UNDP Jobs - 76505- Technology Support Consultant

Technology Support Consultant - Meteorology

Location :

Home based/Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

22-Jan-2018

Application Deadline :

23-Jan-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

15 working days (with 5 days mission to Cambodia)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

15 working days (with 5 days mission to Cambodia)

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

Cambodia is facing mounting development challenges due to climate change. The observed longer dry seasons and shorter, more intense rainy seasons have become a common observation in Cambodia. In addition, climate change exacerbates the frequency and severity of natural hazards (such as floods and droughts), as well as impacts the agricultural production which is dependent on seasonal rainfall. Recovery from such events puts strain on the least developed country’s limited resources and forces shifts in development priorities - hindering Cambodia’s ability to progress and to achieve its development goals.

The Early Warning System (EWS) is one of the priorities of the Royal Government of Cambodia’s (RGC). The purpose of an EWS is to monitor climate and environmental data on a real-time basis, detect adverse trends and conduct reliable predictions of possible impacts in the form of early warning information. An early warning therefore refers not only to advisories in emergency situations, but also to information related to the changing climatic trends revealed after tracking and analyzing climate and weather data over time. An effective EWS would thus enable timely response to natural hazards and extreme weather events, to support the implementation of the risk-informed development.

The project “Strengthening climate information and early warning systems in Cambodia to support climate resilient development and adaptation to climate change” (henceforth “the EWS project”) has been designed to assist the Government in achieving the early warning system gaps and challenges in the country. The project seeks to address the current barriers through three complementary outcomes:

Increased institutional capacity to assimilate and forecast weather, hydrological, climate and environmental information.
Climate and weather information available and utilized for national, sectoral and sub-national planning as well as for transboundary communication in the region.
Strengthened institutional capacity to operate and maintain EWS and climate information infrastructure, both software and hardware, in order to monitor weather and climate change.

To meet the above three outcomes, the approach adopted by the project is to 1) invest in early warning infrastructure – hydro and meteorology stations nationwide; 2) mobilize technical expertise to enhance capacity of national entities (namely MOWRAM, NCDM, and MAFF) in making use of the information; and 3) ensure the smooth flow of information sharing both at national level and between national and provincial level.

The early warning infrastructures are planned to be installed in February 2018 and various capacity building programs pertaining to early warning system will be conducted to the relevant stakeholders in the country. Accordingly, the project is looking for a Technology Support Consultant – Meteorology, who will help the project in providing technical assistance related to the installation of meteorological stations and implementation of capacity building on meteorology.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under this assignment, the consultant is expected to deliver two key outputs:

Technical input provided to ensure that the proposed detail delivery plan of the supplier of meteorology stations is technically sound and is at the level of quality expected in line with the contract signed;
Technical input provided to ensure that the proposed detail work plan to deliver the meteorology software by the supplier is technically sound and is at the quality expected to deliver outputs stated in the contract;
Technical review and input provided on the capacity development plan and material proposed by the supplier of meteorology equipment to ensure its technically sound and ensure the level of quality expected;
Technical review and input provided on the capacity development plan and training material proposed by the supplier of meteorology software to ensure its technically sound and ensure the level of quality expected;
Provide technical oversight by undertaking field visit in Cambodia to oversee the quality during the installation phase of the meteorology stations and as well installation of meteorology software;
Provide technical oversight on the development of capacity building program on (1) meteorology for technical staffs of the project counterpart, (2) other related government counterparts. This would include identification of training modules and contents after consultation with stakeholders during the field visit; as well as identification of key qualified partners to deliver the training.

To deliver the above outputs, the consultant is expected to carry out the following tasks:

Review the detail work plans provided by the suppliers of meteorology stations and meteorology software and share his/her technical input to ensure the quality of the plan provided;
Review the capacity development plan and the training materials provided by the supplier of the meteorology stations and the supplier of meteorology software and provide technical input to ensure the quality of the plan and materials provided;
Work closely with MOWRAM and the Project Manager to produce the plan to provide technical oversight during the installation phase of the station and as well for the meteorology software;
To ensure the quality of the support, keep close communication with the Project Manager. As necessary, provides remote assistance/advice in the areas related to the scope of work under this assignment;
Coordinating with Project Manager and MOWRAM in identification of training modules and contents on meteorology.

Interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=43383 for more detail information about term of references, instructions to offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer through online.

Competencies

Time management (in managing deliverables);
Team management;
Professionalism, courtesy, patience;
Outstanding inter-cultural communication, networking and coordination skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree or higher in Meteorology, Hydrology, engineering, or other closely related technical or scientific field of study

Experience:

At least 7 years of demonstrated experience working within the meteorology field;
At least 3 years of demonstrated experience with meteorology, weather or climate observation network, implementation, and/or design;
At least 3 years of demonstrated project management experience;
Multinational and developing country experience would be desirable.
Experience working in Cambodia would be a strong advantage.

Language Requirement:

Excellent written and oral English

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email dalis.heng@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org. While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.