GIS Specialist

The Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications Programme (ClimSA) is a four-year project funded through the European Union (EU) African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) Secretariat and being implemented by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH).

Its goal is to support the climate information services value chain with technical and financial assistance, infrastructure and capacity building. This will ultimately result in improved access and use of climate information, services and applications at all levels of decision-making and will lead to improved adaptation measures that allow for the Caribbean region to become more sustainable and resilient.

The ClimSA work programme is aligned to the Regional Roadmap and Plan of Action 2020-2030 for Climate Services in the Caribbean to achieve:

• Interaction between the users, researchers and climate services providers is structured;
• Provision of climate services at regional and national levels is effectively guaranteed and secured; Access to climate information is improved;
• Capacity of Caribbean region to generate and apply climate information and products relevant to particular concerns is strengthened;
• Climate-informed decision-making is enhanced and climate services are mainstreamed into policy processes at regional and national levels.

For the Caribbean, these activities are timely and necessary since climate variability and change are already having and will continue to have severe impacts on national economies and key socio-economic sectors in the absence of this type of large scale, resilience intervention.

The ClimSA Caribbean Programme will be executed through pilot activities aimed at strengthening the climate services value chains in the:

• health sector of Dominica,
• water sector of Jamaica and
• agriculture and food security sector of Guyana.

Key partners of the programme at the national level are the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), government ministries with national responsibility for health, water and agriculture/food security sectors and private sector entities and end users of products and services from the three target sectors.

The 16 Member Countries of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) will benefit from the programme through regional capacity building initiatives, sharing of lessons learned and results from the three pilot countries and the institutional and capacity building at the CIMH.

1. 2.             ABOUT THE    CARIBBEAN INSTITUTE   FOR  METEOROLOGY       AND HYDROLOGY (CIMH)

The CIMH is an Institution of the Caribbean Community and the technical Organ of the Caribbean Meteorological Organization. The CIMH is also an affiliate of the University of the West Indies.

The mandate of the CIMH is to assist in improving and developing the Meteorological and Hydrological Services as well as providing the awareness of the benefits of Meteorology and Hydrology for the economic well-being of the CIMH Member States. This is achieved through training, research, investigations, and the provision of related specialized services and advice.

The CIMH is recognized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as:

• The WMO Regional Training Centre in the Caribbean for Meteorology and Hydrology and related disciplines.
• The Regional Instrument Centre for the Caribbean.
• Centre of Excellence in Satellite Meteorology Training;
• The designated Regional Climate Centre for the Caribbean;
• Pan American Node of the WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (WMO SDS-WAS).

Other core functions of the CIMH include but are not limited to:

• Caribbean repository for the climate data from CMO Member States.
• Caribbean centre for research and development in Meteorology, Hydrology, Climatology and related disciplines in the Caribbean;
• Caribbean Centre for Climate and Environmental Simulations;
• Regional Marine Forecast Support Centre;
• Advisor to CMO Member States and Regional Institutions.

In achieving its training mandate, the CIMH delivers the B.Sc. programme in Meteorology at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus through the affiliation arrangement.

1. 3.             DESCRIPTION

The CIMH is seeking to recruit a GIS Specialist to support the activities being undertaken by the CIMH to support the ClimSA programme.

1. 4.             DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The GIS Specialist will:

• Support the development of a spatio-temporal database and the appropriate procedures and protocols to guide the management of the database;
• Support the continued development of climate -focused GIS courses to support targeted training of staff from the CIMH and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services;
• Lead the enhancement of CIMH’s R monitoring tool.

Specific duties include:

• Assisting in the development or enhancement of GIS-based products and tools used by the Regional Climate Centre (RCC).
• Contributing to the integration of research and development in GIS and Remote Sensing in  support of RCC activities including but not limited to:
  • Land use management in the Caribbean;
  • Agro-ecological management;
  • Climate change and climate variability impact assessments;
  • Water resources management;
  • Health sector variabilities;
  • Disaster risk reduction;
  • Any other duties as assigned by management.

1. 5.             PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS

The successful candidate should possess:

• Graduate Degree in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) or Remote Sensing;
• At least three (3) years of professional experience or 3 years of teaching preferably at the tertiary level;
• Candidates holding a graduate degree in an Earth Sciences field or Geography, with significant demonstrated experience in GIS and Remote Sensing may be       considered for the position;
• Candidates with a B.Sc. in Geography or an Earth Sciences field, with more than 10 years demonstrated experience in GIS will be also be considered.

1. 6.             ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

The successful candidate should be (i) performance driven, (ii) able to work independently, (iii) able to function in a highly dynamic and collaborative work environment and (iv) able to work effectively with diverse stakeholders including persons from local communities, civil society, social scientists, natural scientists and sector specialists.

It is expected that the successful candidate should be familiar with:

• Common commercial GIS and Remote Sensing packages (e.g. ArcGIS, ENVI and/or other similar products);
• Common open-source software packages used in GIS and Remote Sensing (e.g. QGIS, GRASS, SAGA, SNAP and/or similar products);
• Open-source web map serving platforms (e.g., Geoserver, Mapserver and/or similar products);
• Design and implementation of spatial databases using open-source platforms (e.g.,  PostgreSQL, MySQL and/or similar platforms);
• Linux, Mac OS X and MS Windows environments.

Experience in one or more of the following areas would be considered an asset:

      i.         Geospatial programming with Python and R;

     ii.         Utilisation of geospatial processing services such as Google Earth Engine or similar;

   iii.         Processing and analysis of Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery;

   iv.         Operation of UAVs and post processing of LiDAR survey data.

1. 7.             REMUNERATION & BENEFITS

The compensation will be commensurate with academic background and experience. The ideal     candidate should be a mid-career professional.

1. 8.             DURATION & EXPECTED START DATE

The position is available for 2 years, starting preferably in May 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter.

1. 9.             APPLICATIONS & PLACE OF WORK

Interested candidates are required to submit applications (Cover letter, curriculum vitae, certificates, and the contact information for two professional referees) addressed to:

The candidate is expected to reside in Barbados during the period of employment under the project. The CIMH is an equal opportunity employer

Deadline for the submission February 22, 2023.