News - Mar 7, 2025

We are hiring a local Project Coordinator with expertise in rangeland remote sensing in Namibia !

An opportunity to join Nitidæ as part of a project on biomass energy from encroaching bush in partnership with the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF)

Project presentation (ESS-OBPS)

Bush encroachment is a phenomenon of land degradation due to the prolific growth of certain species of small trees or large encroaching bushes. In Namibia, it is estimated to affect roughly 45 million hectares, equivalent to more than 50% of the land area. While this is a natural trend in savannah ecosystems, it has accelerated since the second half of the 20th century due to both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic factors.

It now has non negligible negative impacts on certain ecosystem services (e.g. soil water dynamics, biodiversity). The use of this bush biomass for electricity production is one response to this challenge and the Namibian national power company, NamPower, plans to build a 40MW power plant in the Oshikoto region to exploit this resource. However, uncontrolled felling without post-harvest treatment, or aftercare, leads to an even denser and more rapid regrowth of the bush, and in particular of the species that are most difficult to valorise. Hence, the idea is to establish an FSC-certified wood chip supply chain from the harvested bush for the power plant coupled with a monitoring of the harvested and harvestable areas to ensure a sufficient level of environmental and social commitment.

A consortium of different organisations (NNF, IED, N-BiG, and Nitidæ) has been created to support NamPower in this innovative project which aims to maximise social and environmental impacts by structuring and supervising bush thinning activities. This will contribute to (1) rehabilitating savannah lands affected by bush encroachment in Namibia and (2) increasing Namibia's electricity self-sufficiency and diversifying its electricity mix from mostly carbon-based imports to renewable energy.

More specifically, Nitidae is in charge of 1) the reinstatement of the previously created Bush Information System (BIS), a web-based GIS application for monitoring woody biomass resources; and 2) the study of the potential valorisation of the power plant ashes including agronomical field-tests.

ESS-OBPS stands for Environmental and Social Support Project for the NamPower Otjikoto Biomass Power Station.

Position description

Mission

As the Program Manager for the Nitidae component of the ESS-OBPS Project, your main mission will be to lead the local coordination and ensure the planning and implementation of Nitidæ’ activities. You will also specifically lead/contribute to the woody biomass monitoring.

The main tasks will be the following:

Local coordination with the consortium partners (NNF, N-BiG, IED) as well as NamPower
Local interactions with the different stakeholders; in particular universities, harvesters and farmers
Prepare the planning and supervise the implementation of Nitidæ’s activities with the team support
Lead/Contribute to the production of innovative spatial biomass indicators through remote sensing: bibliography, satellite image processing, modelling, statistical evaluation and validation
Coordinate capacity building and training sessions, as well as workshops
Coordinate field inventories
Partly contribute to the creation or update of a web-based GIS application

Required Skills & Qualifications

We are looking for a candidate that meets the following profile:

Master’s degree with at least 5 years of professional experience in Remote Sensing or Rangeland Monitoring / Environmental Management
Project management professional experience
Good knowledge in statistics, spatial modelling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Remote Sensing
Ability to use processing chains in R, Python, or Google Earth Engine (preferably R)
Fluency in English, good oral and written skills to report and share results
Autonomous, proactive, and rigorous work
Motivation for team work and interpersonal skills
Professional experience on either remote sensing biomass estimation, field inventories, or bush encroachment and restoration dynamics would be appreciated
Knowledge of the Namibian ecosystems ecology would be a plus

Application

Status: 3-year fixed-term contract (3-month renewable trial period), contracted via NNF

Desired start date (indicative): 14 April 2025, depending on the candidate's availability.

Position based in Windhoek, within the NNF office, with extended work stays in Tsumeb and in the surrounding region for fieldwork.

Applications should be sent to cv@nnf.org.na, stating “Project Coordinator – Rangeland Remote Sensing” in the subject and joining the following elements:

A Curriculum Vitae describing previously accomplished work related to the vacancy;
Cover letter with indication of availability;
Copy of driver’s licence;
Copies of certified academic qualifications; and
As far as available, relevant reference letters with link to above mentioned experiences, or contact details of reference persons

Application closing date: 20/03/2025 at 17:00

Download the full job offer here