Chief Technical Specialist - Baghdad (Open to Internal and External Applicants)

Overview

The Chief Technical Specialist will lead and coordinate the implementation of environmental and social safeguards and establish a technical quality assurance system for a project focused on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemical hotspots management in Iraq.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate implementation of the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), the project Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP), applicable Environmental and Social Standards, UNDP Social and Environmental Standards, and relevant national environmental, occupational health and safety, labour and stakeholder-engagement requirements.
• Establish and maintain a project-level environmental and social safeguards compliance and assurance system.
• Review project activities and procurement packages for environmental and social risks and advise the Project Manager and UNDP on safeguards instruments, mitigation measures, monitoring requirements and contractual provisions.
• Review and provide technical clearance/advice on Environmental and Social Management Plans, site-specific management plans, occupational health and safety plans, waste-management plans, emergency preparedness and response arrangements, stakeholder-engagement measures, labour-management measures and other safeguards instruments.
• Ensure that safeguards requirements are adequately incorporated into Terms of Reference, technical specifications, bidding documents, contracts, contractor method statements and implementation plans.
• Undertake or coordinate safeguards monitoring of consultants, contractors, laboratories, hazardous-waste operators and field activities; identify non-compliance and recommend corrective and preventive actions.
• Provide safeguards oversight for handling, packaging, temporary storage, transport, treatment and disposal of obsolete pesticides, PCB-contaminated equipment/oils and other hazardous wastes.
• Ensure appropriate environmental and social due diligence for chemical hotspot investigations and remediation planning.
• Support incident and accident reporting, root-cause review, corrective-action tracking and safeguards reporting.
• Maintain safeguards records and prepare periodic safeguards compliance notes/reports.
• Provide technical guidance and capacity development to the PMU, government counterparts, consultants and contractors on ESF/ESCP, UNDP safeguards, hazardous-chemicals risk management and good international industry practice.
• Establish and maintain a systematic, risk-based technical quality assurance framework covering all project components.
• Review and advise on the technical adequacy of major Terms of Reference, scopes of work, technical specifications, sampling and analytical protocols, technical designs, bidding documents and evaluation criteria.
• Review consultants’ and contractors’ inception reports, methodologies, work plans, sampling plans, QA/QC plans, draft and final technical reports, feasibility studies, remediation designs, disposal/treatment proposals, laboratory methodologies, monitoring plans and technical training materials.
• Validate the scientific and technical soundness, internal consistency, traceability and fitness-for-purpose of technical data, assumptions, findings, conclusions and recommendations.
• Verify achievement of key technical milestones and advise the Project Manager on acceptance, conditional acceptance, revision or rejection of technical deliverables.
• Provide written technical review notes and recommendations for corrective action where technical gaps, methodological weaknesses, data-quality concerns, safeguards risks or implementation deficiencies are identified.
• Support technical evaluation of specialized environmental procurement when requested.
• Promote harmonized methodologies, sampling protocols, laboratory procedures, QA/QC systems and environmental assessment approaches.
• Provide senior technical review of national inventories and assessments of industrial POPs (iPOPs), unintentionally produced POPs (uPOPs), POPs pesticides, obsolete pesticides, newly listed POPs and other priority hazardous chemicals.
• Assess whether inventory methodologies, data sources, sampling strategies, analytical methods, laboratory QA/QC and data-management systems are consistent with Stockholm Convention guidance and internationally accepted practice.
• Review characterization, classification and prioritization of POPs stocks, waste streams, contaminated materials and exposure pathways.
• Provide technical quality assurance for the updated NIP.
• Review uPOPs assessments and application of the UNEP Toolkit.
• Provide technical oversight and independent review of the PCB inventory.
• Review and validate PCB management and phase-out plans.
• Review technical arrangements for PCB collection, draining, packaging, labelling, temporary storage, transport, treatment and final disposal.
• Provide technical review of obsolete pesticide stockpile assessments, site characterization, sampling and analytical results, risk assessments and proposed management/disposal strategies.
• Assess the technical and environmental suitability of packaging, containment, temporary storage, transportation, treatment and disposal options.
• Review qualifications, methodologies and performance of specialized hazardous-waste contractors.
• Ensure technical consistency with Stockholm Convention and Basel Convention requirements, applicable national requirements, the World Bank ESF and recognized international hazardous-waste management practices.
• Provide senior technical oversight and independent review of national hotspot identification and prioritization and detailed assessment of priority chemical contamination sites.
• Review conceptual site models, investigation designs, sampling plans, laboratory analytical programmes, data-quality objectives, hydrogeological assessments and contaminant fate-and-transport analyses.
• Review human health and ecological risk assessments.
• Assess remediation feasibility studies and site-specific remediation plans.
• Advise on remediation objectives, cleanup criteria/standards, verification requirements, institutional controls and post-remediation monitoring.
• Provide technical guidance for the National Programme on Contaminated Sites Management.
• Ensure that contaminated-site assessments and remediation plans adequately address POPs and other hazardous chemical contamination.
• Review laboratory modernization plans, analytical equipment specifications, installation/commissioning arrangements, calibration requirements, certified reference materials, QA/QC procedures and operation and maintenance provisions.
• Review and promote fit-for-purpose sampling, chain-of-custody, sample preservation, laboratory analytical and data-validation procedures.
• Assess laboratory and field-monitoring performance.
• Ensure traceability of technical evidence from field sampling and laboratory analysis.
• Conduct periodic technical and safeguards implementation reviews across the project portfolio and provide assurance reports.
• Support verification of contractor and consultant performance.
• Contribute to technical review of project progress reports, Steering Committee documentation, World Bank missions and implementation-support reviews.
• Maintain technical issues and corrective-actions register and follow up on closure of significant findings.
• Apply adaptive management by identifying emerging technical, safeguards and implementation risks and recommending proportionate adjustments.
• Provide targeted technical mentoring and on-the-job support to the PMU, Ministry of Environment and relevant national institutions.
• Review technical manuals, standard operating procedures, guidance notes and training materials.
• Support technical consultations, validation workshops and coordination with the Ministry of Environment, relevant ministries, laboratories, academia, technical institutions, the World Bank, GEF and specialized service providers.
• Document lessons learned and technical recommendations.
• Provide substantive advice and technical support to the development and implementation of a capacity development/ learning plan.
• Keep abreast of the developments in the thematic area of the project and provide guidance on how to incorporate them into UNDP’s current and future programming.
• Provide technical guidance and quality assurance to content development for knowledge products.
• Maintain strategic relationships with UNDP partners, Government institutions, donors, development partners, civil society, academia, private-sector stakeholders and specialized technical organizations.
• Build and maintain partnerships with donor agencies and development partners working on climate change, environment, chemicals and waste management.
• Identify and follow up on strategic opportunities for resource mobilization.
• Support the conceptualization of technically robust interventions.
• Work closely with the Partnerships and Planning Unit and relevant UNDP teams on resource mobilization, donor engagement, reporting and corporate compliance.
• Engage with GEF and other relevant funding mechanisms and technical networks.
• Strengthen collaboration with relevant UN agencies.
• Maintain effective relationships with the GEF Secretariat and relevant technical networks.
• Strengthen cooperation with the mechanisms and technical networks associated with the Stockholm, Basel, Rotterdam and other relevant environmental conventions.
• Promote engagement with laboratories, universities, research institutions, private-sector stakeholders, waste management companies and specialized disposal contractors.
• Identify opportunities for technical cooperation, knowledge exchange and joint programming.
• Identify emerging national priorities and technical gaps.
• Lead or contribute to the technical conceptualization of new project ideas, programmes and funding proposals.
• Provide substantive technical inputs to concept notes, project documents, funding proposals and donor submissions.
• Identify opportunities for scaling up successful approaches and replicating technical solutions.
• Engage with traditional and non-traditional donors and development partners.
• Ensure that proposed interventions are evidence-based, technically feasible and aligned with national priorities and UNDP strategic frameworks.
• Contribute to monitoring and reporting on relevant CPD and portfolio results.
• Monitor implementation of targets and indicators linked to the portfolio and identify corrective actions.
• Support preparation and review of annual reports, donor reports and other substantive reporting requirements.
• Provide technical inputs for donor briefings, missions, steering committee meetings and strategic portfolio reviews.
• Maintain a pipeline of technically sound opportunities for future resource mobilization.
• Strengthen the positioning of UNDP as a strategic technical partner in climate change, environment, chemicals and waste management.
• Perform other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Required Experience

