Lead Specialist: Biennial Report on Global Infrastructure Resilience At Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

About CDRI:

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is a partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development.

Vision

“CDRI seeks to rapidly expand the development and retrofit of resilient infrastructure to respond to the SDG of expanding universal access to basic services, enabling prosperity and decent work.”

This will need to be implemented simultaneously with accelerated and expanded climate action and disaster risk reduction from the local and national to regional and global scale.

Mission

“To support countries to upgrade their systems to ensure disaster and climate resilience of existing and future infrastructure.”

This shall be fully aligned with the SDGs, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the Sendai Framework.

CDRI Mandate & Value Proposition

CDRI has been envisioned and established as a global network to advance the agenda, support coordinated action among stakeholders, and focus on bringing voices from vulnerable geographies and populations onto international policy forums. Internationally agreed-upon goals in the SDFRR, the SDGs, and the Paris Climate Agreement provide the foundational framework that guides the Coalition’s vision and mission. Consultations with CDRI members, partners, and stakeholders confirmed that the Coalition’s vision, mission, and approach, as defined in its Charter, remain relevant in the context within which it operates.

As a global partnership, the Coalition aims to ensure that the investments of its members and partners are aligned and well-coordinated in support of the shared ambition of disaster and climate resilience of new and existing infrastructure. The two unique yet interconnected roles that CDRI shoulders in this direction are:

• A Strong Coalition Driving Collaborative DRI Action: In 2023, CDRI stands as a partnership of 31 national governments, six international organizations and financial institutions, and two private sector organizations. The Coalition enjoys robust political support, which propels its efforts to advance its interests.
• A Solution-Focused Centre of Excellence for DRI: As a Centre of Excellence for DRI, the Coalition strengthens the individual and collective capacities of its members and partners by aggregating and sharing knowledge, brokering need-based partnerships, and strengthening capacities through collaborative learning and action.

Strategic Work Plan 2023-2026

CDRI’s Strategic Work Plan 2023-26 describes the broad contours of its priority actions and planned initiatives in the next four years with its mandate and Theory of Change (ToC). The Strategic Work Plan sets out a clear direction for the Coalition to pursue a transformational agenda for DRI in response to a changing risk landscape and evolving on-ground realities of its members. In the next four years, the Coalition will continue to leverage the expertise of its Member Countries and partners to develop context-specific, innovative solutions for resilient infrastructure toward achieving its members’ national priorities and global commitments.

With the strategic work plan for 2023 – 2026, CDRI has set out the following strategic outcomes.

Strategic Outcome 1: A strong Coalition that has the membership, resources, and global leadership to drive global, national, regional, and local DRI action.

Strategic Outcome 2: Global DRI research, Coalition-led peer engagement, and CDRI-curated and generated knowledge promote risk-informed policy and practice.

Strategic Outcome 3: Enhanced capacities of government, private enterprises, and communities to implement post-disaster recovery and DRI action at scale.

CDRI Head Quarter (Secretariat)

The CDRI headquarter is established in New Delhi, India, to act as the Secretariat of CDRI. The Secretariat functions under the direction of the International Governing Council and implements the programmes of CDRI.

This position will be based at the CDRI secretariat in New Delhi, India, as a full-time staff with a Fixed Term Contract of three (3) years, renewable for an additional three (3) years.

Objective of the position:

The incumbent will lead and ensure the effective accomplishment of activities for the Biennial Report under Strategic Objective 2.

Key responsibilities of this position are:

Within the delegated authority and the given organizational set-up, the incumbent will be responsible for the following areas of duties and tasks:

1. Coordinate the development and publication of the Biennial Report.

The report will involve detailed consultations with a large number of institutional partners and individual experts engaged in the development of the key workstreams of the Report. The Lead Specialist will develop and maintain close relationships with these stakeholders and ensure that their contributions are aligned with the structure and messaging of the Biennial Report.

1. Define the Scope of Work of the Biennial Report and steer the process:

The key Pillars and the scope of work of each Pillar of the report will be defined through detailed stakeholder consultations, extensive literature review, and discussions with key partners. The Lead Specialist will technically contribute to the process and coordinate with the various stakeholders under the guidance of the Coordinating Lead Author.

The Biennial Report will be supported by a dedicated internal team within CDRI. The Lead Specialist will be responsible for working closely with the various team members and lead the process. This will entail defining the roles and responsibilities of the various team members, allocating responsibilities, and collaborating with various team members to ensure completion of various deliverables. The Lead specialist with support from other team members will be responsible for all activities related to the production and publication of the Biennial Report.

3. Knowledge Events

The Lead Specialist will organize and contribute to knowledge events such as workshops, webinars, consultation meetings, etc, related to the Pillars of the Biennial Report. This will involve advance planning, coordination with other stakeholders, development of outcome documents, social media engagement etc. As knowledge events play a critical role in contributing to the CDRI’s international visibility, a consistently high-quality of output is of the utmost importance.

Competencies:

Technical and Analytical Skill

1. Meticulous
2. Timeliness
3. Analytical & Problem Solving

Delivering Results

1. Dependability
2. Managing people & process
3. Innovation & Resourcefulness

Leadership

1. Stakeholder Management
2. Working Collaboratively
3. Appreciate and encourage different culture context.

Engaging & Partnering (Interpersonal / Teamwork)

1. Able to see Big Picture
2. Decision Making
3. Inspires, motivates & empowers others.
4. Team Management

Communication

1. Willingness to listen and express dissenting views.
2. Is able to clearly convey ideas and information.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Post-graduate (Masters or equivalent) qualifications in engineering, planning, architecture, environmental sciences, climate change, applied sciences, social sciences or a related field are preferred.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in programme/project management in infrastructure, disaster risk reduction, sustainable development, environment, or related areas is required.
• Experience of leading complex planning processes, projects and research studies is desirable.
• Experience of working with multi stakeholders and establishing productive cooperation with a diverse number of partners, including governments, the UN, multilateral systems, business, science, and civil society, is required.
• Experience of working in the UN system is desirable.
• Experience in representing organizations at high-level international conferences and events is desirable.
• Experience in advocating for the core mandate of organizations with a wide range of partners is desirable.

Skills:

• Demonstrates expertise in multistakeholder coordination and programme management, strategy, and organizational leadership in the fields of disaster risk reduction and/or sustainable development.
• Demonstrates superior collaboration skills and techniques which may appropriately define alternate solutions to the projects and teams involved.
• Resolving conflicts while developing strong and productive partnerships with partners. Should be able to ensure effective change control procedures and their effective implementation.

Reporting Line:

The Lead Specialist for the Biennial Report on Global Infrastructure Resilience would report to the Director – Research, Knowledge Management & Capacity Development.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.
• Knowledge of any of the 6 UN official languages will be an asset.