Environmental Expert at Mekong River Commission (MRC)

Mekong River Commission 

The role of MRC is to promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries' mutual benefit and the people's well-being

 

MRC Secretariat is now recruiting highly qualified consultants for the following consultancies

Environmental Expert (ideally providing monitoring expertise, technical background: river expertise; focus on impact analysis and risk assessment; knowledge on riverine monitoring) –1 position

Consultant type: Programme / Division	: :	Individual Consultant Environment Programme, Environment Division
Work location	:	Home base and the Mekong River Commission Secretariat, Vientiane, Lao PDR
Contract type/ Duration	:	150 working days (November 2014 – December 2015)

Key Responsibilities:

 

• Develop criteria to: (i) identify the significance of pressures and impacts in riverine systems; and (ii) determine environmental objectives/thresholds (physico-chemical; chemical; biological) for the risk assessment;
• Support the TL in the development of the overall method for impact analysis and risk assessment;
• Develop an approach to validate the results of the risk assessment with monitoring data for water quality and aquatic ecosystem health;
• Under the steering of the MRCS's EP staff, design the monitoring programme and network for the selected pilot basins in order to validate the results of the risk assessment;
• Support the selection of one or two Lower Mekong Sub-basins for pilot-testing;
• Support trainings regarding the project's method and all technical approaches towards capacity building;
• Support the TL in preparing the interim reports and the final report through writing and technical input to in a structured and concise way; and
• Support the TL with technical contributions for workshops and national/regional consultations.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• At least 10 years professional international/regional experience and a higher degree in environmental sciences, water/natural resource management and/or ecology/hydrobiology;
• High-level knowledge and proven applied experience in relation to pressure/impact analysis and risk assessment in riverine systems;
• Very good applied experience in criteria setting to determine the significance of physico-chemical, chemical and hydro-morphological pressures as well as impacts on riverine systems;
• Very good knowledge on international best practices on impact analysis and risk assessment;
• Very good experience in designing riverine monitoring networks and programmes to assess water status/water quality, aquatic ecosystem health and impacts from water uses taking into account biological, physico-chemical, and chemical parameters;
• Good experience with the design of transboundary/international monitoring programmes including quality assurance aspects;
• Familiarity with the Mekong monitoring programmes and components;
• Good knowledge with the MRC Procedures and Technical Guidelines on Water Quality;
• Experience in training and capacity building in particular as demands of this project;
• Proven experience of working within multi-disciplinary teams and the ability to get things done in a complex technical, organisational, and international environment;
• Demonstrated ability to write technical reports which can be readily understood by decision makers and the general public;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
• Familiarity with working in the LMB region, including knowledge on its fisheries and roles and activities of the Mekong River Commission.

The Term of References and other information can be obtained at MRC website working-with-mrc/employmenthttp://www.mrcmekong.org/ . Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

 

Application procedures:

 

The application should include (i) a cover letter outlining clearly how the candidate meets the requirements of the position, (ii) a detailed CV, and (iii) MRC Personal History Form. The position title and section/division must be indicated in the cover letter.

 

The application should be sent to:

Mekong River Commission Office of the Secretariat in Vientiane (OSV)
P.O. Box 6101, 184 Fa NgoumRoad
Vientiane 01000, Lao PDR
Email: mrcs@mrcmekong.org

Closing date for applications:  30 September 2014