaries and stakeholders, and ensure implementation quality and compliance with project standards,

•        Ensure that the cassava IP’s activities are coherent with the project’s market systems approach and MSME-first orientation, and that private sector actors (cooperatives, processors, off-takers) are meaningfully engaged rather than treated as passive beneficiaries

•        Ensure that the wood processing IP’s activities are grounded in a credible understanding of the formal/informal sector dynamics, the LiberTrace traceability system, the FDA regulatory framework, and EU deforestation regulation requirements

•        Monitor that both IPs mainstream gender equality, youth inclusion, disability inclusion, and climate-smart practices into their activities and outputs in line with project commitments

•        Coordinate with the MEAL Manager to ensure that IP-reported data is validated and that progress against Component 2 indicators is accurately tracked

•        Support the procurement process for IP grants and service contracts, including drafting and reviewing technical specifications, evaluation criteria, and contract amendments

•        Provide technical inputs to steering committee preparations and project reporting on the cassava and wood processing components

•        Identify and develop entry points for integrating NRM and environmental sustainability into private sector development activities: for example, linking sustainable forest certification to market access and premium pricing for MSMEs; promoting circular economy practices in cassava as a value-addition and climate adaptation strategy; supporting aquaculture MSMEs in meeting environmental compliance standards; and fostering linkages and synergies across value chains to strengthen resource efficiency, local sourcing, and integrated market opportunities.

•        Engage with key NRM-related institutions (FDA, EPA, NaFAA, MoA, Liberia Standards Authority) on the regulatory and policy dimensions of sustainable resource management in the three value chains; ensure that PSD Liberia’s technical assistance contributes to, rather than contradicts, ongoing regulatory processes

•        Facilitate linkages between the project’s value chain activities and complementary EU-funded programmes in forestry and biodiversity (Leh Go Green, ProBio, SUSTAIN, C4C, Our Forest Our Future, NaturAfrica) to ensure genuine complementarity and avoid duplication

•        Contribute to Component 1 PPD activities on topics at the interface of private sector development and natural resources governance: trade facilitation for sustainable timber products; standards and traceability as a market access enabler for cassava and wood processors; climate-smart investment climate reforms

•        Support the development of bankable investment proposals (Result O.1.4) that integrate environmental sustainability and climate resilience as a competitive advantage, particularly for wood processing MSMEs and aquaculture enterprises

•        Provide technical strategic guidance to the project team on NRM, environmental sustainability, and value chain topics as requested by the Project Manager

•        Contribute to regular technical team meetings; facilitate coordination between the cassava, wood processing, and aquaculture workstreams on cross-cutting environmental sustainability issues

•        Contribute to timely, high-quality reporting to the EU Delegation, including technical sections on environmental sustainability, NRM, and Component 2 implementation progress

•        Support the Project Manager in representing the project to government authorities, development partners, and other stakeholders on NRM and value chain topics

•        Identify capacity-building needs among project staff on environmental sustainability and NRM topics; contribute to the design and delivery of internal training

•        Support the updating of project management tools, risk registers (particularly for environmental risks), and EF internal reporting instruments