Forestry GIS and Carbon Assessment Specialistnew

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works in around 100 countries to save, protect, and transform lives, serving people in need regardless of race, religion, or nationality. Through trusted local partnerships, CRS delivers relief and development programs in emergency response, disaster risk reduction, health, agriculture, education, community savings, livelihoods, and peacebuilding.

CRS began working in the Philippines in 1945, making it the longest-running continuous CRS country program in the world. Today, CRS Philippines implements programs in emergency response and recovery, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, livelihoods, and peace and development. With more than 70 staff across Manila, Cotabato City, Tagbilaran City, Iloilo City, Virac, and Malaybalay City, CRS works closely with church and civil society partners, government agencies, and other organizations to serve vulnerable communities across the country.

The Innovative Climate Financing - Philippines Carbon Finance Pilot is an 18-month initiative (April 2026 – September 2027) which seeks to assess and advance the readiness of indigenous peoples’ ancestral domains in Bukidnon and Davao del Norte for participation in high-integrity forest carbon markets while delivering biodiversity, livelihood, and governance co-benefits. It likewise aims to support overall investments readiness by ensuring robust technical requirements are complied with, particularly on establishing the baseline and baseline, and calculation of project removals in line with the industry’s standards. CRS works with the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) as the local implementing partner, the IP organizations, government agencies, and local stakeholders, to support IP governance strengthening, forest restoration, agroforestry and livelihoods skills strengthening, FPIC processes, biodiversity assessments, land and carbon suitability assessments, safeguarding, and the development of investment-ready carbon project opportunities.

Given the highly spatial nature of carbon project development, a GIS Specialist is essential to support the collection, management, analysis, and visualization of geospatial data. 

Job Summary

The GIS Specialist provides critical technical support in assessing land eligibility and suitability, analyzing land-use and land-cover (LU/LC) and land cover changes (LCC), ex ante LC/LU classification, stratification and mapping, feeding the result to the calculation of carbon yield, , mapping biodiversity and environmental, and producing spatial outputs needed for prefeasibility, feasibility analysis, and project design. 

Roles and Key Responsibilities

1. Spatial Analysis, Mapping, and Geodatabase Management 

• Lead the collection of map inputs, GIS processing of geospatial data for the Carbon Finance Pilot.
• Develop and maintain project geodatabases and metadata systems, and GIS mapping documentation.
• Produce high-quality maps, dashboards, spatial reports, and decision-support products for project planning, reporting, and stakeholder engagement.
• Analyze and interpret satellite imagery, drone imagery, and other remote sensing products relevant to project objectives.
• Support delineation and validation of project boundaries, intervention areas, ancestral domain boundaries, restoration areas, and monitoring sites.

2. Carbon Readiness, Forestry, and Biodiversity Assessments 

• Conduct land-use and land-cover (LULC) analysis, landscape characterization, and spatial suitability assessments.
• Conduct land-cover classification and accuracy assessment using industry-standard approaches including confusion matrix analysis, producer's accuracy, user's accuracy, overall accuracy, and other classification validation methods.
• Develop historical land-use and land-cover assessments to support ARR land eligibility determination, baseline establishment, and carbon project development requirements.
• Support ex-ante carbon assessments through biomass estimation, carbon stratification, growth potential analysis, and estimation of potential carbon sequestration under restoration and agroforestry scenarios.
• Support development of carbon baselines through spatial analysis of historical land-use trends, degradation patterns, and landscape dynamics.
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• Conduct land eligibility and suitability screening using biophysical, environmental, tenure, accessibility, and risk-related criteria consistent with international carbon standards and best practices.
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• Support other mapping needs  related to vegetation, forest condition, biodiversity, hydrology, land tenure, infrastructure, and threats.
• Participate in field validation and ground-truthing activities to verify analytical results and improve spatial accuracy.

3. GIS-Based Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification 

• Provide mapping support to the identification/enrollment of eligible areas for the development of agroforestry carbon project. 
• Support the development of Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems through spatial data management and analysis.
• Develop spatial indicators and monitoring tools aligned with the project's MEAL framework.
• Generate regular spatial progress reports, maps, and analytical products to support project management and adaptive decision-making.
• Develop guidelines on the application of the GIS mapping support to MRV, particularly on tracking land cover changes attributable to the project. 

4. Partner Capacity Strengthening and Technical Assistance 

• Coordinate with GKIM and other CRS technical units as needed regarding GIS standards, data management, and spatial analysis approaches.
• Provide GIS and spatial analysis technical assistance to CRS staff, PEF, IP Organizations, and other project stakeholders.
• Support partners in interpreting maps, spatial outputs, and technical analyses for planning and decision-making.
• Strengthen partner capacities in data collection, field validation, and GIS-based monitoring methodologies.

5. Knowledge Management and Reporting

• Coordinate GIS-related activities with CRS teams, PEF, consultants, and other stakeholders.
• Contribute technical inputs to workplans, reports, presentations, concept notes, learning products, and donor deliverables.
• Maintain organized archives of maps, spatial datasets, analyses, and technical references.
• Support project documentation, knowledge management, learning, and dissemination of good practices.
• Provide regular updates to the Senior Program Manager regarding progress, risks, data gaps, and technical recommendations.

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Forestry, Environmental Science, Geomatics, Natural Resource Management, , or related field; Registered Forester is an advantage. 
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in GIS, remote sensing, land cover change analysis, and general spatial analysis as applied to forestry, natural resource management, or environmental conservation. 
• Demonstrated experience in developing and managing geospatial databases and conducting spatial analysis. 
• Experience working with forest landscapes, biodiversity conservation, restoration, climate resilience, or carbon-related projects. 
• Experience working with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, LGUs, government agencies, and development organizations. 
• Preferable experience working in Mindanao, particularly Bukidnon and Davao del Norte. 
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly to field sites and remote communities.
   

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities  

GIS and Technical Skills

• Proficiency in GIS and spatial analysis software such as ArcGIS, QGIS, Google Earth Pro, Google Earth Engine, and related applications.
• Ability to manage, analyze, validate, and interpret spatial and environmental datasets.
• Ability to prepare maps, technical reports, presentations, and visual products to support planning and decision-making.
• Experience conducting field validation and integrating field data with spatial analysis outputs.
   

Technical Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of forestry, forest landscape restoration, agroforestry systems, biodiversity conservation, watershed management, and natural resource management.
• Familiarity with climate action projects, carbon finance, and nature-based solutions is desirable.
• Understanding of stakeholder engagement processes involving IP communities, government agencies, and local communities.
• Knowledge of project management principles, monitoring processes, and development programming approaches.
   

Organizational and Management Skills

• Strong organizational, coordination, and follow-up skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Strong analytical thinking and decision-making abilities.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining effective collaboration within a multidisciplinary team.
• Results-oriented, proactive, and highly responsive to project and partner needs.
   

Computer Skills

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams).
• Ability to use online collaboration, project management, and data management platforms.
  
   

Required Languages: Excellent spoken and written English.

Travel: Must be willing to travel up to 50% of the time to Malaybalay, Bukidnon and/or Talaingod, Davao del Norte. 

Supervisory Responsibilities: not applicable, unless otherwise amended as need arises

Key Working Relationships: TBD



Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity  
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship