Partnership Management and Training Specialist - Space for Early Warning in Africa

Your role

ECMWF is seeking to fill an exciting new position as Partnership Management and Training Specialist - Space for Early Warnings in Africa. 

In this role you will manage all partnership and training activities implemented through grants and procurements with European and African partners and facilitate the creation of ownership by the African institutions of the Action outcomes. 

You will act as the contact point towards the European Commission DG International Partnerships (DG INTPA) for the Action and manage, together with the Grants Officers and other colleagues, the ECMWF activities in accordance with the agreement. This includes planning, resource management and quality assurance. 

The role is part of the ECMWF User Outreach and Engagement Section and reports to the Head of Section. 

You will be part of a small project team of four dedicated specialists working on the Action and organised in a matrix-managed structure. The other colleagues include a Data Products specialist, a Data and Cloud Support specialist and a Grants specialist.  Beyond this team you will collaborate with other staff in the section as well as with scientific, technical and administrative staff across ECMWF.

User Outreach and Engagement at ECMWF

ECMWF’s User Outreach and Engagement Section unites expertise to maintain and increase user uptake, satisfaction and experience, to explore partnerships and opportunities to unlock new potential innovative applications and to provide training and knowledge transfer to enhance ECMWF’s impact of its core weather, Copernicus and DestinE activities. 

The Section consists of 20 experts and focuses on collaborations and partnerships with ECMWF Member and Co-operating States as well as EU Member States, EU institutions and agencies, WMO and UN bodies from a user perspective. In addition, the section oversees the engagement with ECMWF licensed users within a changing data policy context.  

About ECMWF

ECMWF is the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. It is an intergovernmental organisation created in 1975 by a group of European nations and is today supported by 35 Member and Co-operating States, mostly in Europe. The Centre’s mission is to serve and support its Member and Co-operating States and the wider community by developing and providing world-leading global numerical weather prediction. ECMWF functions as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions and holds one of the largest meteorological archives in the world. The success of its activities relies primarily on the talent of its scientists, strong partnerships with its Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies such as machine learning across its operations. 

Over the years, ECMWF has also developed a strong partnership with the European Union, and for the past seven years has been an entrusted entity for the implementation and operation of the Climate and the Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the EU's Copernicus component of its Space Programme, as well as a contributor to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. The collaboration does not stop there and includes other areas of work, including High Performance Computing and the development of digital tools that enable ECMWF to extend its provision of data and products covering weather, climate, air quality, fire and flood prediction and monitoring. 

ECMWF has recently become a multi-site organisation, with a main office based in Reading, UK, a brand-new data centre in Bologna, Italy, and a large new office in Bonn, Germany.  We also adopted a hybrid work model which allows our staff to mix both office working and teleworking, offering considerable flexibility in spending time working in or outside of the office, from home or away from their duty station. You can expect to take the lead in deciding how you wish to manage your working time at ECMWF. As an organisation we value the whole being, understand and value the need for flexibility in the way our staff work. For more info about ECMWF see www.ecmwf.int. 

Space for Early Warning in Africa 

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) has launched an initiative to enhance the strategic Africa-EU partnership in the field of Space. One of the specific objectives is focused on Space & Green Transition with a focus on Early Warning.  With this, DG INTPA aims to stimulate partnerships to develop space-based services, applications and tools to strengthen Early Warning Systems of hazardous weather and climate- related events. 

ECMWF is anticipated to be one of the implementing partners. Subject to approval, the Action is expected to start in January 2025, with an implementation period until end December 2028. 

ECMWF activities under this Action will stimulate the use of ECMWF and Copernicus data, as well as other European data, with the aim to co-develop impact-based forecast demonstration services and tools at regional level in Africa. The use of Cloud resources shall be stimulated for these tools to be developed close to the data. Through technical advice and co-designed train-the-trainers activities, actual uptake is further enhanced. 

Central in these activities, are the close partnerships with the African Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) of the WMO and other African partners, as well as with the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and other topic specialists on early warning in Europe. Close links with WMO and their EW4All initiative shall be built to maximise complementarity.  

The ECMWF activities will be implemented in close cooperation with the other two implementing partners, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the African Union Commission (AUC). 

