MISSION DESCRIPTION
Under the supervision of Expertise France’s Team Leader based in Fort-de-France, Martinique, the Sargassum project officer will be deployed to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in Castries, Saint Lucia, within the Environmental Sustainability Division (ESD) of the OECS. He/she will be responsible for:
i) Supporting Expertise France’s Team Leader in planning and operational monitoring of activities to strengthen regional coordination on sargassum (component 1 of the project), in close coordination with various strategic partners, including the OECS.
ii) Supporting the OECS in the piloting and implementation of institutional and technical capacity building activities on sargassum management, in four of its member states: Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines, as part of a grant to the OECS (component 2 of the project).
iii) Facilitating the alignment and integration of sargassum related initiatives within the OECS portfolio, promoting a coordinated approach to maximize impact and ensure effective collaboration across projects and programs.
He/she will be supported by the grants officer (based in Martinique) who will provide support on the specifics of the grant’s management.
The main tasks of the Sargassum project officer are as follows:
Support to operations:
– Support on Component 1 of the project – Strengthening regional coordination
o Contribute to the planning and operational monitoring of the activities of component 1 of the project;
o Support the organisation of events for the sharing of practices and knowledge between public decision-makers, technical managers/operators involved in sargassum management on the various islands in the region (workshops, communities of practice, etc.).
o Facilitate the development of a common vision within the project and support ownership of the project by the OECS and the beneficiary countries;
o Ensure the project’s and its partners’ participation in dedicated regional/international events.
– Support for component 2 of the project
o Support the OECS in steering and implementing activities to strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of the Member States prioritised for sargassum management, as part of a grant awarded by the project to the OECS;
o Support the OECS in defining and operationalising roadmaps, with the Member States, for the integrated management of sargassum on the 4 islands of intervention;
o Contribute to the needs assessment for equipment and technical and human capacity building at all steps of sargassum management;
o Ensure regular communication between the OECS, beneficiary countries and Expertise France;
o Provide support to the OECS, in terms of governance, communication, relevance and coherence of activities, reporting and accountability
– Overall coordination and support to the OECS:
o Participate in project coordination bodies and other project representation meetings, and ensure that recommendations are implemented;
o Support efforts to align sargassum projects and initiatives within the OECS Commission, ensuring coherence and strategic integration.
o Facilitate communication and collaboration among stakeholders to maximize synergies and optimize resource use across initiatives related to sargassum.
Monitoring and evaluation:
– Contribute to the organisation of internal and/or external evaluations;
– Contribute to the identification of lessons learned and recommend corrective actions and improvements based on the results of performance evaluations;
Administrative and financial management:
– Support the OECS in contributing to the preparation of contract-related documents, contract negotiation, contract quality control and monitoring of contractual commitments, financial monitoring, etc. ;
– Contribute to the compliance with Expertise France procedures in terms of administrative and financial management;
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
CONTEXT
Expertise France
Expertise France is the public agency for the design and implementation of international technical cooperation projects. The agency operates around four priority areas:
• democratic, economic and financial governance;
• peace, stability and security;
• climate, biodiversity and sustainable development;
• health and human development.
In these areas, Expertise France engineers and implements capacity-building projects, mobilizes technical expertise and coordinates projects involving public expertise and private know-how.
With a volume of activity of 324 million euros and over 500 projects in its portfolio in around 100 countries, Expertise France’s action is part of France’s policy of solidarity, influence and economic diplomacy.
In the Caribbean, Expertise France is mainly involved in regional projects to support governments in fighting climate change and protecting biodiversity.
Launched in 2023 following the success of “Euroclima” in Latin America, the “Euroclima Caribbean” program contributes to the region’s green transition through climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts as well as the protection and conservation of biological diversity in the Caribbean.
Expertise France also implements the “RESEMBID” program in the region, which promotes resilience, sustainable energy and marine biodiversity, as well as the “Green Overseas” program aiming to accelerate the energy transition and increase the climate resilience of overseas countries and territories.
Funded by the French Development Agency (AFD), the Sargassum regional management and coordination project aims to foster regional cooperation dynamics in the Caribbean and support small island developing states in structuring a framework for the management and valorisation of sargassum.
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an International Inter-governmental Organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance among independent and non-independent countries in the Eastern Caribbean. Under the Treaty of Basseterre (RTB, 1981) and now The Revised Treaty of Basseterre (RTB 2010), Member States agree to cooperate with each other and promote unity and solidarity, including participation by Protocol Members in an Economic Union. Article 24 of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre requires that each Protocol Member State shall implement the St George’s Declaration of Principles of Environmental Sustainability which seeks to, inter-alia, achieve the long-term protection and sustained productivity of the region’s natural resource base and the ecosystem services it provides, and ensure that natural resources contribute optimally and equitably to economic, social and cultural development.
