Nature based solution specialist individual consultant - Bangladesh

Job Description

Title: Nature based solution specialist individual consultant - Bangladesh

Company Name: Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System

Vacancy: --

Age: At least 28 years

Job Location: Dhaka

Salary: Negotiable

Experience:

• 5 to 7 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): Govt./ Semi Govt./ Autonomous body, NGO

• At least a master`s degree in environmental science, forestry, civil or geotechnical engineering, agricultural engineering, watershed management, disaster risk management, geography, agriculture or a related field.

• 5 to 7 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): Govt./ Semi Govt./ Autonomous body, NGO

• Age At least 28 years

• Sound knowledge of Nature-Based Solutions, soil bio-engineering, slope stabilization, agroforestry, and watershed and drainage management, particularly in hilly or landslide-prone terrain.

• Knowledge of disaster risk management, anticipatory action, impact-based forecasting, early warning systems, and hazard, risk, vulnerability assessment and GIS-based mapping.

• Familiarity with disaster management practices and the institutional context in Bangladesh, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

• At least 5 to 7 years of relevant professional experience, including demonstrable experience in the design and implementation of community-based Nature-Based Solutions, bio-engineering, watershed management, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, or related interventions. Proven experience in participatory hazard, vulnerability, or resource mapping and in facilitating community and government stakeholder engagement is required; experience in hilly, ethnically diverse contexts is strongly preferred. Experience working with NGOs, NMHSs, government agencies, or development partners, and within multi-cultural teams, is an asset.

• Demonstrable ability to digest complex technical information and convey it in easy-to-understand forms to a variety of stakeholders.

• Competence in GIS and spatial analysis and in translating data into site-level decisions; strong technical design, facilitation, presentation, and report-writing skills.

• Strong written and verbal command of Bengali and English languages; familiarity with local languages of the project area is an advantage.

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills; demonstrable ability to plan and organize work independently; excellent interpersonal and communication skills; high commitment to responsibility and work quality; ability to work effectively and efficiently independently and/or within a multi-cultural team; openness and receptiveness to critique for enhancing work and outputs; willingness to work in remote hilly field locations.

Background: The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) is an international and inter-governmental institution that is owned and managed by its 48 Member and Collaborating States for building capacities in the generation and application of user-relevant multi-hazard early warning information, for resources and risks management.
RIMES was established on 30 April 2009 through the signing by collaborating countries of the RIMES regional cooperation agreement. RIMES was registered with the United Nations under Article 102 of the UN Charter on 1 July 2009. RIMES Headquarters operates from its regional early warning center, located at the campus of the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand; country offices have been established strategically. RIMES` purpose is to provide early warning services according to differing needs and demands of its Member and Collaborating States, for enhanced preparedness and response to, and mitigation of, natural hazards. RIMES` approach is end-to-end, capacitating institutions and communities across the four broad and inter-connected components of the early warning/climate information value chain.
Position Description: The Nature-Based Solutions Specialist will provide technical leadership and hands-on support for community-based NbS, ecosystem-based risk reduction, hazard and vulnerability mapping, anticipatory action planning, capacity building, monitoring, and documentation under the SURAKKHA project. The Specialist will work closely with the RIMES technical team, Save the Children, local implementing partners, the Department of Agricultural Extension, Disaster Management Committees, Local Government Institutions, relevant government agencies, and communities.
Duty station: The position is based at Dhaka, RIMES satellite office, with frequent travel to field sites (Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and Chattogram) as required. The job location may be adjusted if required by the project.
Major Duties and Responsibilities:
Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide overall technical leadership for the planning, design, and implementation of community-based NbS for landslide and flash flood risk reduction, including slope stabilization, reforestation and agroforestry, drainage and watershed management, and soil and erosion control.

• Develop appropriate methodologies, technical designs, specifications, and quality standards for NbS interventions, drawing on recognized good practice and ensuring that measures are low-cost, locally appropriate, environmentally sound, and maintainable by communities.

• Guide field implementation through local implementing partners, ensuring technical soundness, value for money, timely delivery, and alignment with the available project budget.

• Lead participatory hazard, vulnerability, and ecosystem mapping to identify and prioritize intervention sites, integrating community knowledge, local hazard records, socio-economic information, and available scientific and geospatial data.

• Make full use of existing hazard, exposure, and vulnerability information and avoid duplication of data collection; produce practical, decision-ready mapping outputs to guide site selection, resource allocation, and replication.

• Provide technical inputs to the project`s broader exposure, vulnerability, and impact-based forecasting products, early action protocols, simulation exercises, and anticipatory action planning as required.

• Facilitate inclusive engagement of communities, local government, disaster management committees, indigenous groups, women, youth, persons with disabilities, and older persons in planning, implementation, and participatory monitoring.

• Design and deliver hands-on, scenario-based capacity-building activities for communities, local institutions, and partner staff on the design, maintenance, monitoring, and replication of NbS interventions.

• Support the integration of NbS and risk-reduction content into farmer field school and agro-meteorological extension activities, including locally appropriate guidance for farmers and extension staff.

• Establish and maintain a simple monitoring framework aligned with the project results framework, and track progress, effectiveness, beneficiary coverage, good practices, lessons learned, and opportunities for replication.

• Prepare clear technical reports, presentations, learning briefs, knowledge products, and inputs to project deliverables as required by the Supervisor.

Other tasks

• Able and willing to travel to project and pilot locations and undertake other work-related travel as required.

• Organize and/or participate in project team meetings, coordination platforms, technical working groups, and knowledge-sharing events at community, district, and national levels.

• Undertake any other relevant work necessary for the successful implementation, monitoring, documentation, and reporting of project-related activities, as assigned by the Supervisor.

Expected Outputs:

• Monthly progress report on assigned tasks

• Activity reports for specific events

Report To: Country Program Lead, Bangladesh.

Contract Duration: The contract will be for 12 months & may be extended for the remainder of the project period depending on satisfactory performance and continued project need.