Principal Specialist / Lead Specialist Capacity Development and Deployments

Background

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is a multi-stakeholder global partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and academic and knowledge institutions. It aims to address the challenges of building resilience into infrastructure systems and associated development. The vision, mission, goal and objectives of the CDRI are explicitly linked to the post-2015 development agendas. The Coalition will also contribute to the resilience of the global infrastructure systems in an increasingly interconnected world. The outcome of such collaboration would be aimed at building resilient economies and resilient people through cross-sector commitments at all levels towards adaptation and resilience with concrete outcomes that will bring resilience action to global scale.

The CDRI will support countries to upgrade their systems for ensuring disaster and climate resilience of existing and future infrastructure. It seeks to rapidly expand the development of and retrofit resilient infrastructure to respond to the SDGs objectives of expanding universal access to basic services, enabling prosperity, and decent work. CDRI envisions enabling measurable reduction in infrastructure losses from disasters including extreme climate events.

The Government of India has established a Society in New Delhi to act as the Secretariat of CDRI. The Secretariat functions under the direction of the international Governing Council and implements the programs of CDRI. This position is being advertised for staff positions on Fixed Term Contract of three (3) years.

Objective of this position

To initiate, design, and implement projects, technical support and research activities relating to capacity development and deployments for disaster and sustainable development sectors.

Role and Responsibilities

• Lead the development of capacity building, roster development and deployment in line with the aims of CDRI;
• Create and implement a system for identifying, selecting, contracting, and deployment of DRR professionals to disaster affected regions world-wide;
• Identify and draw on relevant experience and innovation from countries in terms of capacity development and DRR mainstreaming in infrastructure and tools of capacity building (ex-ante and ex-post, formal and informal, public and private), especially in Public Private Partnership (PPP) and innovative methods for capacity development in DRR in infrastructure, and evidence in resultant resilience building at sub-national level;
• Study global best practice and Innovation in the area of capacity development and identity opportunities of adapting and transferring such practices in various contexts;
• Examine institutional gaps and needs for the development of regulation of disaster risk reduction professionals world-wide;
• Coordinate closely with government agencies, development partners, insurance companies and other relevant stakeholders concerning disaster risk financing activities and maintain up-to-date information on their activities and programs;
• Support projects of CDRI from a capacity development lens;
• Develop linkages with national and international institutions of excellence working on issues related to capacity development;
• Development and dissemination of a repertoire of capacity development guidance products;
• Attend and document meetings or consultations with external stakeholders as required.

Competencies

Essential:

• Demonstrated strategic, technical and intellectual skills in the substantive area;
• Demonstrated leadership, facilitation and coordination skills, ability to manage a technical team;
• Proven ability to work effectively in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams;
• Experience of working in international organisations;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and a proven ability to be flexible in demanding situations;
• Analytical and strategic planning skills and the ability to handle multiple priorities;
• The ability to present information and concepts clearly, both verbally and on paper
• Proven ability to draw inputs from multiple disciplines and synthesize them to address specific problems;
• Experience of drafting knowledge products such as books, articles, research papers, toolkits, guides, policy papers and notes, baseline studies and/or comparative studies;
• Familiarity with international frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change;
• Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills;
• Past track record/Ability to work independently, deliver timely and quality products; and
• Computer proficiency, especially related to professional office software packages (Microsoft Office).

Desirable

• Proven relevant experience of about 8-10 years relevant to the role especially experience in the capacity development, roster management and deployments for public and private sector.
• Track record of disaster-related capacity development and deployment of experts.
• Past experience of implementing similar projects in developing countries and good understanding of capacity building and roster development strategies worldwide, would be an advantage.

Qualifications

Post-Graduate qualification in management, international development, sustainable development, environmental communication or relevant related fields. PhD in relevant subject will be given additional weightage. A first-level university degree in combination with four additional years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

Minimum 10 years of overall experience with at least 4 years of leadership within in capacity development, roster management in private and/or public and/or international development sectors. Minimum 3 years of experience as a staff or consultant in an international organisation. Specific experience in disaster risk reduction will be given additional weightage.

Age Limit: 45 Years

Note:

• Candidates who have applied for this position in the previous round need not apply.
• This position is open to Indian nationals only.
• Candidates are requested to apply for only one of the Principal/Lead positions advertised, based o• Candidates are requested to apply for only one of the Principal/Lead positions advertised, based on a self-assessment of experience and competence. Applying for more than one position may result in disqualification.