Consultancy: Early Warning System Specialist

• Job Title: Consultancy: Early Warning System Specialist

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 with the targeted communities, local/provincial partners, and national authorities.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under direct day-to-day supervision of the head of unit SO1, and overall supervision of the 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 systems.
• 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 systems.

2. Strengthening Early Warning Systems (EWS):

• Provide technical guidance for the design and enhancement of flood early warning systems.
• Preparation of technical specifications of hydromet equipment required for establishing flood early warning systems - Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG), Automatic Water Level Gauges (AWLG), and other required accessories.
• Advise on the AWS, ARG, AWLG equipment procurement, installation, and maintenance.
• Evaluate the technical specifications of the hydromet equipment and accessories proposed by the suppliers to ensure the proposed equipment and accessories are at par with WMO standards and meet PMD requirements.
• Support facilitating discussions with Hydromet equipment and accessories suppliers.
• Advise 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 minimize 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 the 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.
• Advise stakeholders on promoting/establishing people-centered and inclusive flood early warning systems, 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.

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 of 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 would be an advantage.

Languages:

• Excellent written and spoken English (level C)