Community Engagement Advisor (Soil Values Bamako or Ouagadougou)

SNV is a global development partner, deeply rooted in the countries where we operate. Driven by a vision of a better world where all people live with dignity and have equitable opportunities to thrive sustainably, SNV strengthens capacities and catalyses partnerships that transform agri-food, energy, and water systems. We help strengthen institutions and effective governance, reduce gender inequalities and barriers to social inclusion, and enable adaptation and mitigation to the climate and biodiversity crises. With 60 years of experience and a team of approximately 1,600 people, we support our partners in more than 20 countries in Africa and Asia, tailoring our approaches to different contexts to achieve large-scale impact and create more equitable lives for all.

Our CARE principles—Committed to Impact, Adaptive to Context, Respecting Differences, and Expertise in Practice—are at the heart of who we are and the work we do. These principles are embedded in our vision, mission, and strategy, which serve as our compass guiding us towards 2030.
For more information on SNV, please refer to our website: www.snv.org

Project Background

The Dutch government, through its Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS), has funded a ten-year “Soil Values” programme (2024-2033) in Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Mali. The project is implemented by IFDC (lead of consortium), SNV, and Wageningen University, together with several leading knowledge partners (https://ifdc.org/projects/soil-values/). Soil Values project aims to support the large-scale adoption of proven soil health technologies and approaches, ensuring social inclusion, that improve soil fertility on 2.0 million hectares of arable land for 1.5 million smallholder food producers in 40 watersheds.

The programme seeks to sustainably improve soil health to boost agricultural productivity and resilience, particularly for smallholder farmers in the Sahel, including marginalised groups. It focuses on three main areas: promoting agroecology, developing inclusive markets and finance, and fostering supportive institutional environments. SNV is responsible for integrating community and landscape approaches, combining local knowledge with nature-based and external solutions to improve soil fertility and water conservation through participatory, community-driven watershed management.

As Community engagement Advisor, you are leading Soil Values community engagement approach across 3 countries in the Sahel. By doing so you contribute to the component 2 – INTEGRATE – of Soil Values project. Capitalizing on the landscape assessments and ILM guidance provided SNV, IWMI, IFDC and other knowledge partners across several river basins, you drive a strategic agenda which engages partners and stakeholders towards next-stage landscape transformation on the following topics:

1. Facilitate Community watershed planning: Mobilize local stakeholders and support Inclusive Landscape Management (ILM) and watershed planning to identify soil fertility challenges and community priorities.
2. Conduct Participatory Assessments: Lead participatory analyses with communities using PRA tools and Geoportal data to understand landscape constraints and identify sustainable land management opportunities.
3. Strengthen Capacity and promote soil health practices: Support training, Farmer Field Schools, and demonstration activities to promote Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) and agroecological practices while linking communities with extension services and partners.
4. Promote inclusion and partnerships: Ensure active participation of women, youth, and marginalized groups and support collaboration with stakeholders and programs such as the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) and DGIS funded Program to mobilize investments.
5. Support monitoring and knowledge sharing: Track progress of community watershed plans, document lessons learned and contribute to reporting and knowledge sharing within the Soil Values program.

Together with the FSRP, DGIS-Funded programs field teams, Country Field Leads and Local Implementation Partners (LIP), you facilitate the Community engagement and the ILM process to strengthen their capacity to guide and implement potential solutions. During the process, you pay special attention to climate-resilient aspects of the solutions and conflict management on natural resources, such as land, water, pastures, and forest. You make yourself familiar and further develop facilitation methods described in the Inclusive ILM guide to ensure that women, youth, pastoralists, and other vulnerable groups contribute to the discussions and that the solutions chosen also to address their specific problems.

You are a trusted and experienced partner for internal colleagues and external stakeholders, particularly at community and local government levels. As an organized and strategic practitioner in community engagement and inclusive landscape management, you are able to manage multiple priorities while facilitating collaboration among diverse actors. Through strong facilitation, guidance, and coaching, you support communities and local partners in developing and implementing sustainable soil fertility and land management practices.

You are skilled at managing change and building trust, enabling you to work effectively with farmers, community leaders, government institutions, and development partners. You are able to bridge the perspectives of consortium partners with the realities and needs of communities and national stakeholders, ensuring that interventions remain locally relevant and inclusive.

Working in a results-oriented, flexible, hands-on manner, you are committed to achieving SNV and Soil Values program objectives. As a practitioner in community-based landscape and watershed management, you demonstrate cultural sensitivity and build strong relationships with communities and partners across the program’s intervention areas.

You actively promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring the meaningful participation of women, youth, and marginalized groups in project activities and decision-making processes.

In this role, you facilitate stakeholder engagement and community participation processes, support the development of community landscape management plans, and coordinate with local implementation partners and Field Leads to ensure effective implementation and learning within the Soil Values program.

Duties & Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the Community Engagement Advisor will include the following points:

Key Responsibility:

A. Community watershed landscapes engagement & planning

• Mobilize and organize local stakeholders: Identify relevant stakeholders and map their interest. Facilitate community entry, build trust, and strengthen farmer groups, village committees, and multi-stakeholder platforms to engage in soil fertility management planning.
• Participatory situational analysis: Assist in conducting participatory rural appraisals (PRA), focus groups, and mapping exercises to document local soil fertility challenges, indigenous knowledge, and community priorities.
• Coordinate Development of inclusive Community Landscapes Management Plans: Develop a shared vision for the community watershed reflecting the aspirations of all stakeholders and role of ISFM can play and set up a specific, measurable, achievable and time-bound goal to drive community integrated soil fertility management plans with clearly defined priorities and commitments of community to address soil fertility issues.
• Facilitate bottom-up ISFM strategies development and decision-making: Develop methodology to guide communities in setting their own priorities for soil fertility interventions, ensuring inclusion of women, youth, and marginalized groups. Ensure strategies are sustainable, inclusive and promote equitable access to project resources and benefits.
• Coordinate awareness campaigns: Design and implement local awareness activities on soil health practices and benefits. Catalyze community learning by developing and testing-demonstration of joint implementation and outlining roles, responsibilities, timelines and resources.
• Establish monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track progress and measure the impact of ISFM planning and management action at community watersheds. Use feedback loops to adjust strategies and actions as needed ensuring continuous improvement.

