National Consultant for Watershed Governance and Gender Specialist
Position Circumstances
- Career Category: Advisor / Individual Consultant
- Schedule:Part-time
- Salary: N/A
Assignment Title: Review watershed governance policies and plans; develop and validate gender-responsive climate resilience policy briefs; and train government representatives
Duty Station: The Consultant will be home-based, with frequent travel to the 6 target districts in Siem Reap Province
Expected Place of Travel: Siem Reap Province, Cambodia
Assignment Duration: Output-based payment for 140 working days, with the assignment expected to commence in September 2026 and be completed the assignment by June 2027
Reporting line: National Project Manager and Project Coordinator
Scope of Work
The National Consultant will update the Tonle Sap Basin (TSB) Watershed Restoration, Rehabilitation, and Conservation Plan by integrating future climate risks, resilience considerations, and climate change adaptation needs. The Consultant will also develop participatory action plans and enforcement strategies for the Stung Siem Reap (SSR) Watershed to strengthen climate-resilient watershed management, support ecosystem restoration and conservation, and promote the sustainable management of natural resources through stakeholder engagement and evidence-based planning. In particular, the main tasks of the National Consultant will contribute to Output 1.2 of the project, as described below: Output 1.2: Policy briefs and training on the integration of future climate risks into national and sub-national watershed management plans
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Duties & Responsibilities:
- The process will involve consultations with government ministries, technical experts, and local stakeholders to ensure that identified policy needs are grounded in both scientific evidence and practical implementation considerations, while ensuring the meaningful and equal participation of women in the consultation process. The review will also assess alignment with international commitments, including Cambodia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, to ensure that watershed management strategies contribute to national climate adaptation targets. The National Consultant will be expected to undertake the following tasks:
- Review gaps in the existing Integrated Tonle Sap Basin Watershed Restoration, Rehabilitation, and Conservation Plan and identify opportunities for integrating climate risks and resilience considerations.
- Conduct land-use, land-cover, and climate-risk assessments for the Tonle Sap Basin (TSB), supported by extensive stakeholder engagement.
- Conduct integrated ecosystem mapping to identify remnant forest areas and riparian zones along critical waterways; assess the regulating and recreational ecosystem services they provide; and map potential partnerships for sustainable socio-cultural and economic initiatives across the TSB.
- Assess land degradation to identify priority areas for restoration and rehabilitation.
- Incorporate the results of land-use and land-cover analyses, together with climate hazard and vulnerability assessments, into the development of a climate-resilient and gender-responsive Tonle Sap Basin Watershed Restoration, Rehabilitation, and Conservation Plan.
- Integrate the revised plan into the existing national spatial planning framework and relevant environmental action plans, including the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Action Plan.
- Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for regional and national decision-making bodies to institutionalize the management and decision-making processes outlined in the plan, including the streamlined use of decision-support models and tools developed under Output 1.1.
- Facilitate extensive stakeholder consultations to identify traditional, customary, and cultural knowledge and values related to watershed management, as well as climate hazards and vulnerabilities within the project area.
- Develop detailed and effective co-management strategies and action plans for implementing nature-based solutions in the SSR Watershed, with a strong emphasis on the protection of Phnom Kulen National Park (PKNP).
- Develop and support the adoption of detailed spatial maps and zoning plans for SSR and PKNP governance to facilitate boundary demarcation, land registration, and zoning for sustainable use, conservation, core protection areas, and community-based ecosystem conservation, restoration, and rehabilitation.
- Present policy briefs at validation workshop and provide trainings government representatives on implementation of the recommended policy briefs
Expected Profile of Candidates
Languages:
- Khmer - Good
- English - Good
Qualifications:
- Master's Degree in Natural Resource Management; Environmental Management/Environmental Science; Watershed Management; Forestry; Water Resources Management; Social Sciences/Gender Studies as a minimum
Skills & Knowledge:
General & Technical Skills
- The required skills and competencies of the National Consultant should include 8–10 years of experience in watershed and natural resource management or integrated landscape governance, with substantial national and sub-national policy experience in gender mainstreaming and community development. The consultant should also have strong experience in government stakeholder engagement, as well as demonstrated experience in developing policies, strategies, and action plans and delivering similar projects to relevant institutions, as follows:
- Watershed & Landscape, Land use Governance: Watershed management, IWRM, integrated landscape and natural resource management, ecosystem restoration, land-use planning, and upstream–downstream resource governance.
