Project Manager (Strengthening Early Warning Systems for Anticipatory Actions – Consultant Level I at World Food Programme (WFP)

Job Description

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The World Food Programme is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.

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 – 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 . 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.