Climate Services Officer (NOB), Fixed Term Contract. Duty Station: Harare.1 year contract duration

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WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

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.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Over a billion people in the world living on less than a dollar a day depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. For them, vulnerability to climate-related shocks is a constant threat to food security and well-being, trapping them into poverty in the long term. As climate change drives an increase in the frequency and intensity of these shocks, the challenges faced by food-insecure farmers will also increase. Thus, providing them with strategies to reduce and mitigate such risks becomes essential for overcoming hunger, achieving food security and increasing resilience.

With the increase in frequency and intensity of weather-related risks due to climate change in the country, WFP Zimbabwe has adopted a integrated approach to climate risk management by bringing together various tools and strategies: improved resource management through asset creation (risk reduction); improved agricultural practices (conservation agriculture and drought-tolerant seeds); strengthened market access; micro-insurance and macro-insurance through ARC Replica (risk transfer); livelihoods diversification and microcredit (prudent risk taking); savings (risk reserves); climate services; and forecast-based financing (FbF). On the social protection front, WFP in partnership with the government and other actors is working towards tackling the humanitarian-development nexus by integrating relevant WFP programmes into the national social protection framework.

With the different Disaster Risk Financing (DRF) instruments at micro and macro-levels being piloted and scaled up in the country by WFP as well as the inception of the 4-year Green Climate Fund (GCF) project, WFP Zimbabwe is in need of services of a Climate Services Officer, with technical expertise in the climate risk management tools such as climate services, forecast-based finance and project management.

Lead all interactions with climate services and forecast-based financing experts at regional and global Level and facilitate all the relevant data collection processes.

Support climate analysis with future projections for Zimbabwe to inform drivers, hotspots, and adaptation measures to increase agricultural productivity and ultimately food security.

JOB PURPOSE

The Officer will report to the Resilience and Climate Change Coordinator and Project Coordinator. He/she will work closely with other units in the Country Office, WFP’s Field Offices in Zimbabwe, as well as WFP’s GCF, climate services, forecast-based financing and risk transfer teams at Regional and Global levels.

This job position is within the Zimbabwe Country Office (CO) in Harare and is open to Zimbabweans only. The job involves frequent travel in-country and possibly abroad.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

******Climate Analysis, Climate Services and Forecast-based Finance****** :

Technical Assistance

Act as primary resource person for climate analysis, climate services and forecast-based financing of the integrated resilience building programme in Zimbabwe.

Support the technical assessments for climate services and forecast-based finance.

Support the design of climate services and forecast-based financing products by specialized research institutions or private sector actors; specifically focusing on technical parameters, contingency plans, and delivery mechanisms in consultation with the relevant government ministries, local private and NGO partners, and targeted communities.

Provide technical assistance together with specialized research institutions, (University of Reading) to roll out the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach with targeted communities and relevant public and private actors.

Provide technical support to the implementation of Interactive Weather Climate and Adaptation Radio Programming (IWCARP) integrated with Information Communication and Technology (ICT).

Support various stakeholders including the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) and other relevant partners to downscale seasonal forecasts and fine tune technical parameters for the testing of the forecast-based finance component.

Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

Support the development of implementation plans for Disaster Risk Financing and Shock responsive Social Protection strategic frameworks.

Collaborate with the government and other development agencies on the development of a Disaster Risk Financing Strategy for the country.

Provide constructive inputs on climate risk management to WFP Zimbabwe’s Country Strategic Plan (2022-2026), National Development Strategy, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Zimbabwe.

Advise, develop, support and oversee the integration of climate services and forecast-based financing components with other resilience components (asset creation, savings and credit, linkages to markets, appropriate seeds and agricultural practices). Identify possible programme innovations in this field, implementation modalities and partnerships to be implemented.

Enhance the capacity of key stakeholders for climate services and forecast-based financing, bringing together stakeholders at local, national and international level from public and private sector.

Implementation:

Lead the development of adequate technical, legal and economic mechanisms and contracts to allow for climate services and forecast-based financing set up including dissemination of key message.

Document/update climate services and forecast-based financing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and workplans in consultation with key stakeholders.

Ensure activities are implemented as per the agreed timelines in the finalized workplans;

In collaboration with cooperating partners and the specialized research institutions, support the development of training curricula for communities, local partners at government and private sector level, and WFP National staff and ensure adequate capacity development on climate services and forecast-based financing.

Monitoring, Reporting, Advocacy and Administrative tasks:

Monitoring, Reporting, Advocacy and Administrative tasks:

Develop, manage, and maintain a database of key performance indicators and relevant beneficiary data at the relevant level of aggregation for relevant components.

Ensure that Climate Services, Including PICSA, and forecast-based financing are adequately and effectively integrated in the M&E plan and system, including the impact evaluation.

Support regular reporting on progress of activities, focusing on successes, challenges and lessons learnt.

Ensure reporting and communications needs for climate services and forecast-based financing are met as per donor requirements at all levels.

Manage administrative matters for the climate services components including travel plans, meetings, and workshop organization, amongst others.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Education: Advanced University Degree in : Agriculture, Geography, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources Management, Meteorology, Disaster Risk Management, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Experience:

• At least three years of postgraduate experience in financial tools for climate risk management such as forecast-based financing, contingency planning, disaster risk frameworks.
• Strong experience working with UN agencies, government entities, or civil society in the fields of Climate Change, Meteorology, and/or Environmental Sustainability.
• Experience in managing multi-donor projects and engagement with governments required
• Experience in collaborating with public and private sector actors.
• Understanding of key climate change challenges that affect food security.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language and the duty station’s language.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Excellent work planning and project management skills; ideally demonstrated in a humanitarian and development context.
• Good communication skills, and excellent ability to coordinate across multiple units and organizations.
• Understanding of food security and climate change vulnerability, and ability to link analysis to programme design, in the context of WFP programmes.
• Ability to facilitate workshops, negotiate agreements and contracts, and write donor reports and proposals.
• Excellent skills in word processing, power point, excel and data analysis.
• At this level, job holders are expected to demonstrate responsibility and initiative to respond independently to various queries with only general guidance. There is a requirement to use judgment in dealing with unforeseen operational problems daily.
• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations, and procedures governing administration, is considered an advantage.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Qualified candidates are requested to submit their application via E- Recruitment attaching a signed application letter and a signed Personal History Form (P11) available at http://www.unon.org/docs/P11.doc Applicants are also requested to submit a Curriculum Vitae.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the recruitment processes.

Only nationals of Zimbabwe can be considered for this vacancy.

WFP DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The deadline date for applications is 23 May 2021.

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Female applicants who are qualified and experienced are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status or disability.

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.