User Engagement and Partnership Specialist - Climate Services Standardisation
User Engagement and Partnership Specialist - Climate Services Standardisation
ECMWF - European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
Bonn, Germany
Job reference: VN24-75
Salary and Grade: Grade A2 EUR 86,824 (Bonn, Germany) NET annual basic salary + other benefits
Deadline for applications: 25/09/2024
Department: Forecasts and Services
Contract type: STF-PL
Contract Duration: 3 years up to 31 December 2027, with possibility of extensions
The role
ECMWF is seeking to fill an exciting new position as User Engagement and Partnerships Specialist - Climate Services Standardisation (A2) to prepare for and implement the emerging standards for climate services as developed within the Climateurope2 project [www.climateurope2.eu] and to manage related activities in the area of user intelligence and services standardisation at ECMWF.
You will work as part of the User Outreach and Engagement Section, reporting to the C3S EQC and User Intelligence Manager, participating in the Climateurope2 project and contributing to the coordination and implementation of required actions emerging from the project regarding services standardisation. Services standardisation in this context goes beyond data standards and comprises a broad suite of requirements or guidelines for climate services including aspects like accessibility, visualisation, data dissemination, user engagement and feedback processes.
Engagement with the public and private climate services sector in Europe is key. You will contribute to these activities as part of the role of ECMWF in the VALORADA project [http://www.valorada-project.eu/], by assessing different aspects of service maturity, data management and knowledge transfer.
You will support the integration of service standardisation into the wider C3S user intelligence activities and overarching user requirements processes and management system at ECMWF.
You will also support the build-up of an internal capacity in response to developments on international standards and guidelines with the objective to maximise the impact of ECMWF data, tools and applications. You will build linkages between the VALORADA project and other European projects focusing on climate services and C3S and more broadly support the coordination and implementation of recommended actions across ECMWF.
In this role you will work with experts, scientists and software engineers across ECMWF as well as with external partners and stakeholders.
The team
ECMWF’s User Outreach and Engagement Section unites expertise to maintain and increase user uptake, satisfaction and experience and to explore partnerships and opportunities to develop new applications. It also provides training and knowledge transfer to enhance ECMWF impact of its core weather, Copernicus and DestinE activities. In the context of Copernicus, the section is responsible for the implementation of the CAMS and C3S National Collaboration Programmes (NCPs), User Intelligence actions and the Copernicus Health and Energy Hubs.
About ECMWF
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is a world-leader in weather and environmental forecasting. As an international organisation we serve our members and the wider community with global weather predictions and data that is critical for understanding and solving the climate crisis. We function as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions, holding one of the largest meteorological data archives in the world. The success of our activities builds on the talent of our scientists and experts, strong partnerships with 35 Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies and machine learning across our operations.
ECMWF has also developed a strong partnership with the European Union and has been entrusted with the implementation and operation of the Destination Earth Initiative and the Climate Change and Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the Copernicus Programme. Other areas of work include High Performance Computing and the development of digital tools that enable ECMWF to extend provision of data and products covering weather, climate, air quality, fire and flood prediction and monitoring.
ECMWF is a multi-site organisation, with a main office in Reading, UK, a data centre/ supercomputer in Bologna, Italy, and a large presence in Bonn, Germany.
See www.ecmwf.int/ for more info about what we do.
About the Copernicus Programme
In 2014, ECMWF became an entrusted entity to operate the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on behalf of the European Commission. Upon the closure of the first phase mid-2021, ECMWF is now working on the next phase of the Copernicus Programme until 2027.
Copernicus is the European Union (EU) flagship Earth-observation programme. The Copernicus programme ensures operational monitoring of the atmosphere, oceans, and continental surfaces and provides reliable, validated information services for a range of environmental and security applications. Based on the exploitation of space based and in situ observations and models, Copernicus provides information services for land, marine, atmospheric and climate monitoring, as well as emergency management and security. For details see http://www.copernicus.eu.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) service provides authoritative information about the past, present and future climate, as well as tools to enable climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by policy makers and businesses. For details, see https://climate.copernicus.eu.