- Policy & Institutional Development: Policy, legal, and regulatory review; institutional and governance assessments; policy development; decentralization; inter-ministerial and sub-national coordination; and development of implementation frameworks, guidelines, and action plans.
- Gender Mainstreaming: Gender analysis; gender-responsive policies and indicators; Gender Action Plans; sex-disaggregated data; women’s participation; gender-responsive M&E; and capacity building.
- Stakeholder & Community Engagement: Engagement with government agencies, local authorities, communities, farmer and water-user groups, women’s groups, NGOs/CSOs, development partners, and the private sector; participatory planning, facilitation, negotiation, and conflict resolution.
- Policy Research & Analysis: Stakeholder mapping; governance-gap and institutional analysis; socioeconomic and gender analysis; development of policy options; resource-use trade-off analysis; preparation of policy briefs, strategies, and technical reports; and development of theories of change, results frameworks, and indicators.
- Technical Expertise: Watershed and landscape governance, natural resource management, policy and institutional analysis, GIS/spatial analysis, demarcation of Stoeung Seam Reap watershed, climate adaptation and resilience, socioeconomic analysis, and technical and policy writing.
- Development Partner Experience: Familiarity with UNDP, ADB, World Bank, GEF, EU, and bilateral/international development projects, including safeguards, gender mainstreaming, stakeholder engagement, results frameworks, and government policy processes.
- Leadership & Communication: Strategic and analytical thinking, policy negotiation, leadership, multidisciplinary team coordination, government liaison, presentations, and the ability to translate complex technical issues into practical policy recommendations.
- Excellent Khmer and strong English communication and technical report-writing skills. Fluency in Khmer is highly desirable for fieldwork in Siem Reap.
National Consultant for Engineering and Environmental Studies
Position Circumstances
- Career Category: Advisor / Individual Consultant
- Schedule:Part-time
- Salary: N/A
Assignment Title: Conduct ESIA/SESA and Topography Surveys, Engineering Design for 19 Community Ponds and Forest Restoration
Duty Station: The Consultant will be home-based, with frequent travel to the 6 target districts in Siem Reap Province
Expected Place of Travel: Siem Reap Province, Cambodia
Assignment Duration: Output-based payment for 160 working days, with the assignment expected to commence in September 2026 and be completed the assignment by June 2027
Reporting line: National Project Manager and Project Coordinator
Scope of Work
The National Consultant will work under the National Project Manager and in coordination with the Project Coordinator, government authorities, communities, contractors, and other consultants to implement Output 2.1: Implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in the Siem Reap/Phnom Kulen landscape. The assignment focuses on the preparation of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), SESA, conducting topographic surveys, preparing the engineering designs for the rehabilitation and construction of 19 community ponds, and assessing available land for forest restoration covering a total area of 2,174 ha in Siem Reap Province. This assignment brings together three major areas: engineering/topographic surveying, environmental and social safeguards/ESIA, and strategic environmental and social assessment (SESA).
The key roles and responsibilities of the National Consultant are as follows:
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Topography Surveys and Engineering Design
- Prepare the Inception Report, methodology, workplan, field schedule, and resource requirements.
- Conduct technical assessments of 19 community pond sites, including accessibility, degradation, hydrology, soil conditions, siltation, and existing infrastructure.
- Prepare a Google Maps-based inventory and location map of all 19 ponds.
- Conduct topographic surveys covering terrain, contours, pond geometry, embankments, and inlet and outlet channels.
- Assess catchment runoff, sediment yield, pond storage capacity, flood levels, and water-retention requirements.
- Prepare construction-ready engineering designs, including site layouts, excavation and fill profiles, embankments, slope protection, inlet channels, spillways, and related structures.
- Incorporate NbS and bioengineering measures, such as vegetative slope stabilization and sediment traps.
- Prepare Bills of Quantities (BOQs), quantity take-offs, unit rates, and engineering cost estimates for each pond.
- Develop tender drawings, technical specifications, scopes of work, and design briefs.
- Prepare the Output Completion Report, including maps, photographs, and supporting documentation.
- Develop community-level Operation and Maintenance (O&M) guidelines for pond and spillway maintenance, silt removal, slope protection, and water allocation.
- Document case studies and lessons learned from pond rehabilitation and NbS implementation.
- Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA)
- Conduct an ESIA for the 19 ponds and associated Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and watershed activities across six target districts in Siem Reap Province, including forest/riparian restoration, water-harvesting ponds, flood control, and other NbS interventions.