• Minimum 7 years (with master’s degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible relevant experience at the national or international level in providing technical advice, conducting research, formulating policies, and/or developing and managing complex projects in sectors applicable to thematic area(s).
• Experience defining priorities, designing projects, managing budgets, preparing plans and monitoring to achieve quality results.
• Demonstrated experience with one or more of; POPs inventories, Stockholm Convention NIPs, PCB management and phase-out, obsolete pesticide management, UPOPs/BAT/BEP, hazardous waste treatment/disposal, contaminated-site assessment and remediation, environmental risk assessment, chemicals policy and regulatory development.
• Experience with project planning and consulting, including the effective provision of substantive leadership and guidance, oversight, monitoring, and reporting for projects/programmes with similar scale, scope, and complexity.
• Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.
• Demonstrated experience in advocating for development or climate agenda in international, multi-cultural settings with problem solving capacities.
• Experience with UN operational and management common tools such as Results Based Management.
• Demonstrated experience in coordinating with multidisciplinary stakeholders; i.e. governments, academia, civil society, media and donors.
• Prior experiences of working in Iraq or the Arab region, with in depth knowledge of Iraq’s social/cultural and political context.

Qualifications

Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Climate Change, Toxicology, Hazardous Waste Management, Environmental Management, or a closely related discipline is required, or A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Other Details