Regional Engagement and Sustainability Coordinator

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 the 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 http://www.adpc.net/

Background

The overall goal of the Geospatial Information Department of ADPC is to increase uses of geospatial technology, data, and information by countries in Asia for supporting decision making related to disaster risk management and climate resilience. The department supports all thematic areas of focus of ADPC to achieve its goals, mainly through:

• Increased accessibility and technical capacity to develop, maintain, and use geospatial information including disaster and climate risk maps, forecasted and real-time disaster data for early warning, and damage data for post-disaster assessment and recovery planning;
• Increased awareness by decision-makers on applications of geospatial information in disaster risk management and climate resilience decision making; and
• Geospatial solutions, such as tools, models, and data, customized to the demands of stakeholders SERVIR is a global program that provides the scientific and technical know-how to help developing countries use geospatial information and technologies to achieve sustainable development.

SERVIR-Mekong will promote the use and availability of publicly available satellite imagery and related geospatial decision-support tools/products to help key stakeholders and decision-makers in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam better predict and manage floods and other natural disasters, improve agricultural risk management, manage land-use more sustainably, and help governments and communities increase resilience to the negative effects of climate change. Funded by USAID, and with lead scientific and technical support from NASA, SERVIR-Mekong is being implemented by ADPC with inputs from consortium partners Spatial Informatics Group, Stockholm Environment Institute, and Deltares. Further details on SERVIR-Mekong can be found at https://servir.adpc.net/ Accordingly, a qualified and experienced Regional Engagement and Sustainability Coordinator will be required to assist the project’s Chief of Party and Director of the Geospatial Information Department in building and maintaining stakeholder engagement as well as sustaining the geospatial services of ADPC.

Statement of Intent

The Regional Engagement and Sustainability Coordinator will support the SERVIR-Mekong Chief of Party in developing the stakeholder engagement plans and sustainability strategies and plans for the SERVIR-Mekong project, coordinating inputs from the Science and Data Leads, the Capacity Development Lead, the leads of all the geospatial services as well as USAID and NASA. It is expected also that the Regional Engagement and Sustainability Coordinator will provide inputs for the Communication Lead and the Monitoring and Evaluation Lead to formulate stories on scientific and application achievements, leading to success stories for conveying to regional stakeholders. The Regional Engagement and Sustainability Coordinator will be based in Bangkok, Thailand, with occasional travels for project requirements. 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.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Regional Engagement and Sustainability Coordinator will:

• identify and understand user needs and tailor our services accordingly;
• maintain existing stakeholder relationships and identify future potential stakeholder involvement;
• work with the team to integrate user-engagement approaches within the development and implementation of our services including actively seeking to improve services by adapting to different user needs;
• harness end-user feedback for effective incorporation into tool development and optimization of our projects;
• share knowledge and ‘best practices’ within the GEO team and beyond;
• work with project leads and team members to effectively capture and share knowledge including assisting with reporting requirements, procedures, use-cases, data, and other documentation drafting;
• work closely with service leads to develop service concept documentation and other information for the GEO Department;
• work with the supervisor on the sustainability strategies and plans of GEO projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Geography, Science, or International Development;
• Minimum 2 years of professional experience, preferably in a similar role;
• Demonstrated understanding of scientific subjects such as geospatial information, environmental and/or disaster science, and climate resilience;
• Exemplary English writing and editing skills (writing samples/writing test may be requested);
• Excellent research skills;
• Demonstrated skills in documentation and knowledge management interventions;
• Experience in networking with stakeholders, including academia, Government and non-government;
• Knowledge of the development context of the Lower Mekong region considered a plus;

Personal Qualities and Competencies

• Self-motivated, proactive, and takes initiative.
• Self-directed, dynamic, pays attention to details, independent with excellent organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and organize work and time independently.
• Ability to coordinate, motivate, and lead diverse teams to accomplish complex goals.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, team-oriented work style, and experience in working in a multicultural environment.
• Strong desire to learn, undertake new challenges, must be a creative problem-solver, must have self- confidence, willingness to work hard.
• Willingness and availability to travel periodically.

Reporting Relationships

The Regional Engagement and Sustainability Coordinator will report to the SERVIR-Mekong Chief of Party.

Selection Method

The staff will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s recruitment process.