Background

The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan.  BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder for including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas.

As the UN system's development programme and a GEF Implementing Agency since 1991, UNDP supports countries in addressing development, climate, and ecosystem sustainability in an integrated manner.

In its role as a GEF Implementing Agency, UNDP-GEF offers countries highly specialized technical services for eligibly assessment, programme/project formulation, due diligence, mobilization of required co-financing, project implementation oversight, results management and evaluation, performance-based payments and knowledge management. UNDP-GEF’s Green, Low-emission, Climate-resilient Development Strategies team works to support countries to attract and direct public and private investment towards catalyzing and supporting sustainable economic growth through initiatives focused on integrated Climate Change Strategies, Advancing Cross-sectoral Climate Resilient Livelihoods and Strengthening Climate Information and Early Warning Systems for Climate Resilient Development.

Recently, the UNDP-GEF, launched the Multi Country Programme to Strengthen Climate Information for Resilient Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in Africa (CIRDA). The programme has the objective of supporting with 11 countries in Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia) to enhance national climate services in their efforts to collect, analyse and disseminate climate information as a key tool in long term planning and adaptation.

The CIRDA Programme is providing support by providing technical support and capacity building as well as by fostering knowledge sharing between experts, regional organizations and the countries’ themselves.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

UNDP is seeking a Country Support Specialist on Meteorology and Climate Monitoring who, under the guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor on Meteorology and Climate Monitoring, will support the Programme’s partner countries in Southern and Eastern Africa on issues relating to meteorological and climatological information systems and their use in the distribution of early warnings of climate events to the public, as well as to government and industry.

The incumbent will be expected to provide technical advice to participating countries on the identification, procurement, and installation of information technologies that gather, process, and distribute weather and climate observations, analysis, and forecasts.  The incumbent will also advise country implementation partners on the operations and maintenance implications of the equipment for meteorological and climatological monitoring and forecasting.

The Specialist will work under direct supervision of the CIRDA Project Manager with day to day guidance from the Chief Technical Advisor in Meteorology and Climate Monitoring and in close collaboration with other CIRDA Senior Technical Advisors, the UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor (based on Addis Ababa), the UNDP Country Office in each country and the national Implementation Partner (IP), as identified in each project document.

Scope of Work

The Country Support Specialist will be primarily home-based (Africa), with missions to regional/global meetings and CIRDA partner countries, primarily those in Eastern and Southern Africa (Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia).

The Specialist will work with the CIRDA Team, national project managers, UNDP country and regional offices, partner and donor country governments, other international/multi-lateral organizations, and contractors.

The duties to be undertaken by the Country Support Specialist are the following:

  • Provide advisory support to country teams on the identification and utilization of cost-effective, environmentally appropriate, innovative and sustainable technologies for monitoring and forecasting weather and climate on both national and regional scales;
  • Support country teams to evaluate traditional and new technologies and operational strategies to enhance regional sharing of data and promote broader approaches to regional cooperation and collaboration to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of climate monitoring and weather observing and forecasting systems;
  • In collaboration with country teams, assess existing procedures and mechanisms in the country for the deployment, operation, and maintenance of meteorological observing equipment and the communication of data to central operational centers and national archiving facilities, and advise and provide technical support on how these procedures and mechanisms might be adjusted and enhanced so that these processes become sustainable;
  • Advise and provide technical support on assimilation, analysis, and visualization software used for monitoring the environment and generating of weather forecasts and climate outlooks, including software for integrating data from meteorological satellites and surface-based remote sensing technologies;
  • Participate in regional/national training on evaluating, analyzing, and utilizing international, regional, and national observations (to include those from weather and other environmental monitoring stations, upper air stations, surface-based active and passive remote sensing technologies, and sensors on aircraft and satellites) to produce improved weather analyses, forecasts, and seasonal climate outlooks;
  • Support country teams to ensure that sufficient quality assurance/quality control and maintenance/calibration procedures are in place; where necessary, help develop standard operating procedures for these areas;
  • Support countries in accessing international data to support forecast production;
  • Support countries in the digitization of climate records;
  • Assist in the development of communication materials to share best practices and innovative approaches to monitoring and forecasting weather and climate between project countries and with external projects and organizations;
  • Collaborate with country teams and other CIRDA project staff to ensure that observational data, weather forecasts, and climate outlooks are shared in appropriate ways with national organizations, the local media, educational and research institutions, and those in the private sector that require meteorological/climate data for warnings, education, research, or developing sector specific products.
  • Provide continued support to the Chief Technical Advisor on Meteorology and Climate Monitoring.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The expected deliverables of the consultancy are as follow:

  • Participate in CIRDA training workshops as a presenter and trainer on environmental monitoring and climate monitoring and forecasting;
  • Participate in CIRDA coordination meetings;
  • Missions to each of the CIRDA partner countries in the region (Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia) at least once per year; each visit may be one week or longer. Where appropriate to further the goals of the project, additional visits to other countries or repeat visits may be required;
  • Travel reports on each country visit, to include list of individuals visited, gist’s of conversations or other communications, and discussion of receptiveness of individuals and organizations visited to innovative, sustainable approaches to environmental monitoring and forecasting;

Assist the Chief Technical Advisor in preparing:

  • Information notes on the cost effectiveness, appropriateness and sustainability of traditional and innovative technologies for monitoring and forecasting weather and climate;
  • Information notes on equipment and infrastructure that is to be rehabilitated/procured including operational implications (including maintenance) of traditional and innovative technologies and tools for climate monitoring and forecasting;
  • Information notes on procedures and mechanisms for the deployment, operation, and maintenance of traditional and innovative meteorological observing equipment and the communication of data to central operational centers and national archiving facilities;
  • The necessary training materials and train at least 20 technical officers per year from the national hydrometeorology services of the 11 countries participating in the CIRDA project.