- Assess land availability and suitability for approximately 2,174 ha of restoration areas, including 774 ha in Phnom Kulen National Park, 800 ha in Community Forests, and 600 ha within the Siem Reap River watershed.
- Review project documentation and applicable safeguards, including project/technical studies, SESP/SESA findings, stakeholder engagement materials, feasibility studies, mitigation measures, Cambodian laws and policies, UNDP SES, safeguard requirements, and relevant international conventions.
- Establish environmental and social baselines through desk review, site screening, field verification, community mapping, and assessment of data gaps, uncertainties, geographic scope, and physical, biological, and socioeconomic conditions.
- Identify and assess environmental and social risks and impacts—direct, indirect, cumulative, and residual—across the project lifecycle, including biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services, climate resilience, pollution and waste, natural resource use, community health and safety, livelihoods, land/resource access, human rights, gender, vulnerable groups, Indigenous Peoples, disability inclusion, displacement, and cultural heritage.
- Conduct conflict analysis and community mapping, including assessment of conflict drivers, affected groups, power dynamics, stakeholder perceptions, existing resolution mechanisms, and potential project impacts on conflict.
- Conduct an Economic Displacement Risk Assessment covering potential impacts on livelihoods and access to land and natural resources.
- Assess the suitability and sustainability of NbS and restoration measures, ensuring they are technically, environmentally, socially, and climate-resilient; support biodiversity and ecosystem restoration; respect land and resource rights; and contribute to sustainable livelihoods.
- Assess and strengthen stakeholder engagement, ensuring meaningful and inclusive participation of communities, government, Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, vulnerable and marginalized groups, and persons with disabilities, including equitable access to employment and project benefits.
- Undertake consultations, information disclosure, and grievance mechanisms, including FPIC where applicable, and update/implement the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP).
- Develop mitigation and management measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate, manage, or compensate for identified risks and ensure compliance with applicable safeguards.
- Update the SESP and environmental and social risk register, including revised risk ratings, additional risks, and required mitigation measures.
- Prepare an ESIA Stakeholder Engagement Summary documenting consultations, key concerns, responses, and links to the SEP/ESMP consultation plan.
- Prepare a practical, site-specific ESMP informed by the ESIA and project design, covering mitigation, monitoring, responsibilities, timelines, costs, reporting, capacity building, stakeholder engagement, conflict management, livelihoods, biodiversity, climate resilience, and inclusion.
- Identify pre-implementation safeguard requirements and prepare supporting plans, such as Waste Management Plans and Cultural Heritage Management Plans, where required.
- Social Environmental Strategic Assessment (SESA)
- The SESA will focus on Outputs 1.2 and 1.3 and assess the environmental, social, institutional, and sustainability implications of project-supported policies, plans, programmes, and institutional interventions. Key activities will include:
- Review relevant national, subnational, sectoral, and local policies, plans, programmes, laws, regulations, institutional arrangements, international obligations, and UNDP SES requirements.
- Assess policy and institutional coherence, gaps, overlaps, capacities, and opportunities for strengthening sustainability.
- Assess baseline environmental, social, cultural, and socioeconomic conditions, data availability, gaps, and uncertainties.
- Identify and assess potential positive and negative environmental and social risks and impacts, including their distribution, cumulative effects, and residual impacts.
- Ensure meaningful and inclusive participation of women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minorities, vulnerable groups, and affected communities.
- Update and implement the Stakeholder Engagement Plan, including information disclosure, consultation, feedback, and grievance mechanisms.
- Identify opportunities to strengthen resilience, sustainable livelihoods, equitable benefit-sharing, inclusion, and community participation.
- Conduct an Analysis of Alternatives, including the “without-project” scenario.
- Develop practical mitigation and enhancement measures and identify institutional, policy, governance, and capacity-building actions.
- Prepare the SESA report and, where required, an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF).
- Establish monitoring and evaluation arrangements for SESA recommendations, mitigation measures, grievances, corrective actions, and environmental and social performance.
- Integrate ESMP measures into project implementation and monitoring systems.
- Summarize consultations, key risks, mitigation measures, residual risks, and project benefits.
- Provide practical recommendations for environmentally and socially sustainable implementation.
- Use and build upon existing project documents, including the SESP, ESMF, SEP, Gender Action Plan, Risk Register, Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework, Process Framework, Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment, and other relevant PPG documents.
- Attend consultation and coordination meetings as required by the Project Coordinator and National Project Manager.
