Climate – Energy Modelling Specialist at Intergovernmental Authority on Development

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Climate–Energy Modelling expert will spearhead technical and support coordination aspects of the PASS-EA project at ICPAC. The expert shall be responsible for the following tasks:

• Liaise with the WISER-PASS coordinator at ICPAC, the Met Office, and the Technical Assistance and Partnerships (TAP) team at the Met Office to ensure the efficient implementation of PASS-EA at ICPAC.
• Assist with planning and managing the ICPAC PASS-EA component on a day-to-day basis and ensure the timely delivery of planned activities.
• Co-organize GHACOFs, foundational climate prediction training workshops, pre-COFs, synergy-building workshops, climate risk schools, and other meetings with PASS-EA at ICPAC and the Met office to ensure climate information is co-produced, accessed, and actionable weather and climate services that empower decision-making at local, national, and regional levels;
• Ensure dynamic interactions among PASS-EA activities and synergies with PASSAGE, ACACIA, and other projects for seamless integration at ICPAC and flow of information at all levels.
• Develop and apply advanced statistical, ML, and AI tools Assess the performance and accuracy of sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) forecast skill over the GHA.
• Create targeted, sector-specific products, such as customized S2S outlooks for renewable energy yield forecasting, risk assessments, and early warnings for extreme events impacting climate sensitive sectors.
• Lead the development of a regional solar and wind energy potential atlas, incorporating high-resolution mapping and scenario analysis.
• Collaborate with ICPAC developers to design and integrate energy decision-support tools, dashboards, and APIs into platforms like the EAHW system.
• Translate research outcomes and test results into operational, co-produced climate services for the energy sector.
• Author and disseminate findings through technical reports, policy briefs, and peer-reviewed scientific papers.
• Promote knowledge exchange by contributing to IGAD’s climate-energy nexus initiatives and presenting at regional forums.
• Support operational activities and capacity-building training within ICPAC’s climate diagnostic and prediction unit.
• Actively participate in relevant project meetings and contribute to the formulation of new proposals; and
• Perform other relevant duties as required by the Head of the Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Unit and the Director of ICPAC.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

Academic Qualification

• At least Master’s degree in Renewable Energy, Meteorology, Climatology, Atmospheric Science, Environmental Science, or a related field, with a specialization in climate modelling, forecasting, or meteorology highly desirable.
• A PhD in the aforementioned field of studies will be considered an added advantage.

Professional Work Experience

• At least 7 years of experience working on weather and climate forecasting, and renewable energy Modelling.
• Experience in customizing Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for seamless renewable energy systems (WRF-Solar/Wind).
• Proven record of producing excellent scientific articles for peer-reviewed publications.
• Experience and excellent computing skills in weather climate model implementation.
• Experience in advanced statistical and/or machine learning (ML) tools for sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) forecasting
• Proficiency in scientific programming languages and data visualization tools, with experience in R, Python, NCO, CDO, etc.
• Knowledge of High-Performance Computing (HPC) system and experience working under UNIX/Linux operating system
• Experience and involvement in climate-energy initiatives, capacity building, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.