Emergency Management Specialist (consultant)

Background

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), established in 1986, is a non-profit, autonomous international organization, and non-political in management, staffing, and operations. ADPC has been created for scientific, educational, developmental, and humanitarian purposes that work to build the resilience of people and institutions to disasters and climate change impacts in Asia and the Pacific region. ADPC has more than 34 years of working experience in Asia along with the national and local Governments of its founding charter member countries as well as countries of the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) on Disaster Management. ADPC works to strengthen disaster risk reduction at all levels, from regional to national, sub-national, and even to local community levels. ADPC aims at supporting governments, strengthen institutions, and build capacity for mainstreaming DRR into development processes. It includes developing institutional systems, assessing disaster risks, undertaking programs for disaster risk reduction and adapting to climate change, etc. Further details on ADPC and its programs can be found at www.adpc.net. ADPC has been implementing a range of disaster risk reduction activities in Bangladesh over the years. The primary objective of this consultancy assignment is to support the Government of Bangladesh and other key stakeholders for achieving an integrated approach for disaster preparedness and response at national, sub-national and community levels, specifically under the following on-going multi-year programs: Strengthening Institutionalization of the Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER -V) Strengthening Emergency Preparedness for Response in Bangladesh (SERB) Bangladesh Preparedness Partnership (BPP)

Statement of Intent

ADPC is looking to recruit a qualified consultant for the position of Emergency Management Specialist to be based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The selected consultant will join a dynamic team of ADPC professionals working on the above-mentioned programs, while working closely with the ADPC Headquarters experts in Bangkok, Thailand. The Emergency Management Specialist will be responsible for leading the country implementation of PEER, SERB, and BPP. The consultant will be responsible for developing technical products and guide in completing critical activities of the program. The activities include scoping studies, national institutionalization strategy, curriculum reviews, operational guidelines, and contingency planning in coordination with nodal agencies and facilitating institutional capacity development programs for the government, civil society organizations, and the private sector. This consultant position is open for persons of both Bangladesh Nationality and Foreigners based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Qualifications and Experience

• Masters in Disaster Management, Crisis Management, Environmental Sciences, Engineering, and Natural Resource Management, or any other related fields is essential. A Ph.D. in a related field would be an added advantage;
• At least ten years of proven experience in emergency management, or disaster risk management or related fields;
• A minimum of five years of experience in project management, implementation, coordination, planning, and capacity building;
• Familiarity and at least five years of experience of working with the National and Sub-National Governments in the field of disaster preparedness and emergency response operations;
• Knowledge and proven experience in disaster preparedness, emergency response, community-based disaster risk management, end-to-end early warning system development, emergency operation center management, scenario-based contingency planning, incident management system development, application of specific technical information and data into training and capacity building programs;
• Proven ability to develop manuals, guidelines, case studies, training modules, and deliver training using adult teaching methodologies;
• Sound knowledge of the disaster management system and structures in Bangladesh, including policies, strategies, guidelines, standing orders, and other emergency preparedness related programs in the country;
• Previous experience in working with Humanitarian NGOs or international organizations in similar programs would be added advantage;
• Knowledge of the working ethics of national or sub-national government agencies and international organizations would be an added advantage.

Personal Qualities

• Self-motivated, pro-active and takes initiatives;
• Demonstrated ability to plan, and organize work & time independently;
• Verbal and written communication skills in English are essential. Knowledge and ability to speak in Bangla would be an added advantage;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, team-oriented work style, and experience in working in a multi-cultural environment;
• Strong networking capacity and understanding of development work at national and regional levels;
• Strong desires to learn, undertake new challenges, must be a creative problem-solver, and must have self-confidence;
• Willingness to work hard, good sense of humor but with seriousness about the quality and excellence of work.

Purpose of the assignment

The primary purpose of the assignment is to lead the technical implementation of the above stated ADPC programs in Bangladesh.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, coordinate and implement program activities with partners from the Government, Local NGO partners, the private sector, and other stakeholder agencies in the country;
• Lead the conduct of national scoping studies on the institutionalization of disaster preparedness systems in Bangladesh, including validation and endorsement from national partners;
• Work with national partner institutes in developing an institutionalization strategy for integrating program interventions into existing institutional frameworks and systems;
• Provide technical inputs and guidance to the Technical Curriculum Review Groups (TCRG) in the review, update and institutional adaptation of training curricula on CADRE, MFR, CSSR, and HOPE;
• Lead in the development of guidelines, manuals, training curriculum, evaluation tools, and case studies according to the local context and establish a facility for knowledge management & promotion of learning among the government and other stakeholders;
• Provide technical inputs and guidance in developing concepts, design, instructional methodology and delivery of online learning activities like webinars, virtual classrooms, web-based E-Learning and other forms of online training;
• Develop and promote partnerships with government institutions, local humanitarian organizations, professional associations, academic and training institutions, and the private sector among others; - Coordinate regularly with program manager/s and other ADPC staff in headquarters in implementing the project activities;
• Conduct program monitoring and evaluation activities, contribute to achieving all expected results and develop M&E reports and tools;
• Develop regular progress reports and capture evidence-based good practices and case studies to highlight the project impacts on the ground;
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Director, Preparedness for Response and Recovery Department.

Key deliverables of the Bangladesh Preparedness Partnership (BPP) Program

• Landscape Study Report;
• Establish Multi-Stakeholder Partnership on disaster preparedness and response;
• Capacity Assessment of National EOC at DDM;
• Joint Contingency Plan of Savar Upazila in Dhaka District;
• Draft Annual Progress Report.

Key deliverables of Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) and Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and resilience in Bangladesh (SERB)

• Scoping Study Report;
• Review, revision, and updating of Training Curricula of CADRE, MFR, CSSR and HOPE;
• Development of the National Guideline on Community Volunteer Engagement & Mobilization;
• Integrate PEER in existing training curricula of NIPSOM;
• Accreditation of national standards for training curricula;
• Biannual progress reports (April-Sep 2020).

Reporting Relationship

In performing the duties and responsibilities indicated above, the consultant will be supervised by the assigned Program Manager for PEER, SERB, and BPP, under the overall guidance of the Director, Preparedness for Response and Recovery (PRR) Department of ADPC. The consultant will closely work with other Project/Program Managers, and Project Coordinators of PRR Department.