Terms of reference

Senior Technical Officer

The Senior Technical Officer (STO) will be responsible for the oversight and guidance of all technical activities of the project. S/he will work with contracted national and international consultants and advisors to achieve the outputs of the project. S/he will build and manage relationships and partnerships at site level on the demonstration islands.

Responsibilities

• Supervision of all technical activities of the project and quality control of project outputs;
• Develop detailed Terms of References for national and international consultants and contractors in collaboration with NPM and NPD, and organize and oversee delivery of subcontracts;
• Review all technical reports produced by national and international consultants and ensure quality comments and feedback by independent experts (e.g. through peer review processes);
• Assist in the establishment of technical cooperation between the project and international research institutions;
• Provide methodological guidance  to technical activities of the project in the field of land-use planning and coastal protection;
• Prepare a  structure for technical reports and review their quality;
• Undertake technical oversight of project activities on a daily basis, including the monitoring of technical  project activities in pilot sites;
• Identify, analyse and communicate lessons learned that may be useful for the  design and implementation of similar projects in Maldives and other SIDS; Provide regular overviews and reports on technical issues and findings of the project to the NPM, NPD and Project Board;
• Ensure universal availability and dissemination of technical materials developed by the project across relevant government departments;
• Contribute to technical training initiatives conducted by the project and support in the review and drafting of communication and awareness materials pertaining to the project;  

Qualifications/ Requirements

• Graduate with at least 5 years working experience within the disciplines of environmental science,geography, natural resource management, coastal zone management or engineering;
• At least 3 years of demonstrated experience working on applied land-use planning and/or coastal zone development and management issues in Maldives or other SIDS;
• Demonstrated experience working in the context of technical projects and sound understanding of project monitoring frameworks;
• Sound understanding of climate-related hazards and their impact on coastal zones;
• Extensive network of national and international technical institutions on issues related to land-use planning, coastal zone management and/or disaster risk reductionVery good communication and presentation skills;
• Previous experience working with local authorities and communities on applied technical questions related to land-use planning, coastal zone management, or disaster risk reduction;
• Excellent inter-personal skills;
• Ability and willingness to travel within and outside the Maldives;
• Demonstrable skills in computer use including and not limited to word processing (MS-Word), spread sheets (MS-Excel) and presentation software (MS-PowerPoint). Experience working with GIS is a strong advantage.
• Excellent verbal and written skills in English and Dhivehi