B. Capacity building & knowledge sharing

• Organize and facilitate community training on integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and sustainable land use practices.
• Support the establishment of community learning platforms (Farmer Field Schools, demo sites, women/youth-led extension).
• Mentor Community-Based Facilitators (CBFs), LIPs and lead farmers to sustain knowledge dissemination.
• Link communities with knowledge and service providers: Broker connections to extension agents, input suppliers, microfinance institutions, and local authorities to support implementation of agreed interventions.

C. Inclusion, Feedback, and Monitoring

• Apply the Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) approach to ensure inclusive participation.
• Establish community-level feedback mechanisms for adaptive management.
• Design and use participatory M&E tools to track adoption and behavioral change at the community level.

D. Reporting & Documentation

• Coordinate the field reports, training summaries, and progress updates.
• Contribute to knowledge products such as community engagement briefs, sustainability plans, and exit strategies.
• Coordinate the assessment of existing formal and informal conflict resolution mechanisms including their strengths and weaknesses, with a focus on land disputes, and evaluate their effectiveness.
• Identify gaps and opportunities to strengthen local governance systems in preventing conflicts over natural resources.
• Propose conflict-sensitive agricultural interventions that address land-related disputes and promote equitable access to resources and support policy and institutional reform.

To be considered for this role, you are expected to bring:

• University degree (master’s degree) in the field of rural development (Community Development, Agriculture, Sociology, Geography, etc.)
• Advanced knowledge on Geography, Geoinformatics, GIS, or related fields is a plus
• 7 years of relevant working experience in a leadership role in the private sector, government agency or knowledge organization
• 7 years of experience in spatial planning, community-based watershed development, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, climate-smart agriculture, natural resource management, and/or agroecology/regenerative agriculture
• 5 years of working in consortiums, with good communication skills, experience working with government and local implementing partners (local authorities, land commission, civil society)
• Deep knowledge, interest and expertise in sustainable landscape development, and specifically to natural resource management linked to drylands and savannahs, land conflicts, and the reality of developing & fragile economies
• You have a strong network in West Africa (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) as well as in governments, preferably also in knowledge institutes and civil society
• Results-oriented skills and attitude as well as a commitment to working with local partners and in remote and fragile areas
• Willingness to extensively travel in the region, at least 25% of your time (also in fragile and conflict areas)
• Fluency in French and good level in english both written and spoken is required. Excellent intercultural leadership, teamwork, coaching, communication, networking and organizational skills

• Type of contract: national contract, full time
• Initial contract duration: 2 years with possibility of extension
• Location: Ouagadougou or Bamako with regular travel to other countries.
• Expected start date: as soon as possible

Working at SNV 
At SNV we challenge and inspire and offer continuous growth. We offer meaningful opportunities to shape the future, expand your skills, and collaborate with a vibrant, global network of experts. At SNV your contribution matter, and your development is our priority.

We are home to 57 cultures working in 22 countries, with about 95% of our team members holding the nationality of the respective countries we work in. We promote (international) career development. Our workforce consists of a mix of both people with longstanding tenure, willing to share their institutional knowledge, as well as people with external backgrounds and experience. All with an inquisitive view and united in ‘ONE SNV’ working towards our purpose.

Together, we are committed to the effective and efficient stewardship of resources and maximising positive, lasting impacts. Our ability to deliver results rests on our robust foundation of experience, technical knowledge, evidence and learning; our commitment to strengthening capacities and catalysing partnerships; and the relationships and trust of those we work alongside.

At SNV, inclusivity is at the heart of our ethos. We celebrate the diversity of our workforce and uphold a policy of non-discrimination based on factors such as disability status, religion, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, and more.

How to apply 

If you meet the key requirements and feel inspired by this opportunity, we warmly welcome your application. Please submit your CV and motivation letter by 17/04/2026 via SmartRecruiters.

To ensure a focused and respectful recruitment process, we kindly ask that you apply only if you meet the essential qualifications and are available to work in the specified location.

Job description Community Advisor

If this role isn’t the right fit but you’re interested in joining SNV in the future, we invite you to follow us on LinkedIn and our career page Vacancies | SNV to stay updated on new opportunities that match your profile.

Reference & vetting check

At SNV, our belief in the CARE principles — Commitment to impact, Adaptive to Context, Respecting Difference and Expertise in Practice — shapes how we work with each other and every interaction we have with our colleagues, partners, and the communities we serve. These values guide how we welcome new team members, ensuring our workplace remains a place of trust, safety, and dignity for all.

As part of our commitment to a safe, inclusive, and respectful workplace, we carry out reference and background checks for all internationally determined positions, with particular attention to safeguarding. You will be invited to provide the contact details of [two] referees, and we will only approach them once you have given your permission. We handle this process with care, empathy, and strict confidentiality, using the information solely for purposes related to your application and the role you have applied for.

In line with our safeguarding commitments — and as a proud participant in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS) — SNV will also request a “Statement of Conduct” from your previous employer(s). This request covers any substantiated findings of misconduct, including sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, as defined by the Scheme. This process is not only a safeguard for our organisation, but also part of our shared responsibility to protect those we work with and to ensure that integrity, respect, and compassion remain at the heart of everything we do.