The Joint WMO-IOC Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) Observations Coordination Group (OCG) (link) is creating a new sponsored membership role in its Executive Team. The aim of this new role is to support leadership development in ocean observing from countries that are in the process of developing their ocean observing capacity, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS) or within GOOS Regional Alliances.
The proposed position is envisaged as providing leadership exposure and international mentorship to gain an understanding of the work undertaken by the OCG community, which the post-holder would then share with their institutes’, regional and national collaborators. The individual would provide new ideas in discussions on OCG programs and help to highlight the needs of implementers and users of the observing system from developing countries and SIDS, who are predicted to be the most heavily impacted by climate change.
The successful candidate will be expected to bring fresh perspectives to the OCG, e.g. by identifying potential new OCG foci such as coastal issues, end-user products and communication of observing system issues. There is also potential to help guide plans for capacity development within OCG, and depending on expertise, support other OCG projects and Vice-Chairs (e.g. Standards and Best Practices, Data Management). Ideally candidates will be early to mid career scientists or managers in an oceanographic or marine meteorological institute or department within their country, and would like to gain international experience to support their work and provide ideas and fresh perspectives for the work of the OCG.
We anticipate this will be a 2-year position, with a review at the end of the period. Although travel to the annual OCG meeting can be supported by WMO/IOC, it is essential that the candidate has the full support of their home institute to allow them to engage in the work of the OCG. The candidate will be expected to join bi-weekly video/audio calls. It should be noted that all meetings are in English and hence a good working knowledge of English is essential to the role.
Interested candidates should provide their CV and a covering letter to e.heslop@unesco.org, with a support letter from institute and 2 contacts for references, by Sept 30 2019.
