Carbon Programme Director

The Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) is seeking to recruit a highly experienced and strategic leader to serve as the Carbon Programme Director, providing overall leadership and oversight for the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project (NKRCP) — a large-scale, community-led soil carbon initiative implemented across 22 community conservancies in northern Kenya.

The project supports rangeland restoration, biodiversity conservation, sustainable grazing management, climate resilience, and long-term community livelihoods through carbon finance and landscape stewardship.

Role Overview

The Carbon Programme Director will provide strategic, technical, operational, and stakeholder leadership for the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project (NKRCP). The role will oversee project implementation, governance coordination, compliance with carbon standards and national regulations, community engagement processes, benefit-sharing frameworks, stakeholder relations, and delivery of conservation and livelihood outcomes across participating conservancies.

The successful candidate will work closely with NRT senior leadership, community governance structures, government agencies, technical partners, and other stakeholders to ensure the project remains technically credible, socially legitimate, financially disciplined, and aligned with long-term rangeland conservation and community development priorities.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight for project implementation across participating conservancies.
• Coordinate compliance with carbon standards, MRV systems, safeguards, verification processes, and Kenya’s carbon market regulations.
• Support governance structures, FPIC processes, benefit-sharing arrangements, and institutional transition frameworks.
• Lead stakeholder engagement with communities, government agencies, donors, technical partners, and conservation stakeholders.
• Oversee financial management, risk management, grievance redress systems, and project accountability mechanisms.
• Support alignment between carbon finance, rangeland restoration, biodiversity conservation, and community livelihood priorities.

Qualifications & Experience

• A postgraduate qualification in environmental management, climate change, natural resource management, governance, law, economics, business administration, sustainable development, social sciences, or a related field.
• At least 10 years of progressive senior leadership experience in conservation, climate finance, community development, natural resource management, or large-scale programme management.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex multi-stakeholder programmes involving communities, government, donors, technical partners, and private sector actors.
• Experience in carbon projects, MRV, verification, FPIC, safeguards, benefit sharing, or climate finance will be an added advantage.
• Experience working with community institutions, conservancy governance structures, customary leadership and county or national government in northern Kenya.

Key Competencies

• Strong strategic leadership and stakeholder management skills.
• Deep understanding of carbon markets, rangeland governance, and community-based conservation.
• Strong communication, negotiation, and problem-solving abilities.
• Financial oversight and risk management capacity.
• Ability to work effectively in complex, high-scrutiny operating environments.