Institutional Arrangement

The specialist will report directly to the CIRDA Project Manager with guidance from the Chief Technical Advisor on Meteorology and Climate Monitoring. UNDP COs and UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor overseeing the CIRDA Programme will monitor quality of support provided to client country teams.

Key performance indicators:

  • Number of participating countries visited;
  • Number of technical officers trained.
  • Evaluation ratings from participants of CIRDA training workshops and technical officer training sessions;
  • Quality of training materials prepared for technical officer training.
  • Quality of travel reports and of contributions to information notes (1: Excellent; 2: Satisfactory; 3: Poor);
  • Number of information notes to which significant contributions are made (>90% Completed: Excellent; 80-90% completed: Satisfactory; 3: less than 80% completed Poor);

Information on Working Arrangements:

  • Estimated level of effort: 100 days as required by the Programme and approved by Supervisor;
  • The consultant must be a resident and/or in some way demonstrate a working base in an African country;
  • The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
  • The consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection;
  • Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked and outputs delivered.

Travel:

  • Travel will be required to international workshops and CIRDA partner countries for training purposes;
  • Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor;
  • The Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
  • Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
  • Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives;
  • The incumbent will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
  • All related travel expenses will be supported by the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations upon submission of an F-10 claim form and supporting documents.

Duty Station Home based (Africa residency)

The incumbent will be required to travel primarily to support national projects in Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. Destination shall be assigned and approved prior to travel.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Technical Competencies:

  • Strong understanding of complex systems and processes including science, technology and socio-economic policies;
  • Ability to provide guidance and training on synoptic and mesoscale meteorology, climate monitoring and forecasting;
  • Knowledgeable and articulate concerning the installation and utilization of a wide range of different types of meteorological observing equipment, both traditional and innovative.
  • Ability to assist countries to achieve overall project goals at the national and regional level;
  • Ability to work with multiple stakeholders – national hydrometeorological services; ministries of agriculture, energy, etc. ; diverse set of private sector and NGO entities --  across a wide range of disciplines;
  • Ability to design of contracts and agreements with the private sector in LDC countries.

Professionalism:

  • Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
  • Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
  • Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.

Communication:

  • Excellent communication skills in English both verbally and written
  • Communicates effectively to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner, in writing, orally, and with PowerPoint slides

Teamwork:

  • Work well in a team to advance the priorities of the CIRDA Programme and UNDP as a whole;
  • Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
  • Focuses on results for the client;
  • Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • A Master’s degree or higher in meteorology, engineering, or other closely related technical or scientific field of study; (Max: 10 points).

Experience:

  • At least 7 years of demonstrated experience in the operational practice of meteorology, including weather observing and monitoring, climate monitoring and forecasting, modeling, early warning systems, and their application to development and climate change adaptation (max 10pts);
  • At least 3 years demonstrated experience working within or for an African national meteorological service or equivalent, including roles in weather and climate observing, monitoring and forecasting; (Max 10 points);
  • At least 3 years of demonstrated project management experience; (Max 10 points);
  • Multinational and developing country experience would be desirable. (Max 5 points);
  • Demonstrated experience to contribute to the development of high quality knowledge materials and exchange platforms (max 5pts).

Language:

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language (3 Points);
  • Proficiency in French an asset (Max: 2 points);
  • Proficiency in Portuguese and asset (Max: 2 points).

Residency (Location)

The Consultant must be a resident and/or in some way demonstrate a working base in an African country;

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Professional Fee

The contract will be based on daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee in USD. Consultant shall quote an all-inclusive Daily Fee for the contract period. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the daily fee submitted in the proposal. If applicable, travel or daily allowance cost (if any work is to be done outside the IC’s duty station) should be identified separately. Payments shall be done on a monthly basis based on actual days worked, upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor of a Time Sheet indicating the days worked in the period.To submit Financial Proposal, please use Template of Submission of Financial Proposal provided in Annex 2.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 500 points):

  • Criteria 1 : Education - Max 100 points;
  • Criteria 2 : Experience in the operational practice of meteorology, including weather observing and monitoring, climate monitoring and forecasting, modeling, early warning systems, and their application to development and climate change adaptation- Max 75 points;
  • Criteria 3 : Experience working within or for an African national meteorological service or equivalent, including roles in weather and climate observing, monitoring and forecasting - Max 75 points;
  • Criteria 4 :Experience in project management - Max 75 points;
  • Criteria 5 : Experience in multinational and developing country - Max 50 points;
  • Criteria 6 : Demonstrated experience to contribute to the development of high quality knowledge materials and exchange platforms- Max 50 points;
  • Criteria 7 : Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language- Max 25 points;
  • Criteria 8 : Proficiency in French - Max 25 points;
  • Criteria 9 : Proficiency in Portuguese  - Max 25 points.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

  • Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex 2;
  • Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
  • Technical proposal, including a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
  • Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex 2;

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Annexes:

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to brh.gef.procurement@undp.org