Project Technical Coordinator

A. About Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

ADPC is an autonomous international organization with a vision to reduce disaster and climate risk impacts on communities and countries in Asia and the Pacific by working with governments, development partners, international organizations, NGOs, civil society, private sector, media, and other key stakeholders.

Established in 1986 as a technical capacity building center, ADPC has grown and diversified its expertise across social and physical sciences to support sustainable solutions for risk reduction across a broad range of specialist areas. With over 100 staff from 19 different nationalities and a wide range of professional expertise from atmospheric scientists to social scientists with experiences from all levels of engagement typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner. ADPC is a competent regional resource center and has seven thematic departments: ADPC Academy, Risk Governance, Climate Resilience, Urban Resilience, Health Risk Management, Preparedness for Response and Recovery, Geospatial Information. These are supported by Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Strategic Planning departments. In addition to the departments, ADPC works on three cross-cutting themes: Gender and Diversity, Poverty and Livelihoods, and Regional and Transboundary Cooperation through permanent working committees.

ADPC Strategy 2020 guides the organization in providing comprehensive risk reduction support to countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific. ADPC recognizes the importance of examining the linkages between disaster risk management, poverty reduction, gender equality, sustainability, rights-based approaches, climate change and regional cooperation.

For details please refer to ADPC website at www.adpc.net http://www.adpc.net/

B. Background

Disasters take a huge toll on the development agenda of SAR countries. Between 2000 and 2017, disasters in South Asia incurred estimated damages of US$ 149.27 billion. Public expenditure is under stress by the repeated need to reallocate capital budgets away from long term development planning and towards reconstruction activities in post-disaster environments. For example, since 2005, Pakistan has suffered losses on the order of US$ 16 billion due to natural disasters. In Bangladesh, 2007 Cyclone Sidr resulted in damages and losses of US$1.7 billion, or 2.6 per cent of GDP.

To increase resilience and achieve climate commitments, there is a need for a transformational shift towards policies and institutions that enable climate resilient investments. Investing in more resilient infrastructure is both profitable and urgent as disruptions are extremely costly for governments, households and private sector and large ongoing investments in infrastructure assets will have long-lasting repercussions as poor maintenance and natural disasters result in a vulnerable stock.

With the financial support from the World Bank Group, ADPC will be implementing a five years’ project, titled “Climate Adaptation and Resilience Project for South Asia” (CARE). The project aims to create an enabling environment for climate resilience policies and investments across South Asia. This objective will be achieved through enhanced regional cooperation and knowledge exchange for climate resilience and adaptation and mainstreaming of resilience and adaptation in national policies, plans and investments.

In this setting a highly qualified individual is required to support the Project Director in the overall technical coordination of the project. Thus, the objectives of this position are to:

• Support the Project Director in providing technical inputs on climate and disaster resilience to achieve the desired impacts of CARE;
• Assist the Project Director in overseeing technical operations at regional and country level; and
• Support in maintaining collaborations with CARE stakeholders and Sector Focal Points (SFPs) in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

C. Statement of Intent

The Project Technical Coordinator will assist the Project Director in providing technical support and coordination on enhancing resilience across sectors under the CARE for South Asia project.

Note:

It is not the intent of this Terms of Reference to cover every aspect of the position requirements, rather to highlight the most important areas of personal and joint responsibilities.

D. Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the Project Director in technical coordination between the sectoral leads in the CARE for South Asia project at the regional level, for effective implementation of the project activities as elaborated in the annual work plan;
• Coordinate the technical aspects of activities among sectors in the project countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan to ensure that the project objectives are met and to innovate and bring synergies among the different project activities;
• Keep track of the Gantt Chart and follow up with technical specialists on critical actions;
• Maintain overall coordination with the Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist and provide technical inputs for information products that will be showcased in related regional roadshows and forums to disseminate information and learnings from the project;
• Arrange monthly briefings for the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) on implementation progress of sectoral and cross-cutting activities at regional and national levels;
• Support in reviewing the design and provide inputs to establishing a mechanism to support technical collaboration between national level centers of excellence and universities with line ministries in the three project countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan;
• Coordinate with ADPC Academy and technical departments for planning and implementing training courses and orientations as well as other regional and national capacity development activities;
• Support in reviewing all technical documents produced within the project like concept notes, technical briefs, project related reports, training curricula, outputs among others and take a lead in the quality assurance of all technical documents;
• Assist the Project Director in producing the content of reports, handouts and sharing them with stakeholders and partners.

E. Qualifications

• An advanced degree in International Development or Disaster Management or Climate Sciences
• At least 10 years of professional experience in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation policies and plans in South Asia
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in technical coordination of multi-sectoral projects in South Asia
• Ability to work effectively with the highest government officials, international development partners and communities
• Well versed in using tools of project management and commands considerable knowledge of rules and regulations of various donors
• Significant experience in capacity building of the disaster management authorities at different tiers
• Experience in designing and organizing regional events and workshops on topics related to CR and DRR in Asia

F. Reporting Relationships

The Project Technical Coordinator will report directly to the Project Director (PD) and will work in close coordination with the PIU of the CARE for South Asia project. The position would also coordinate with the other CARE for South Asia project specialists at the regional and national level to carry out different activities under the project.

G. Contract Duration

The contract duration will be for 1 year. The consultant’s performance will be reviewed on a quarterly basis subject to successfully completing a 3-month mandatory probation period. The contract may be extended based on satisfactory performance.

H. Selection Method

The consultant will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s recruitment process and in compliance with the World Bank Procurement Regulations.