User Engagement and Partnership Associate – Copernicus National Collaboration Programme - #940900

Your role

ECMWF is seeking to fill a new position as User Engagement and Partnership Associate (A1) supporting the implementation of the National Collaboration Programmes (NCP) under Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) and Climate Change Service (C3S).

You will work as part of the User Outreach and Engagement Section, reporting to the Team Lead on the Copernicus National Uptake and Thematic Collaborations. In this role you will contribute to the implementation of the NCPs and participate in dialogues with member state representatives and the technical management of actions. You will manage a set of dedicated, co-designed contracts and grants and also s upport other members of the team in support of NCP implementation actions.

Central to these engagements is leveraging and using concrete CAMS and C3S products and services at national levels. You will play a key part in capturing the diversity in technical requirements, differences in data value chains and working practices and communicating feedback to technical and scientific experts at ECMWF.

About ECMWF

ECMWF is the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. It is an intergovernmental organisation created in 1975 by a group of European nations and is today supported by 35 Member and Co-operating States, mostly in Europe. The Centre’s mission is to serve and support its Member and Co-operating States and the wider community by developing and providing world-leading global numerical weather prediction. ECMWF functions as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions and holds one of the largest meteorological archives in the world. The success of its activities relies primarily on the talent of its scientists, strong partnerships with its Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies such as machine learning across its operations. 

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. 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.

For more info about ECMWF see www.ecmwf.int

Copernicus

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.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) provides consistent and quality-controlled information related to atmospheric composition and its drivers (emissions) and impacts on air pollution and health, solar energy, greenhouse gases and climate forcing, everywhere in the world. For details, https://atmosphere.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

The NCP is a dedicated scheme to co-design support actions for EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, the United Kingdom and the Ukraine to stimulate and facilitate use of CAMS and C3S data and products at country level, extracting the maximum benefit to meet the needs at the country level as well as transboundary level. With this initiative ECMWF supports national institutions to improve their uptake and use of CAMS and C3S products in support of their environmental, climate resilience and green transition objectives.

The programme is implemented through contracts and grants with the public authorities, bilateral discussions with individual national authorities, joint dialogues via the User Fora and assessments on transboundary issues. Training activities complement specific capacity building needs. The NCP facilitates dialogues between the countries as well as at European levels on topics related to the implementation of European environmental policies.

Additional info can be found at https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/cams-national-collaboration-programme and https://climate.copernicus.eu/c3s-national-collaboration-programme

User Outreach and Engagement at ECMWF

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.

Your Responsibilities

• Support other members of the team with technical assessments of deliverables from the NCP contracts/grants;
• Manage a portfolio of NCP contracts/grants to ensure the delivery of the contractually agreed outputs, providing guidance and involving scientific experts at ECMWF;
• Promote and facilitate dialogues between member states about synergies and increased engagements on technical topics;
• Steer the collection and analysis of user feedback on CAMS and C3S products and services resulting from the NCPs;
• Contribute to ECMWF user engagement activities such as workshops, general assemblies and other fora.
  
  

You will work closely with colleagues across the Forecasts and Services Department and the Research Department, the Communication Section, and the User Services Section.

Occasional travel to the other ECMWF offices, Member States, Co-operating States, and to the EU member states participating in the Copernicus programme may be required.

What We're Looking For

• Dynamic and enthusiastic candidate with a high level of motivation to engage and interact with external stakeholders
• Open-minded and flexible, eager to learn about CAMS and C3S data products and Copernicus in general
• Take initiative and ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, but also able to work independently
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate to different audiences
  
  

Education And Experience

• University degree (EQF Level 6 or above) in Earth sciences, Environmental Engineering or similar relevant scientific discipline
• Some experience in promotion and user outreach activities focused on scientific stakeholders
• Exposure working in an international setting is an asset
  
  

Skills And Knowledge

• Understanding of the scientific aspects underpinning air quality and/or climate change data products as well as of their relevance in the national and European policy context
• Insights into data value chains in support of environmental and climate adaptation policies; awareness of aspects related to data access and applicability is an advantage
• Experience in capacity building programmes is an advantage
  
  

Fluency in English is required and fluency in or working knowledge of the Centre's other two working languages (French, German) or of other European Union languages is an advantage.

Other Information

Grade remuneration: The successful candidates will be recruited according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations and the annual basic salary will be NET of tax. ECMWF also offers a generous benefits package, including a flexible teleworking policy. Full details of salary scales and allowances available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs, including the ECMWF Staff Regulations and the terms and conditions of employment.

Duty station: Bonn, Germany. Candidates are expected to relocate to the duty station.

Full-/Part-time : this position can be offered full-time (100%) or part-time (80%). As a multi-site organisation, ECMWF allows flexibility to staff to mix office working and teleworking. We allow for remote work 10 days/month away from the office and, within that provision, up to 80 days/year away from the country of the duty station (within the area of our member states and co-operating states).

Virtual interviews (MS Teams) are expected to take place shortly after the closing date.

Who Can Apply

Applicants are invited to complete the online application form by clicking on the apply button below.

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 nationals of European Union 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, Turkey 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.