About the Climateurope2 and VALORADA Projects
Climateurope2 is a Horizon Europe project (2022-2027) that addresses the need for timely delivery and effective use of climate information. The project works on developing standardisation procedures and recommendations for climate services, while supporting and bringing together the European climate services community. The project identifies the support and standardisation needs of climate services, including criteria for certification and labelling, as well as the user-driven criteria needed to support climate action.
Within the project, ECMWF is mainly involved in the development of strategies and recommendations emerging from the standardisation process. Coordinating this work will require frequent interactions with other work packages as well as a close engagement in the formal standardisation process, including the participation in respective workshops to prepare the way for potential standards.
The outcome of the international standardisation process will have mid- to long-term implications for climate services including C3S. Hence, ECMWF aims to proactively take part in this process, in order to align the evolution of C3S and more broadly ECMWF with these emerging needs and potential standards.
The goal of the VALORADA project is to empower European regions and cities to steer the upcoming societal transformation towards sustainable and climate-resilient development. The VALORADA project is in line with the EU’s 'Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change' aiming at supporting the transformation of 150 European regions to become sustainable and climate-resilient by 2030. During its three-year duration, VALORADA will enable the integration of diverse datasets that merge local knowledge with climate and non-climate datasets through co-developed data manipulation tools and climate data. The implementation of dedicated scalability and replicability activities will be conducted within at least 10 European regions.
Within VALORADA, ECMWF is leading the data management plan; accommodating knowledge transfer on the possibilities and limitations of operational climate data services and tools at regional level as well as the FAIR principles to enable for integrated solutions with other datasets.
Main duties and responsibilities
- Engage with external activities related to the international standardisation process, including active participation in relevant meetings;
- Lead the contribution of ECMWF to the strategy and recommendations report of the Climateurope2 project;
- Lead the contribution of ECMWF to the data management plan within the VALORADA project;
- Engage with downstream climate service providers in scope of standardisation aspects;
- Identify and report internally at ECMWF on emerging service standardisation needs relevant for C3S and ECMWF, including in scope of ECMWF’s open data policy;
- Support the coordination and implementation of emerging requirements to inform the evolution of C3S to respond to relevant standardisation needs;
- Contribute to an effective integration of the C3S User Requirements Database (URDB) system and the ECMWF User Request Management System (URMS) and liaise with relevant stakeholders at ECMWF to streamline and communicate on linked processes.
You will liaise with different sections across ECMWF to help streamlining the process of user requirements analysis and implementation. In particular, you will work closely with other colleagues in the Forecasts and Services Department and especially the User Services Section.
Occasional travel to the other ECMWF offices and to Member States, Co-operating States and EU member states may be required.
What we are looking for
- Accountability, strong planning skills and capacity to deliver according to objectives;
- Enthusiastic and excellent networking skills;
- Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a multidisciplinary team;
- Ability to multi-task, handle multiple projects and drive tasks to completion against tight deadlines;
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
- Genuine interest in ECMWF and C3S as well as operational climate service developments in general.
Education
- An advanced university degree (EQF Level 7 or above) in Meteorology, Climate Sciences, Environmental Engineering or similar relevant scientific discipline.
Experience, Knowledge and Skills
- Very solid understanding of the scientific aspects underpinning climate data products as well as of their relevance in national and the European policy context;
- Good insights into the ecosystem of public and private climate services market in Europe and linked data value chains;
- Demonstrated experience of working with climate data and information products, including aspects on data standards and quality assurance;
- Demonstrated experience of participating in international projects;
- Experience of working within an operational environment would be 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. A good knowledge of one of the Centre’s other working languages (French or German) is an advantage.
Other information
Grade remuneration: The successful candidates will be recruited according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. Full details of salary scales and allowances and ECMWF Staff Regulations are available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs.
Starting date: January 2025
Candidates are expected to relocate to the duty station. As a multi-site organisation, ECMWF has adopted a hybrid organisation model which allows flexibility to staff to mix office work and telework.
Interviews by videoconference (MS Team) are expected to take place shortly after the closing date.
If you require any special accommodations in order to participate fully in our recruitment process, please contact us.
To contact the ECMWF Recruitment Team, please email jobs@ecmwf.int.
Who can apply
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 Co-operating States, as well as from all EU Member States.
ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye 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.
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