- Prepare Conclusions and Recommendations as part of the ESIA to summarize key assessment findings, recommend appropriate actions, and evaluate the project's anticipated benefits in relation to its environmental and social risks and impacts.
Expected Profile of Candidates
Languages:
- Khmer - Good
- English - Good
Qualifications:
- Master's Degree
Skills & Knowledge:
General & Technical Skills
- At least 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience combining environmental and social safeguards, ESIA/EIA, water resources, irrigation, topographic and engineering surveys, infrastructure design, and project implementation, with demonstrated experience in Cambodia and coordination with government institutions, local authorities, communities, contractors, and development partners.
- Extensive practical experience in environmental and social screening, risk identification and categorization, ESIA/EIA, IEE, SESA, SESP/ESSP, ESMF, ESMP/ESMS development and implementation, environmental and social monitoring, compliance audits, risk registers, corrective action plans, and contractor environmental and social performance management.
- Strong working knowledge and practical application of the UNDP Social and Environmental Standards (SES/SESP), World Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), ADB Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS), AIIB Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), IFC Performance Standards, and relevant requirements of GEF, FAO, and other international development partners
- Demonstrated ability to identify and assess environmental and social risks at project, programme, policy, and strategic levels and translate assessment findings into practical mitigation, monitoring, management, and institutional measures. Experienced in preparing and/or managing multiple ESIA/ESMP assignments and supporting strategic environmental and social assessments.
- Strong expertise in stakeholder engagement, public consultation, grievance redress mechanisms (GRMs), gender and social inclusion, vulnerable groups, Indigenous Peoples/ethnic minorities, livelihoods and livelihood restoration, land acquisition and resettlement, human rights, labour and working conditions, occupational health and safety, and community health and safety.
- Experience assessing and managing risks related to biodiversity, natural resources, water resources, pollution prevention, waste management, resource efficiency, erosion, sedimentation, drainage, and construction-related environmental impacts, including development and monitoring of appropriate mitigation measures.
- Topographic and Engineering Surveying: Strong field experience conducting topographic and engineering surveys for community ponds, reservoirs, irrigation and drainage systems, including the use of RTK/GNSS GPS, total stations, digital levels, benchmarks, profiles, cross-sections, contour surveys, and UAV/drone surveys. Experienced in assessing pond capacity, embankments, excavation and desilting requirements, drainage conditions, and hydraulic characteristics.
- Practical knowledge of hydrology, hydraulics, water balance, pond and reservoir capacity, irrigation systems, drainage, flood-control measures, hydraulic structures, and water-resource management, with the ability to incorporate field survey data into engineering assessments and rehabilitation designs and watershed in Stoeung Siem Reap.
- Engineering Design and Infrastructure Rehabilitation: Experience in the design, rehabilitation, construction supervision, and technical assessment of community ponds and associated infrastructure, including earthworks, embankments, inlet and outlet structures, spillways, irrigation channels and pipelines, drainage structures, access roads, and flood-control works.
- Survey Data Processing, GIS/Mapping and Engineering Drawings: Proficient in processing field survey data and producing DTMs, contour maps, site plans, longitudinal profiles, cross-sections, pond capacity assessments, engineering drawings, and construction documentation, using AutoCAD, Civil 3D, and relevant surveying and engineering software.
- Technical Documentation and Cost Estimation: Experienced in preparing technical specifications, bills of quantities (BOQs), cost estimates, engineering drawings, survey reports, environmental and social assessment reports, ESMPs, monitoring reports, compliance documentation, and other technical deliverables.
- Field Investigation and Risk Identification: Experienced in conducting field investigations and diagnosing physical, environmental, and social issues, including erosion, seepage, sedimentation, embankment instability, inadequate drainage, flood risks, construction impacts, livelihood concerns, OHS risks, and community health and safety issues.
- Environmental and Social Risk Management: Ability to establish practical screening and categorization procedures; identify and prioritize environmental and social risks; develop mitigation and monitoring measures; manage GRMs; assess socioeconomic and livelihood impacts; monitor contractor compliance; support environmental and social audits; and develop and track corrective actions.
- Strong knowledge of Cambodian environmental legislation, ESIA procedures, environmental permitting requirements, construction practices and standards, and applicable environmental and social safeguards, with the ability to align national requirements with international safeguard standards.
- Excellent Khmer and strong English communication and technical report-writing skills. Fluency in Khmer is highly desirable for fieldwork in Siem Reap.
