Contract Manager & Research Lead – Regreening for the Future

World Vision Australia (WVA) is seeking a dynamic and experienced Contract Manager and Research Lead on a part-time basis (22.5–30 hours per week) to spearhead a transformative 3.5-year research initiative:
“Regreening for the Future: Integrating climate change adaptation pathways into community-led regreening in East Africa”, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

This is a unique opportunity to lead a high-impact, multi-partner research consortium and drive meaningful change for vulnerable communities and children across East Africa.

At World Vision Australia, you’ll be part of a passionate team working to create lasting change. You’ll have the opportunity to lead a flagship project with global visibility, helping to shape a more climate-resilient future for community-led development and environmental restoration.

Due to the nature of the role and the regular engagement with World Vision International Offices and international project partners out of hours work will be required in this position.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end management of the Regreening for the Future project, ensuring compliance, reporting, and strategic alignment.
• Ensure timely, high-quality reporting for the project, meeting or exceeding donor and WVA standards.
• Support contract growth within the portfolio by working with WVA’s Acquisition team to identify and capitalise on growth opportunities within the portfolio
• Coordinate a diverse consortium of partners including World Vision Kenya, World Agroforestry, University of Nairobi, and United Nations University.
• Provide technical and financial oversight, capacity building, and risk management across all project phases.
• Collaborate with internal teams to support donor engagement, fundraising, and marketing efforts.
• Contribute to WVA’s strategic objectives by supporting acquisition of institutional and private funding.

• Lead WVA engagement with WV Field Offices and implementation partners in the Regreening for the Future project
• Monitor field reports and follow up to resolve issues and strengthen partner capacity in grant and contract delivery.

Who we’re looking for

We are looking for a strong mix of technical expertise, leadership, and strategic insight, including:

• Experience managing or working on international development projects including to achieve impact in a developing country
• Experience managing complex contracts/grants, including leading consortiums
• Program management experience, including the development and communication of results
• Experience in research related to climate, agriculture and environment, ideally in an international context
• Account management or commercial experience in identifying or developing further opportunities
• Understanding of procurement or grants/contracts structures and processes of the Australian Government, public service, and/or other international organisations.
• Current passport, and willingness to travel as required

The selection process

For your information, the interviews will start immediately, and the role may be filled before the closing date.

We embrace diversity, employing people from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. We take our Safeguarding responsibilities seriously and we are committed to providing an environment that is safe for children. Our stringent recruitment procedures make sure the safest and most suitable people work with the children in our programs. All successful candidates will undergo all required pre-employment checks which is inclusive of a criminal record check. We provide our staff and volunteers with ongoing supervision, support, and training in their work with vulnerable children and their families.  World Vision Australia participates in the Inter-Agency Scheme for the Disclosure of Safeguarding-related Misconduct in Recruitment Process within the Humanitarian and Development Sector.

Who we are

World Vision is a Christian organisation that empowers everyday Australians to create meaningful change for children through relief, development and advocacy work.

We offer great benefits such as salary packaging, flexible working arrangements, free on-site parking and an onsite café for our employees.

For more information on World Vision and the work we do, please visit our website: https://www.worldvision.com.au/about-us