Early Warning System Specialist at United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

Duties and responsibilities

• The EWS specialist will undertake the following responsibilities:
• Conduct a desk study on the existing and/or active early warning procedures/ protocols/ agreement in the Sahel region to exchange hazards, impact-based forecasts, advisories and warnings between countries or between countries and regional institutions (ACMAD, AMHEWAS/AUC) with a focus on Senegal;
• Consult the national key stakeholders in Senegal on their needs of risk information for Early Warning and early action for the various hazards to which they are exposed, especially flood, drought, food security and conflict;
• Analyze the country's needs based on the services such as hazards and impact-based forecasts provided by regional or continental institutions;
• Analyze the institutional arrangement in Senegal for the production of information and dissemination of early warnings from national to local level; Propose mechanisms to strengthen the coordination between national institutions and regional institutions involved in the production of risk information or hazards and impact-based forecasts for the region or the continent; Identify and analyze the communication system in place in Senegal from the national to the local level and between the national and regional institutions to share information and data related hazards and disasters;
• Identify key information in the situation reports and bulletins produced by AUC ACMAD, AGRHYMET and ECOWAS situation rooms or operation centre that can contribute to improving early warning at national and local levels;
• Liaise with the Head of Service Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation (DRM/CCA) of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on all activities related to information sharing from national and regional institutions;
• Develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with the information collected during the consultation or improve the existing ones to facilitate the exchange of information between national and regional institutions, taking into account roles and responsibilities for early warning and action and other operational aspects, as needed;
• Organize and support joint regional training and national training / exercise on the SOP / protocol developed for its validation by the national actors; Familiarize the national stakeholders with AMHEWAS reference documents; Anticipate obstacles realistically and plan for contingencies – create plans that factor in time for unexpected problems and uncertainties.
• The consultant will be guided by a work plan outlining deliverables to be endorsed by UNDRR.  The consultant will be home based and will be under supervision of the Programme Management officer, Risk Knowledge.

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree in areas relevant to disaster risk reduction, early warning, meteorology, social sciences, or related fields is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be acceptable in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• At least 7 years of experience in the areas of disaster risk assessment, early warning systems, risk analysis relevant to EWS, anticipatory action or disaster prevention is required. 
• Experience of leading or contributing to managing or creating coordination mechanisms at a strategic level for disaster risk reduction or early warning and action initiatives is required.  Experience in convening and organizing multi-stakeholder partnerships, events, or consultations is desirable.
• Direct work experience with at least one major government institution or international organization working on early warning/early action or disaster risk reduction/ risk knowledge is desirable.