JOB DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

WFP has been operational in Pakistan since its focus has been t humanitarian support and working to improve food security.. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) region, WFP programming includes initiatives to to build and improve livelihoods, nutrition and enhance community resilience to climate shocks. This includes strengthening disaster management capacities and promoting climate-resilient agriculture, with a particular focus on supporting vulnerable and food-insecure communities.

In its capacity as Implementing Entity for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) WFP will manage the GCF funded project titled “Integrated Climate Risk Management for Strengthened Resilience to Climate Change in Buner and Shangla Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan”. The overall objective of this project is to enhance community resilience to climate change, particularly riverine flooding and its focus is strengthening early warning systems (EWS), developing anticipatory action (AA) framework/protocols, and supporting climate-resilient livelihoods in the districts mentioned. A key priority is ensuring that women and marginalized groups are actively involved in project design and benefit equitably from expected outcomes.

This project will directly benefit over 146,000 people in Buner and Shangla, with indirect benefits for 1.6 million people in the targeted districts by improving local capacity for flood forecasting, community disaster preparedness and reduce long-term vulnerabilities to climate shock.Communities that are better prepared to deal with changing climate will reduce the need for humanitarian intervention.

The International Early Warning Specialist will provide the technical leadership to achieve project outcomes and do so in accordance with best practice and global standards in early warning systems (EWS). The work of the Consultant will be undertaken in close collaboration the targeted communities local/provincial partners national authorities.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under direct day to day supervision of head of unit SO1, and overall supervision of head of the Provincial Office Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the incumbent will perform the following tasks.

1. Stakeholder Capacity Assessment:

Assess the technical capacity of the key agencies involved in flood early warning systems such as Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Federal Flood Commission (FFC), Regional Meteorological Centre in Peshawar (RMCP), and District Disaster Management Committees (DMC) to establish technical capacity baselines, identify critical gaps, and finalize capacity strengthening activities around early warning system.
Conduct the training needs assessment of the key agencies and develop a gender inclusive and phased training approach for building the capacities of the key agencies on flood early warning system.

2. Strengthening Early Warning Systems (EWS):

Provide technical guidance for the design and enhancement of flood early warning systems.
Preparation of technical specification of hydromet equipment required for establishing flood early warning system – Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG), Automatic Water Level Gauges (AWLG), and other required accessories.
Advice on the AWS, ARG, AWLG equipment procurement, installation, and maintenance.
Evaluate the technical specification of the hydromet equipment and accessories proposed by the suppliers to ensure the proposed equipment and accessories are at-part with WMO standards and meet PMD requirements.
Support facilitating discussion with Hydromet equipment and accessories supplier.
Advice on the training plan for operating and maintaining hydromet equipment.
Facilitate training for PMD, FFWC, RMCP to generate reliable short-range weather and flood forecast products and validate these forecast products against observations.
Development of a high-resolution flood risk map for Buner and Shangla districts using the combination of in-situ, satellite and secondary risk data available.
Guide stakeholders on the utilization of flood risk maps for interpreting the potential flood risk based on flood forecast products.
Support DMCs with translating flood forecast products into impact outlooks and tailoring early warning messages for at-risk communities.
Provide technical support to establish a risk matrix for impact-based forecasting (IBF) for the local context of Buner and Shangla.

3. Development of Anticipatory Action Triggers:

Work with PMD, other relevant agencies at national, provincial, and district levels, and communities to identify the flood thresholds (e.g. 2 or 5 year return period floods) impacting the communities, and more importantly the thresholds are predictable.
Consult with various stakeholders to identify early actions based on the forecasted flood thresholds that minimizes the flood impacts on communities.
Support with the development of Anticipatory Action Protocols, with triggers, early actions, and clear roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved.

4. Capacity Building and Training:

Develop training materials and facilitate workshops at national, province, and district level – especially for the key agencies such as P&D, MoCC, PMD, PDMA, and local disaster management authorities on the use of flood forecasting tools and early warning systems.
Facilitate training on impact-based forecasting (IBF), early warning communication, and Anticipatory Action.
Mentor local teams and ensure the sustainability of the newly developed early warning systems through a “training of trainers” (ToT) approach.
Ensuring gender-balanced participation in all the training programs.

5. Stakeholder Coordination and Community Engagement:

Lead consultations with community stakeholders to ensure that early warning systems and triggers are contextually appropriate and accessible.
Collaborate with District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) to validate triggers and early actions with local administrations and communities.
Advice stakeholders on promoting/establishing people-centered and inclusive flood early warning system, by ensuring early warning information and advisories are communicated to beneficiary communities in an appropriate and coordinated manner, with due regard to the differentiated communication needs of men, women, and key vulnerable groups (e.g., persons living with disability).

6. Monitoring and Evaluation:

Develop monitoring frameworks jointly with M&E CO to track the effectiveness of early warning systems and AA protocols, including real-time simulations of flood scenarios.
Provide regular progress reports and recommendations on the improvement of the early warning systems.
Support the documentation of lessons learned and contribute to knowledge products that can be used to replicate successful early warning approaches in other regions.

7. Any other take assigned by the supervisor.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

1. Strengthened Early Warning System (EWS):

Preparation of technical specification and Installation of automatic weather stations (AWS), river gauges, and water level stations in Buner and Shangla districts.
Development and implementation of a high-resolution flood risk map and flood forecasting models, with improved forecasting accuracy.

2. Capacity Building:

Conducted training sessions on short-range flood forecasting and impact-based forecasting (IBF) for relevant stakeholders, including government agencies (PMD, PDMA, etc.).
Developed training materials and guidelines for gender-responsive and inclusive disaster risk management.

3. Development of Impact-Based Forecasting (IBF) and Anticipatory Action (AA) Triggers:

Established risk matrix and IBF advisories for local stakeholders to manage flood risks.
Developed and tested AA protocols and triggers, validated through simulations with stakeholders.

4. Improved Risk Communication:

Developed and disseminated simple, user-friendly advisories for vulnerable communities.
Enhanced the coordination and communication mechanism for flood early warnings among government departments and local communities.

5. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for EWS and AA:

Created SOPs for the dissemination of flood early warnings and AA protocols, integrated with district-level disaster management committees.

6. Knowledge Products and Documentation:

Documented lessons learned from the EWS and AA protocols, to be used for knowledge sharing and replication in other regions.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced degree in Meteorology, Climate Science, Hydrology, or other relevant disciplines with one or more courses in one of the following: climate change adaptation; meteorology; numerical weather prediction, environmental studies or related OR first level university degree with additional 2 years of related experience.

Experience:

At least 3 years of relevant professional / managerial experience in developing early warning systems, with a focus on flood forecasting, anticipatory action, disaster risk management, early warning systems, impact-based forecasts, project management and implementation.

Knowledge & Skills:

Expertise in impact-based forecasting (IBF) and anticipatory action frameworks.
Familiarity with hydrometeorological systems and tools, including automatic weather stations, river gauges, and flood risk modeling software.
Knowledge on weather and flood forecasting models.
Experience working in developing countries, with a focus on building local capacity for disaster risk reduction.
Strong communication skills with the ability to engage effectively with government agencies, local communities, and international partners.
working with communities/authorities in Pakistan be an advantage

Languages:

Excellent written and spoken English (level C)

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements