Project Manager (Strengthening Early Warning Systems for Anticipatory Actions – Consultant Level I
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WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.
ABOUT WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.
WPF celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, color, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and /or expression , sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 80 million people every day – delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.
The WFP Regional Bureau for Eastern and Central Africa (RBN) is based in Nairobi and provides strategic direction, technical guidance, resource mobilization and management support to WFP operations and activities in ten countries: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Programmes (PRO-C) unit in WFP Headquarters and our Food Systems (Climate Action, Resilient Livelihoods and Gender) unit in Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa (RBN) provide guidance and support to WFP Country Offices (COs) and governments on activities related to climate risk management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. In the Greater Horn of Africa sub-region, the management of climate risk is a key entry point for reducing vulnerability to the climate shocks that disproportionately affect countries in the region, undermining development gains, and making humanitarian response late and consequently more expensive and inefficient. One of WFP's flagship programmes for managing climate risks is its Anticipatory Action (AA) programme, an innovative approach that enables early warnings systems to trigger actions that prevent and mitigate, to the extent possible, the impact of extreme weather events on the food security and nutrition of the most vulnerable populations.
As the frequency of these extreme weather events increase, and available humanitarian aid shrinks, there is an unprecedented need for early warning systems (EWS) to skillfully predict where and when a hazard will occur, moving beyond only preparing to respond once hazard impacts are visible, and instead protecting lives before they need saving.
However, to build trust in these EWS that enable communities to act and governments to invest in, the early warning systems must be able to reliably predict extreme weather- events weeks ahead of time. Improving early-warning systems will be crucial towards helping society become more resilient to climate extremes, and as such improved weather forecasts are a key component to climate adaptation programs. This type of thinking requires new partnerships, new ideas, and new technologies, which is why WFP is working with universities, international and regional weather forecast providers, and Google’s AI for Social Good Program, a program that aims to provide new ways of working to leverage emerging technologies to meaningfully improve people's lives. To support this new partnership, WFP is seeking a project manager for WFPs 2023 – 2026 project: Strengthening Early Warning Systems for Anticipatory Actions – Machine learning for post processing ensemble weather forecasts using non-traditional weather observations. The project manager will have experience in managing multi-stakeholder, multiyear projects across technical subjects such as climate change, anticipatory action, disaster risk management, numerical weather prediction, and/or other complimentary climate related programs. Based in WFP Nairobi and reporting to the Regional AA Coordinator, the Project Manager will be responsible for the development of work plans, implementation reports, budgeting, communications and advocacy, stakeholder management including the organization of workshops, trainings, future proposals, end of year reports and other project related activities.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
Under the supervision of WFP’s Regional AA Coordinator:
- Multistakeholder Work Plan implementation:
- Coordinate the development of partner annual work plans, logical frameworks, and quarterly updates.
- Work closely with partners to ensure logframe indicators and associated information is captured and that rigorous quality standards are maintained.
- In coordination with partners, support the development/facilitation of technical workshops, partnership meetings, quarterly steering group meetings and associated reports.
- Lead the development of the Google Fellowship/technical support proposal to support additional technical needs as determined by the partners.
- Support the development of technical trainings with partners ensuring best practices, tools, and resources are made available/documented for new staff and/or new regions and country scale-up.
- Support the development of data sharing agreements, MoUs, financial agreements and other partnership contracts.
- Support the development of partnership workplans that research the applicability of sub-seasonal and seasonal forecasts utilzing the existing GAN model for medium range forecasts.
- Support the development of regular technical team meetings and updates to the Regional AA Coordinator.
ADDITIONAL KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Communications & advocacy:
- Develop an annual communication plan that identifies and supports participation in new fora and advocacy opportunities not commonly utilized by the UN or WFP. Such as the SXSW Conference 2023.
- Support the development of external/internal publications to sensitize WFP staff, potential partners, and donors on this innovative work and its applicability to ensuring more resilient communities.
- Support the development of bi-annual donor report contributed to, and validated by all partners.
- Support the organization and participation in appropriate webinars, workshops,
- Contribute to creating linkages between this innovative work and AA programmes.
- Contribute towards the development of project proposals, plans and processes, ensuring alignment with WFP Climate Change programme policies and guidance.
- Support the identification, development and management of complimentary partnerships leading to improved EWS and AA linkages.
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT
- Successful implementation of the ‘Strengthening Early Warning Systems for Anticipatory Actions’ Project in partnership with Google.
- Approved bi-annual report submissions
- At least 3 external publications on this innovative work
- Successful representation of WFP at events
- Development of a year 2 annual work plan
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education: University degree with one or more courses in one of the following: climate change adaptation; atmospheric science, computer science, agriculture, and food security; development studies; environmental studies or related
Language: Fluent in English including strong writing skills, working knowledge of French (level B) is an advantage.
DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE
At least 3 years of post-graduate experience in project management with diverse stakeholders representing disaster risk management, early warning systems, AI, and other complimentary technical subjects, with experience in Africa desired.
Knowledge & Skills
- Experience with WFP and/or AI, numerical weather prediction, is an asset;
- Ability to work with minimal supervision and set priorities;
- Ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing;
- Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relations with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Type of contract: International Consultancy, Level I
Unit/Division: WFP Regional Bureau for East Africa (RBN)
Duty Station(City, Country): Nairobi, Kenya
Duration: 11 months
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
Deadline for applications: 24th May 2023
All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.
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WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment
WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.
