Technical Senior Analyst – Environmental – Retainer

Dutystation: Home based

Functional responsibilities

UNOPS is seeking the support of a Technical Senior Analyst – Environmental to advance the Global Programme on Nature for Development’s work tosupport governments to use spatial data in their conservation plans andmonitoring. Working with 13 countries and counting, this work package developsapproaches to use spatial data to identify where nature-based actions toprotect, manage, or restore ‘essential life support areas’ (ELSAs) can deliverefficiently across national priorities for biodiversity, climate, andsustainable development. In addition to a general support role for web toolsdeveloped for all countries, this position will support the development of acustomized version for Colombia.

Theconsultant will provide GIS expertise and support the development, hosting, andupdates for web-based systematic conservation planning tools for each countrydeveloped using the RShiny and the R programming language that identify areasthat provide stakeholders with a means to iterate and recreate the ELSAanalysis. Webtools will be developed based on specific country needs, They willbe capable of planning for multiple land use zones that are specific to eachcountry and for multiple nature-based solutions that are related tobiodiversity, climate, and sustainable development. The tool will allow forreal time manipulation of scenario settings (protected areas, weights, targets)and allow policymakers to run it using optimization. The tool will also allowmultiple inputs datasets to be weighted and overlaid to produce thematic‘heatmaps.’

All datafor each country, including spatial constraints and impacts of zones, will bedelivered to the consultant in a format ready for incorporation into thetool.

Under theguidance and supervision of the Manager of the Global Programme on Nature forDevelopment, the consultant will carry out the following key tasks:

Colombia spatial prioritization webtooldevelopment

• Coordinate the adaptation of the WhereToWork webtool based on Natural Parks of Colombia style guidelines such as colors, fonts, icons.
• Coordinate with technical team the adjustment of the WhereToWork implementation, adding and removing features and UI elements based on the Colombia webtool needs.
• Assist the technical team in organization and preparation of the full dataset and the dataset for the webtool.
• Assist the team in generating the scenarios with the full dataset to load the solutions in the webtool.
• Conduct webtool training for the Colombia team.

General ELSA webtool development

• Coordinating the set up of repositories and data for each new country on the server.
• Assist the set up the docker services and the triggers.
• Assist in setting up the URL for the new countries.
• Run checks and tests to ensure smooth functioning for end user.

ELSA webtool hosting and maintenance

• Assist in setting up server to run systematic conservation planning tool.
• Push data and parameter updates to the tool.
• Assist in managing and updating code cloud versioning (via github), in collaboration with focal points at UNDP and UNICC.
• Assist with migration to national servers, where needed, including training and handover sessions with national stakeholders.

ELSA webtool support

• Troubleshoot issues with webtool and support the Spatial Planner and Lead Scientist to resolve.

Project coordination and stakeholder engagement

• Coordinate meetings with national stakeholders, as needed, to understand national needs for webtool development and hosting.
• Gather the input of the core project team, as needed, to coordinate work.
• Attend live workshop and working group sessions and ensure smooth functioning of the webtool during these sessions.

• The assignment is supervised by the Manager of the Global Programme on Nature for Development.

Education/Experience/Language requirements

*CANDIDATES WITH NO UNITED NATIONS OR UNOPS EXPERIENCE ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

*FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY*

Education

• Master’s degree preferably in environmental management/sciences, conservation biology/ecology geography, natural resource management, computer science/software engineering or in another related field.
• Bachelor’s degree preferably in the above-mentioned fields can be accepted with four years of relevant working experience (as outlined below).

• Fluent in English with excellent oral and written communication skills is required.
• Fluency in additional languages is an advantage.