LOCATION: OUAGADOUGOU
DURATION OF CONTRAC: TWO YEARS WITH POSSIBILITY OF RENEWAL
DEADLINE: 31ST OCTOBER 2023.
Context
WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) is a research and education-focused institution designed to provide knowledge and climate services that should help tackle the climate change challenge and thereby enhance the resilience of human and environmental systems. It does so by strengthening the research capacity and infrastructure related to climate change in West Africa by pooling the expertise of ten West African countries and Germany. The West African countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo.
With the support of its technical GERICS, WASCAL is implementing the CICLES project (“Customized and Integrated Climate Services for Improved Resilience and Sustainable Socio-Economic Development in West Africa,” BMBF/PT-DLR Grant Contract N# 01LG2292B, 2023-2026.). The overall objective of CICLES at WASCAL is to design, demonstrate, and disseminate CES to support resilience and sustainable development in West African states. The services will combine human skills and expertise, financial investments, information resources, tools, and training to strengthen risk-prone nations’ adaptive capacity and resilience to global warming and climate change.
The project manager is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the project and ensuring that it is completed on time, within budget, and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. The duty station will be the WASCAL Competence Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Key duties and responsibilities
Under the responsibility and supervision of the Director of Research, the Project Manager of CICLES will undertake the following tasks:
- Developing a detailed project plan, identifying the milestones, and creating a schedule to deliver the CICLES (3D-CICLES) products to the target audience.
- Managing the CICLES resources, including personnel, equipment, and materials, assigning tasks, monitoring progress, and ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently to meet project deadlines.
- Develop the MEL plan and conduct the internal ME of the 3D-CICLES subproject
- Be the lead author of the Concept of Operations (ConOps) of the CICLES, clearly defining the sustainability plan for the next 4-10 years.
- Tracking expenses, forecasting costs, and ensuring the project stays within budget constraints.
- Monitoring the potential issues related to data quality, service delivery, and stakeholder engagement and developing contingency plans to address them.
- Managing the budget, ordering, and tracking expenses, and forecasting costs of future expenditures
- engaging with various stakeholders, including users, providers, and funders of climate services, to ensure the project is sustainable and meets their needs and expectations.
- Drafting, Reviewing, reshaping, checking the conformity, and consolidating all the milestones/deliverables and other reports
- Initiate and co-lead the organization of all the CICLES events (meetings, workshops, training schools, canvassing, etc.) with all the teams engaged in the activities.
- Undertake Any other duty that the Director of Research may assign.
Skills and qualifications required
Educational Qualifications:
Master’s degree in project management, Environmental Science, Climate Studies, Sustainable Development, or a related field. A Ph.D. in a relevant area would be an advantage.
Work Experience:
At least 5-7 years of experience in project management, preferably in areas related to climate change, sustainability, or climate and environmental services.
Proven experience in managing large-scale projects with multiple stakeholders across different countries or regions.
Experience in developing and managing budgets, tracking expenses, and forecasting costs.
Familiarity with West African socio-economic and environmental contexts would be beneficial.
Skills:
- Project Management Skills: Ability to develop detailed project plans, manage resources, track progress, and ensure projects stay on schedule and within budget.
- Leadership Abilities: Proven experience in leading and motivating diverse teams. Ability to assign tasks, monitor progress, and efficiently allocate resources.
- Budgeting and Financial Management: Experience in financial planning, forecasting, and cost control.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Strong interpersonal and communication skills to engage with a variety of stakeholders, including users, providers, and funders. Understanding and managing their expectations is crucial.
- Analytical Skills: Ability to identify potential issues related to data quality, service delivery, and stakeholder engagement and to develop contingency plans to address them.
- Report Writing and Presentation: Proficiency in drafting, reviewing, and consolidating project reports and deliverables. Should have the ability to be the lead author of operational plans and sustainability plans.
- Organizational Skills: Ability to organize events, workshops, meetings, and training sessions involving multiple teams and stakeholders.
- Adaptability: As the nature of the role might include a variety of tasks, the candidate should be flexible and willing to undertake any duty assigned by the Director of Research.
- Technical Skills: Familiarity with the tools and software used in climate and environmental services delivery and data analysis.
- Networking and Collaboration: Ability to network and collaborate with diverse groups, including research institutions, government agencies, and NGOs in West Africa.
- Language Proficiency: Fluency in English and French, given the geographical location and the countries involved in WASCAL. Understanding local dialects would be an added advantage.
Application procedure
Application including a cover letter (no more than two pages) with a statement of motivation highlighting the candidate’s experience against the listed criteria and a detailed Curriculum Vitae should be emailed to candidature@wascal.org. Please indicate the job title in the subject line.
Applicants must come from ECOWAS member countries.
For further information, please visit: www.wascal.org
Deadline: 31st October 2023.