UNDP Jobs - 46308- Senior Technical Advisor on Meteorology, Climate M

Senior Technical Advisor on Meteorology, Climate Monitoring and Forecasting

Location :

Home-based with mission travel to pilot countries

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Jul-2014

Application Deadline :

18-Jun-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

70 days through 31 December 2014

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP Environment and Energy Group (EEG) is based in UNDP’s Bureau of Development Policy and is responsible for providing leadership and technical support to delivery of the Environment and Sustainable Development pillar of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. Its main focus is on helping countries develop the capacity to fully incorporate environmental sustainability and resilience into development at national and local, but also global and regional, levels. The principal areas of work are in environmental mainstreaming, environmental finance, adaptation to climate change, and local governance of resources, including energy.

Recently, UNDP/GEF designed a set of 10 country-led projects that focus on strengthening Climate Information for Resilient Development and Adaptation to Climate Change (CIRDA). In this context, UNDP/GEF is looking to recruit the services of an individual who will support the project manager and countries participating in the regional initiative on the identification, procurement and rehabilitation of automated and manual weather stations. This will include providing technical backstopping advisory support on appropriate data logging and communication equipment, advisory support on the operations and maintenance of equipment (and access to associated technologies), as well as, in developing weather and seasonal forecasts, including conducting training on weather and climate data interpretation techniques. Familiarity and experience with a wide range of technologies, both conventional and innovative, will be particularly important.

The Senior Technical Advisor for Meteorology, Climate Monitoring and Forecasting will provide advice and technical assistance, including designing and leading regional training workshops, development of materials for training and knowledge dissemination on CI/EWS. S/he will do this in coordination with organizations undertaking similar work e.g. WMO, World Bank, UKMO etc. and of the regional component of the of the Weather and Climate Observation Networks (WCON) and Early Warning Systems (EWS) for Development (WCON-EWS) Project in Africa (and other regions), ensuring solid technical quality of deliverables.

The Senior Technical Advisor will work closely with UNDP-GEF colleagues in the country offices and other project staff.

The Senior Technical Advisor will work under direct supervision of the CIRDA project manager and in close collaboration with the UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisor (based on Addis Ababa) overseeing the projects, the UNDP Country Office in each country and the national Implementation Partner (IP), as identified in each project document.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior Technical Advisor for Meteorology, Climate Monitoring and Forecasting will undertake the following duties:

Provide advisory support to country teams on the identification and utilization of cost-effective, environmentally appropriate, and sustainable technologies for monitoring and forecasting weather and climate on both national and regional scales;
Support country teams to evaluate 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 enhanced;
Advise and provide technical support on available assimilation, analysis, and visualization software for generating weather forecasts and climate outlooks, including the potential for satellite data and new technologies to be used for monitoring weather and climate;
Conduct regional/national training on evaluating, analyzing, and utilizing international, regional, and national observations (to include those from weather and other environmentally monitoring stations, upper air stations, and sensors on aircraft and satellites) to produce improved weather forecasts and seasonal climate outlooks;
Support country teams to ensure that sufficient quality assurance/quality control and maintenance/calibration procedures are in place, as well as, help develop standard operating procedures where necessary;
Support countries to access international data to support forecast production;
Develop communication materials to share best practices and knowledge 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.

Outputs

Training workshops (2) conducted as a trainer on climate monitoring and forecasting;
Information notes (2-4 pages each) prepared on the cost effectiveness, appropriateness and sustainability of technologies for monitoring and forecasting weather and climate;
Information notes (2-4 pages each) prepared on equipment and infrastructure that is to be rehabilitated/procured including operational implications (including maintenance) of technologies for climate monitoring and forecasting;
Information notes (2-4 pages each) prepared on procedures and mechanisms for the deployment, operation, and maintenance of meteorological observing equipment and the communication of data to central operational centers and national archiving facilities;
Train at least 20 technical officers from the Meteorology department of the 10 countries participating in the CIRDA project.

Key performance indicators

Evaluation ratings from participants of training workshops;
Quality of information notes prepared (1: Excellent; 2: Satisfactory; 3: Poor);
Number of information notes prepared (>90% Completed: Excellent; 80-90% completed: Satisfactory; 3: less than 80% completed Poor);
Number of technical officers trained during the period of the contract.

Information on Working Arrangements

Estimated level of effort including travel days: 70 days;
The Consultant will be given access to relevant information (through web-based portal) 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 certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Project Manager on satisfactory delivery of outputs.

Travel

International travel will be required to pilot countries and to attend relevant training workshops and coordination meetings;
Any necessary missions must be approved in advance and in writing by the Project Manager;
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 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.

Competencies

Technical

Ability to provide guidance on meteorology, climate monitoring and forecasting;
Ability to assist countries to achieve project goals at the regional level;
Ability to work with multiple stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines;
Strong understanding of complex processes including science, technology and policies;
Ability to design of contracts and agreements with private sector in LDC countries.

Corporate

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.

Communication

Communicates effectively to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner.

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.

Teamwork

Works well in a team;
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

Master’s degree or higher in physical/natural/environmental sciences including meteorology, climate information systems or other closely related field (max 5pts).

Experience

At least 10 years demonstrated expertise in meteorology, climate monitoring and forecasting, early warning systems, and their application to development and climate change adaptation (max 10pts);
Teaching experience on meteorology and/or climate change including on technologies for information generation (max 10pts);
Expertise in planning and conducting exchange workshops and technical trainings (max 10pts);
Demonstrated experience to contribute to the development of high quality knowledge materials and exchange platforms (max 5pts).

Language Requirements

Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language (max 5pts);
Proficiency in other UN languages is an asset (max 5pts).

Evaluation method

Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11). Kindly note you can upload only ONE document to this application. Incomplete applications will not be considered;
Only those applications which are responsive and compliant with the above terms of reference will be evaluated;
Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications (max 50pts) and interview (max 100pts) will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30% (out of max 100pts);
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 40 points from the review of the qualifications will be considered for the interview and financial evaluation;
Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.

UNDP Personal History form (P11) required of all applicants:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.