Land Tenure Program Professionals

Grounded in the knowledge that having legal rights to land is a foundation for prosperity and opportunity, Landesa partners with governments, local organizations, and donors to ensure that the world’s poorest families have secure rights over the land they till. At Landesa, we foster an environment that values impact, collaboration, respect, dedication, and learning. These traits are the driving force of our success and are inherent in our organizational culture.

We are currently seeking passionate, highly motivated professionals with solid expertise to fill critical needs on our expanding program team. Landesa is seeking to fill the following three positions:

• A program director with both managerial capacity and technical expertise who will be responsible for the continued development and implementation of Landesa’s Africa and/or Central and Western Asia programs as well as for certain global initiatives/activities;
• A land tenure specialist (mid-level) to work primarily with our Africa team; and
• A senior land tenure expert who can contribute across our geographic scope.

These are outstanding opportunities to put your proven skills and knowledge to work supporting rural land tenure policy research, analysis and implementation; carrying out fieldwork; and making practical, realistic recommendations. Your work will require successful collaboration with various stakeholders including foreign government officials, country nationals, international aid agencies, other donors and across Landesa’s teams. These positions are based at our global headquarters in Seattle, but will include extensive travel to field sites.

Regional Program Director, Africa and/or Central & Western Asia

Reporting to the Chief Program Officer, the Regional Program Director (RPD) provides leadership, direction, and coordination of program staff to ensure the effective achievement of Landesa’s regional program objectives. (The regional assignment will be determined during the hiring process.) While the primary responsibility is for program management, the RPD is also expected to engage directly in technical work e.g. proposal drafting, undertaking specific project activities including field work, report writing, etc. (the time allocation is estimated to be 60% managerial and 40% technical work). The RPD will be responsible, directly and indirectly, for initiating, fostering, and enhancing key relationships with government, program, and donor partners and for ensuring the overall quality of the team’s work products. Well-qualified candidates will have a minimum of 12 years of related experience managing international development programs that included significant emphasis on land rights and access in the relevant geographies, strong leadership and supervisory skills, working knowledge of project and program budgeting, human resource management and experience managing internal and external senior level relationships in an international context. Direct staff supervision experience is required.

Senior Land Tenure Expert

The Senior Land Tenure Expert provides policy, analytical and implementation expertise on a wide variety of rural land tenure concerns including security, access, women’s land rights, land rights formalization, land markets, land administration and management, and land dispute resolution in a variety of country contexts. The Senior Land Tenure Expert prepares project proposals, engages directly in project management and implementation, participates in fundraising efforts, and prepares reports and presentations for a variety of audiences. Ideal candidates will have a minimum of 12 years of relevant international development work experience, engaging in policy research and in the design and implementation of projects, including significant focus on the types of land issues mentioned above and field experience.

Land Tenure Specialist

The Land Tenure Specialist provides policy, analytical and implementation expertise on a wide variety of rural land tenure concerns including security, access, women’s land rights, land rights formalization, land markets, land administration and management, and land dispute resolution. The Land Tenure Specialist prepares and presents analytical reviews, research and briefing papers, advisory memos on land tenure policy and law, training modules, presentations, and other products as well as contributes to the development of project proposals. Ideal candidates will have a minimum of 7 years of professional work experience, engaging in policy research and in the design and implementation of related projects, including significant work related directly to the land issues mentioned above and field experience in Africa.

All positions require a graduate or professional degree in agricultural economics, economics, sociology, geography, anthropology or law. Extensive field experience in the relevant geographies is highly desirable, as is the ability to work in French or Portuguese. Prior work experience with USAID, the World Bank or other multi/bi-lateral donor is considered highly beneficial.

To apply, please follow the directions in the individual job descriptions, found on our website at http://www.landesa.org/who-we-are/careers/. No phone calls please. Landesa is an Equal Opportunity Employer.