DESCRIPTION:

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR Research Center, is seeking applications from suitably qualified candidates for a short-term assignment under the “Digital Innovation for Water Secure Africa Phase 2 (DIWASA II)” project.

The importance of water in agricultural and food security research is often underestimated as water availability and supply are taken for granted. A lack of access to indicators of water availability is also one of the reasons for the decreased emphasis on water in agriculture and food security studies. The availability of water resource indicators at regional, continental, and global scales is often scattered or patchy because such indicators are produced by various sources. Furthermore, these indicators are produced using different methodologies and are available at different spatial and temporal scales, which makes it difficult to uniformly assimilate the information at a continental scale.

Water accounting is the systematic acquisition, analysis, and communication of information relating to stocks, flows, and fluxes of water (from source to sinks) in natural, disturbed, or heavily engineered environments. IWMI, in collaboration with UNESCO-IHE, has developed a Water Accounting Plus (WA+) framework based on global-scale public domain datasets. It provides essential water-related information for a river basin to achieve equitable and transparent water governance for all users and a sustained water balance.

This research is supported under the Digital Innovations for Water Secure Africa (DIWASA) Phase 2 project. Under DIWASA Phase 1, we performed continental-scale water accounting assessments using data from existing open-source data cubes such as Digital Earth Africa under a newly developed Scale Invariant Water Accounting Plus (SIWA+) framework. A continental-scale WA+ assessment has three distinct benefits: 1) the ability to produce foundational layers at a continental scale, 2) providing a national and regional overview of water availability indicators that can feed national strategic plans, and 3) offering national and regional water resources status (through the basic water accounting sheets—resource base sheet and evapotranspiration sheet) at a continental scale.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

The objective of this assignment is to develop Tableau-based dashboards of key water accounts for national and river basins. The consultant will support the development of visually pleasing, easily consumable dashboards to convey complex scientific information on water resource status and consumption to both technical and non-technical audiences through graphical displays.

Fully functional visualizations of existing water accounting results (based on existing spatial and temporal data) that can easily be reproduced as new results become available. The visualizations must be:

• Easily manipulated and updated, including enabling the importing of data from various sources (e.g., Excel, Amazon Web Services).
• Able to be easily presented, interacted with, included in reports, and printed.
• Consistent with IWMI’s visual design language and branding guidelines.

These visualizations should allow both technical and non-technical users to easily and efficiently interpret water accounting outputs. Examples of possible interactive and dynamic visualizations include:

• Water cycle visualization: Show basic logic and data via the water cycle.
• Interactive and dynamic resources visualization: Show proportional breakdown of water uses and types; allow the user to click on a water use or type to see definitions and provide more information.
• Dashboard: Summarizing water availability and scarcity indicators for a river basin over a particular time period.

Train local partners and focal points on using the dashboard during the handover of the WA dashboard to local partners.

Develop a manual and technical documentation to be presented to local partners at handover.

Deliverables:

1. Prototype design for dashboards (dynamic dashboard summarizing water accounting outputs).
2. Updated dashboards based on stakeholder feedback and IWMI team.
3. Capacity building training for stakeholders and project partners.
4. User manual/technical documentation and its presentation to the local partners as a handover.

Requirements

MINIMUM EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Data Analytics, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Remote Sensing, or a closely related subject.
• Experience handling large datasets.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES REQUIRED:

• Basic background in hydrology and water balance modeling.
• A good background in knowledge and experience in GIS/Remote Sensing data manipulation.
• Tableau Dashboard programming background.
• Good communication skills and experience in handling office software.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the capacity to work in a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, and multicultural environment.

LANGUAGE PROFICINECY:

• Excellent oral and written language skills in English, including effective listening and strong verbal and written communication ability.

Benefits

This is a nationally hired consultancy; therefore, individuals with relevant abilities are encouraged to apply. IWMI offers a competitive monthly rate for this assignment. The duration of the contract will be for a period of twelve (5.5) months.

HOW TO APPLY: Apply for the position by following the application instructions at www.iwmi.org/jobs. We will be accepting applications through 24:00 (IST) on September 24, 2024 (applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis). Your application must include a CV, cover letter, and three (3) references, which may be contacted if you are shortlisted. Receipt of all applications will be acknowledged, but only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

IWMI believes that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. We offer a multi-cultural, multi-color, multi-generational and multi-disciplinary working environment. We are consciously creating an inclusive organization that reflects our global character and our commitment to gender equity. We, therefore, encourage applicants from all cultures, races, ethnicities, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientations, and gender identities.