Project Manager – Sustainable Farming

The Project Manager – Sustainable Farming will lead the planning, implementation, and monitoring of Emirates Nature–WWF’s Sustainable Farming and Agroecology Initiative, which advances sustainable agricultural practices in the UAE to enhance food security, restore biodiversity, and strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers.

Building on successful pilots in mountain and rural communities, the initiative aims to demonstrate climate-resilient and economically viable farming models that align with the UAE’s national priorities on sustainable food systems, biodiversity, and rural development.

The Project Manager will be responsible for overseeing the design and delivery of project activities — including demonstration farms, community capacity building, and value chain activation — while ensuring robust stakeholder engagement across government entities, private sector partners, donors, and local farmers.

This role requires strong project management expertise, a solid understanding of sustainable agriculture and ecosystem restoration, and a demonstrated ability to coordinate multi-stakeholder partnerships. The successful candidate will ensure the project’s effective delivery, governance compliance, and impact measurement, contributing directly to Emirates Nature–WWF’s strategic objectives and the UAE’s sustainability agenda.

Emirates Nature is a UAE environmental non-governmental charity, established in 2001 under the Honorary Founder and President H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan as a legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed’s vision for the United Arab Emirates. HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the Ruler’s representative in the Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of Environmental Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) Board of Directors.

We operate with offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah and are governed by a local board of directors.

Emirates Nature works in association with WWF, one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. Emirates Nature-WWF has been active in the UAE for two decades and is renowned for its commitment to biodiversity conservation, habitat protection, sustainable development, and community engagement. Some of our flagship projects include marine conservation initiatives to protect coral reefs and marine species, wildlife conservation programs focusing on endangered species such as Arabian oryx and sea turtles, habitat restoration projects in critical ecosystems, and sustainable development initiatives aimed at mitigating climate change impacts and promoting eco-friendly practices across various sectors.

It is our organizational objective to ensure a high performing workforce within our offices with highly efficient, skilled members all of whom will be unilaterally focused on supporting and delivering conservation activities to our stakeholders within the UAE.

Project Planning

• Contribute to funding proposals, donor reports, and strategic plans for scaling the initiative.
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the project’s scope, objectives, deliverables, and expected conservation benefits, ensuring full alignment with Emirates Nature–WWF’s strategic goals.
• Develop detailed work plans, budgets, and implementation frameworks aligned with project objectives.
• Define KPIs and monitoring systems to assess environmental, social, and economic outcomes.

Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships

• Serve as focal point for partnerships with government entities, local farmers, the hospitality sector and private sector partners.
• Facilitate participatory engagement with rural communities to co-design sustainable farming practices and protocols.
• Strengthen partnerships to activate the value chain and create market demand for sustainable local produce.
• Support policy dialogues and knowledge exchange on agroecology and food system transformation.
• Provide regular updates to leadership, sponsors, donors, and other key stakeholders to ensure transparency and alignment.
• Facilitate meetings, site visits, workshops, events and presentations, and prepare reports accordingly.

Execution & Implementation

• Coordinate with technical experts, vendors, and contractors to ensure timely and quality delivery of outputs.
• Support the technical team in facilitating fieldwork activities – including site access, stakeholder approvals, logistics, and vendor engagement – ensuring timely execution within agreed timelines and budgets.
• Coordinate the establishment of demonstration farms across selected villages to pilot agroecology and sustainable farming models.
• As required, oversee field activities including site preparation, training workshops, and farmer capacity-building sessions.
• Represent the organization during external meetings and workshops
• Support community events, majlis, and cultural showcases to celebrate Emirati farming heritage.
• Support the development of communication materials including videos, documentaries, and outreach campaigns showcasing project results.

Budget, Risk & Resource Management

• Prepare and track project budgets and forecasts in coordination with Finance.
• Ensure compliance with donor and internal financial requirements.
• Liaise with Finance team on a regular basis to monitor project expenditures, activities costs, and financial decision-making.
• Proactively identify potential risks related to scope, schedule, budget, and quality; escalate and communicate key risk factors to leadership, sponsors, and senior stakeholders as needed.
• Maintain and update the project risk register, identifying mitigation strategies.
• Manage consultants, service providers, and internal project resources efficiently.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting

• Oversee project execution to ensure alignment with contractual obligations and donor expectations.
• Effectively manage assigned project(s), monitor and report on progress and achievements using relevant KPIs and program management frameworks.
• Conduct project evaluations at close-out and document key lessons learned.
• Ensure all projects adhere to Programme Delivery standards as set by the organization.
• Proactively identify dependencies between project teams and reinforce clear communication to align on project delivery outcomes.
• Ensure accurate and up-to-date maintenance of all project documentation, including work plans, progress reports, risk registers, presentations, and meeting minutes.
• Ensure lessons learned are captured and integrated into future planning

Leadership & Team Management

• Effectively manage the deliverables of project team members and consultants, both field and office-based, and provide coaching and mentorship to junior staff as needed
• Manage third-party vendors, consultants, and service providers; collaborate with Emirates Nature–WWF’s Legal team on contract preparation and related legal matters as needed.
• Promote knowledge sharing and the dissemination of lessons learned across the project and wider organization.
• Stay informed on international best practices and regional developments to ensure that Emirates Nature–WWF’s solutions align with both global priorities (including WWF’s focus areas) and local contexts

Skills:

• Proven project management skills, including planning, budgeting, and reporting
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication abilities
• Experience managing multi-disciplinary teams, consultants, and third-party vendors
• Strategic thinking with strong problem-solving and risk management skills

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of experience managing projects/programmes in diverse fields.
• Proven experience in multi-stakeholder coordination and community engagement.
• Understanding of sustainable agriculture, agroecology, or development practices.
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation frameworks and multi-donor-funded projects.
• Familiarity with the UAE agricultural and environmental policy context is desirable.D
• Demonstrated success in delivering multi-stakeholder or multi-disciplinary projects in complex settings.
• Experience with engineering, architecture design or tourism is an asset.

Education:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business/Management, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Natural Resource Management, or related field.
• Certification in Project Management (PMP, PRINCE2, etc.) preferred.
• Familiarity with civil or environmental engineering principles is highly desirable.
• Fluency in English (essential).
• Fluency in Arabic (highly desirable).

Internal - Collaborates closely with the Conservation Unit, Programme Delivery, Operations, Finance, Communications, and Strategic Partnerships teams to ensure integrated project planning, delivery, and reporting.

External - Engages with UAE government entities, community partners, private sector stakeholders, and donors to coordinate implementation and represent Emirates Nature–WWF in forums related to sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Emirates Nature-WWF is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome diversity in the workplace and offer a flexible and diverse place of employment.

Emirates Nature-WWF staff participate wholeheartedly in general activities and events that require the full support and participation of all staff members, whether the focus of any particular event or activity has any bearing on the job description and assigned project objectives and activities.

Please send your application consisting of a cover letter explaining why you are the right candidate to work with EN-WWF and your CV with the subject ‘Application: Project Manager – Sustainable Farming’ to the attention of Ms Magdalena Tayoun on careers@enwwf.ae before 30th November 2025.

Emirates Nature reserves the right to appoint a candidate prior this date.