Main duties and key responsibilities

Specific tasks include:

• Take a lead role in coordinating the implementation of the Action
• Act as contact point vis-à-vis DG INTPA
• Ensure that the technical implementation and budget planning are in line with the Description of Action
• Coordinate with the Administration and Grants Officer on finance, legal, grants and contract aspects
• Establish close partnerships with the African RCCs, European NMHSs and other stakeholders and users, in line with the indicative activities of the Action
• Lead the procurement and implementation of a scoping study to map existing initiatives, collect user requirements, identify priorities and develop an action plan
• Coordinate and contribute to the assessment of user requirements and manage related expectations and needs on regional actions on early warning in Africa 
• Coordinate the training activities co-designed together with the African RCCs, as implemented through a grant
• Coordinate with technical and scientific colleagues the development and implementation of grants for the regional pilots on Impact-based Forecasts’ services and tools
• Support ECMWF senior management, as required, in engagements with WMO on EW4All and SWFP
• Provide ECMWF senior management with reports and plans on the status of the Action, as required
• Represent ECMWF in the governance board meetings and relevant ad-hoc working groups together with DG INTPA, EUMETSAT and AUC and other stakeholders

Occasional travel to Africa is required to engage with the African RCCs, the AUC and other stakeholders.

What we're looking for

Personal attributes

• Accountability, strong planning skills and capacity to deliver according to objectives
• Persistent and able to manage needs and expectations
• Strong diplomatic skills and awareness of cultural differences 
• Enthusiastic and excellent networking skills
• Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Ability to multi-task, handle multiple actions and drive them to completion
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate to different audiences

Education

• An advanced university degree (EQF Level 7 or above) or equivalent experience and in-career training that is relevant to the tasks

Skills and experience 

• Demonstrated experience in coordination of international and/or multi-partner projects or activities
• Experience in  data value chains on early warning systems of hazardous weather and climate-related events
• Demonstrated experience in coordinating technical training activities
• Understanding of challenges faced by developing countries in meteorology, hydrology and/or climate is desirable
• Experience in managing contracts and grants is an asset. Knowledge of roles and responsibilities of WMO and European NMHSs and similar or related entities in the domain of early warning of hazardous weather and climate-related events is desirable
• Demonstrated experience in engaging with different stakeholders in Africa is an asset
• Working knowledge of other languages relevant to the project, in particular French but also Portuguese is an advantage

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t feel you meet precisely all these criteria.

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English.

Other information

This position is subject to Action funding approval and to ECMWF’s Council approval in December 2024.

Grade remuneration    The successful candidate will be recruited at the A2 grade, according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. ECMWF also offers a generous benefits package, including a flexible teleworking policy. The position is assigned to the employment category STF-PL as defined in the ECMWF Staff Regulations. Full details of salary scales and allowances available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs, including the ECMWF Staff Regulations and the terms and conditions of employment.

Starting date:               From January 2025

Contract duration:       4 years with the possibility of extension, subject to funding

Location:                       Reading, UK or Bonn, Germany   (Candidates are expected to relocate to the duty station)

As a multi-site organisation, ECMWF has adopted a hybrid working model that allows flexibility to staff to mix office working and teleworking. We allow for remote work 10 days/month away from the office, including up to 80 days/year away from the duty station country (within the area of our member states and co-operating states).

Successful applicants and members of their family forming part of their households will be exempt from immigration restrictions.

Interviews will take place via videoconference (MS Team).  If you require any special accommodations in order to participate fully in our recruitment process, please contact us via email:  jobs@ecmwf.int

Who can apply 

Applicants are invited to complete the online application form by clicking on the apply button below. 

At ECMWF, we consider an inclusive environment as key for our success. We are dedicated to ensuring a workplace that embraces diversity and provides equal opportunities for all, without distinction as to race, gender, age, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. We value the benefits derived from a diverse workforce and are committed to having staff that reflect the diversity of the countries that are part of our community, in an environment that nurtures equality and inclusion. 

Applications are invited from nationals from ECMWF Member States and Cooperating States, listed below:

ECMWF Member and Co-operating States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

In these exceptional times, we also welcome applications from Ukrainian nationals for this vacancy.  

Applications from nationals from other countries may be considered in exceptional cases.