Community and Stakeholder Engagement Officer

1. Main Function

WWF Mesoamerica works to conserve ecosystems while improving the well-being and resilience of communities that depend on them. This includes protection and sustainable use of terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems, by strengthening governance and participation, promoting sustainable livelihoods, and building community stewardship, including by assisting communities to adopt sustainable, climate-resilient income-generating activities that reduce pressure on those ecosystems while improving socio-economic outcomes.

The Community and Stakeholder Engagement Officer will coordinate and support meaningful engagement with terrestrial and coastal communities, including fishers and fisher families. The role is designed to strengthen inclusive participation, promote co-design of local livelihood initiatives, and build partnerships that enable the effective implementation of sustainable livelihood strategies. The Officer will support communication and coordination between WWF, communities and stakeholders, including youth, by ensuring inclusive, culturally appropriate, and gender-responsive engagement that enhances local ownership and long-term sustainability of interventions.

This position is essential to ensuring that local communities and stakeholder groups are active partners in conservation. By strengthening engagement, trust, and collaboration, the Officer will help ensure that livelihood solutions are sustainable, locally owned, and effectively reduce pressure on those ecosystems.

1. Key responsibilities:

1. Community Engagement and Mobilization
   1. Facilitate inclusive engagement processes with ecosystem-dependent communities.
   2. Support the development and maintenance of positive working relationships with community leaders, fishers, women’s groups, youth groups, and local enterprises.
   3. Support participatory planning and co-creation of livelihood initiatives.
   4. Ensure engagement approaches are culturally sensitive, inclusive, and gender-responsive.

1. Stakeholder Coordination and Partnerships
   1. Map and support engagement of key fisheries and tourism stakeholders including community-based organizations and private sector actors.
   2. Support multi-stakeholder platforms and dialogues related to sustainable livelihoods and terrestrial and coastal-marine conservation.
   3. Strengthen collaboration among partners to align efforts.
   4. Represent WWF in relevant meetings and forums.

1. Livelihood Support
   1. Assist in the implementation of sustainable livelihood activities (e.g., eco-tourism, sustainable fisheries, blue economy initiatives).
   2. Support beneficiary selection processes in a transparent and equitable manner.
   3. Coordinate training, capacity-building, and knowledge-sharing activities.
   4. Monitor community participation and feedback to improve interventions.

1. Communication and Knowledge Sharing
   1. Document lessons learned, success stories, and community experiences.
   2. Support the development of communication materials (including stories, briefs and case studies).
   3. Facilitate knowledge exchange between communities and stakeholders.
   4. Promote awareness of sustainable practices and conservation objectives.

1. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)
   1. Collect and report data related to community engagement and participation.
   2. Support tracking of livelihood outcomes and social impacts.
   3. Contribute to reporting requirements and adaptive learning processes.
   4. Ensure community feedback mechanisms are functional and integrated.

1. Safeguards and Inclusivity
   1. Support adherence to WWF social safeguards policies.
   2. Promote gender equality, social inclusion, and equitable benefit sharing.
   3. Report potential social risks and concerns related to project interventions to supervisor and contribute to mitigation actions as appropriate.

1. Other
   1. Any other tasks within the scope of the role as directed