The OECS is committed to environmental sustainability in each Member State, which is essential to social equity and maintaining economic viability in the region. The OECS Environmental Sustainability Division (ESD) has four main programmatic areas – Biodiversity Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services (BEES), Sustainable Ocean Management (SOM), Sustainable Energy (SE), and Climate and Disaster Resilience (CDR).
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The aim of the project is to minimize and limit the negative impacts of stranded sargassum on local economies, communities and coastal ecosystems. To achieve this, the project consists of three main components and a cross-cutting component:
1. Strengthen regional cooperation in the Caribbean on sargassum planning and management approaches, contributing to the development of joint advocacy. This component aims to engage communities of practice and capitalize on the experiences and knowledge developed at all levels of the sargassum management chain: prediction and monitoring of sargassum drifts, collection methods, pretreatment and characterization of sargassum components, transport, storage, and their valorization into marketable products.
2. Assist small island states of the Caribbean (Saint Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) to implement integrated sargassum management and valorisation operations. In partnership with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), this component aims to strengthen the capacities of public and private actors in sargassum management operations. This component will enable the definition and deployment of a roadmap for the management of collection operations, through training and equipment of the personnel involved. It will also allow the development of early warning mechanisms for coastal communities and coordination with transporters, as well as the development of suitable pretreatment systems, and biomass storage at secure sites. To support private actors in the structuring of sargassum value chains, the project will launch a call for projects in the 4 targeted islands.
3. Support regional scientific cooperation to maximise global understanding of the sargassum phenomenon and feed into the framing of research-based public policies. The project will deploy a collective expertise network to bring together a group of scientists and experts from different Caribbean research centres to mobilize all knowledge and build scientific consensus on the complex issues around sargassum. In addition, the project will launch a call for research projects to strengthen regional dynamics around scientific cooperation and the implementation of concrete solutions adapted to the Caribbean context.
The project also includes a cross-cutting gender outcome, aiming to integrate gender into the integrative management operations of sargassum.
The main implementing partners for the project will be:
• The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States: a direct grant will be awarded to the OECS for the implementation of certain activities under Component 2 and Component 1, focusing on strengthening public policy on sargassum, governance and the technical and equipment capacities of public actors working on sargassum.
• Private or public-private actors involved in the sargassum management/valorisation sector on the 4 islands supported under Component 2 of the project. They will receive grants via a Call for Projects for the development of sustainable economic models for the management and valorisation of sargassum.
• The French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), which will provide a summary of scientific knowledge to date on sargassum (Collective Scientific Expertise mechanism) and producing science-based recommendations for political decision-makers.
• The laboratories and research centres of the various research hubs in the Caribbean and Central America, which will receive grants following a Call for research projects under the Component 3.
THE PROJECT TEAM
Situation/position: Operations Department –Environmental Sustainability Division, OECS
A specific team will be deployed in Fort-de-France and Saint Lucia. It will consist of:
• In Fort-de-France, Martinique:
o Team Leader in charge of the project technical and operational management
o Sargassum value chain manager (Component 2)
o Grants Officer
o Scientific knowledge building and learning officer
o Administrative and Financial officer or manager
• In Saint Lucia:
o Sargassum project officer to the OECS (ESD)
• Short term expertise based in the Caribbean:
o An expert in Environmental and Social Risk Management
o A SERA expert
o A Gender expert
DESIRED PROFILE
Education
Master 2 or equivalent in political science, international relations, biology, conservation biology, development economics, agronomy, environment, geography;
Experiences
– Extensive practical experience in managing international technical cooperation projects;
– Experience with projects funded by AFD is an added value;
– Practical experience working in technical assistance with public institutions;
– Experience in capacity building programmes/projects for central institutions and experience in institutional dialogue is an asset;
– Experience in working with sub-national, national and regional stakeholders is an asset;
– Proven experience on multi-country and multi-stakeholder projects or programmes;
– Experience in cooperation projects/programmes in the Caribbean is an asset.
Skills
– Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills;
– Excellent organizational skills and ability to meet deadlines;
– Strong autonomy, adaptability; responsiveness and flexibility;
– Ability to work fluently in English and French (written and oral), proficiency in Spanish is an asset.
– Very good command of office software.
How to Apply:
Applications should be done online: https://www.expertisefrance.fr/en/on-recrute?redirected=2#page-12713—1—sargassum-project-officer-to-the-oecs-environmental-sustainability-division-h-f—fr_FR
Desired start date: April 2025
