Job Vacancy at C40 Cities – City Advisor

The strategic direction of the organisation is determined by an elected Steering Committee of C40 mayors which is chaired by the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. Three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the C40 Board of Directors, which is responsible for operational oversight. A nine-person management team, led by Executive Director, Mark Watts, leads the day-to-day management of C40. C40's three core strategic funders are Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Realdania.

C40 is committed to supporting and promoting equity and diversity and creating an inclusive working environment for everyone. We believe that when people with different life experiences are involved in decision-making, we deliver better.

We believe having a diverse workforce ensures we connect better with all the different communities and people affected by the climate crisis. This enables us to make better decisions which lead to better outcomes in the work we do through increased creativity, productivity, greater global impact alongside a broader perspective and approach to our work.

We welcome applicants that are diverse in terms of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective. Our goal is for C40 to be an environment where everyone, from any background, can flourish and can be themselves whilst contributing to our mission. If you identify as a person with a disability, we work to provide reasonable appropriate measures and any additional support needed to provide an equitable working experience. If you are living with a disability, chronic illness or neuro diversity please inform us, to provide you with the proper assistance in the application process.

C40 promotes a work culture where staff can input to improve equity, diversity and inclusion through staff-led groups and formal forums. We know that creating our ideal working environment is a learning process and we are committed to the ongoing effort.

The C40 City Adviser will be the strategic focal point for long-term climate action planning in the City of Freetown that aligns with the ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement, country commitments. This will involve engaging internal and external stakeholders, coordinating consultants to fill knowledge gaps, develop climate action pathways and prepare the city's climate action plan, including governance frameworks, facilitating knowledge transfer across city departments and national Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and ensuring sustainability after the project duration. This includes setting / reviewing targets, identifying locally appropriate climate change response actions, and defining measurement, reporting and verification processes for mitigation and adaptation.

The C40 City Adviser's relationship with the city government and other key stakeholders is critical for efficient and effective delivery. The City Adviser will be based at the Freetown City Council offices (Sierra Leone).

The Freetown City Adviser will join a cohort of C40 City Advisers across cities in sub-Saharan Africa. A series of in-city and workshops will be held for all C40 cities in sub-Saharan Africa, complemented by regional workshops, to build capacity and enable peer interaction.

As the 'on the ground' ambassador in the Freetown City Council, the City Adviser will also help to manage the partnership between the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the city government. This will include identifying and facilitating opportunities for collaboration, learning, innovation, action and advocacy, building local capacity, and building connections with other C40 cities and initiatives.

The ideal candidate will have a strong technical background in carbon accounting (preferably using the Global Protocol for Community Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories - GPC), climate related risk and hazard assessments, climate action planning for mitigation and adaptation, scenario planning and stakeholder engagement; substantial experience working with cities on climate action planning, preferably within the African context; and excellent problem solving, project management and communication skills.

Responsibilities: Working closely with the Freetown City Council, C40's Measurement and Planning team and C40's Regional Director for Africa, the City Adviser will develop and deliver a varied technical assistance programme to support the Freetown City Council in:

• Supporting and coordinating an inclusive internal and external stakeholder engagement in the CAP process through a variety of formats including, but not limited to workshops (for e.g. the prioritization of climate actions and launch of the CAP), focus group discussions, team meetings and individual consultations;
• Leverage existing stakeholder engagement formats and contribute to upcoming stakeholder engagements across the council's work to incorporate the CAP process more widely;
• Facilitate better national and local integration of climate response activities to ensure that that Freetown's CAP aligns with the City's development agenda, Sierra Leone's country plans commitments (with MTNDP, NDC, NAP and NAMA).
• Continue and complete Pathways emissions trajectory modelling - most likely through a series of focus group engagements across the energy, waste and transport sectors and individual stakeholder consultations where needed;
• Review the in 2018 developed city hazard and risk report, add / update evidence if needed and develop goals, targets and milestones for climate resilience and adaptation - most likely through an adaptation workshop;
• Gather, summarize and coordinate additional data points / evidence on cross-cutting themes, including but not limited to job creation, air and water quality, if needed to inform Freetown's CAP;
• Support and coordinate the development of implementable climate actions for adaptation and mitigation and their prioritization;
• Draw together existing knowledge to complete the Strategic CAP Appraisal that is underway, as a basis for Freetown's CAP;
• Facilitate the completion of the GHG Inventory Management Plan;
• Support and coordinate the development of a climate finance framework accompanying Freetown's CAP;
• Oversee, manage and review the work of consultants across all aforementioned points and coordinate technical assistance with the aim of building city capacity to implement climate action;

• Ensuring delivery of the city's climate action plan by working closely with city staff and contributing actively to the development of the plan;
• Manage and coordinate the partnership between the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the city government;
• Contribute to other work streams related to climate change of the Mayor's Delivery Unit and the Freetown City Council; supervise staff and volunteers, if needed.

• A relevant post-graduate degree;
• significant experience in government, business or NGO sectors with a focus on sustainability and/or climate change, and substantive experience working with or within municipal governments;
• Technical expertise in completing city-wide greenhouse gas emission inventories, undertaking scenario planning, and developing climate action plans;
• Technical expertise in assessing city-wide climate related risk and hazard, developing goals, targets and milestones for climate resilience and adaptation;
• Experience in working with climate change plans with or within municipal governments in Africa;
• Excellent project-management, strategic thinking and analytical capabilities, with MS Excel experience and data management skills;
• Demonstrable problem-solving, budget and people management experience, including working with third party delivery teams, and ability to manage multiple parallel tasks;
• Strong interpersonal, relationship building and written and verbal communication skills, combined with English fluency, knowledge of the local language Krio would be an advantage;
• Strong stakeholder engagement experience, as well as experience in developing or facilitating webinars, workshops, focus group discussions, etc.;
• International experience, working across different cultures, languages and time zones.

Other Requirements: Applicants must already have the right to work in Freetown. Some travel may be required as part of the role.

Location: Freetown

Term: 1 Year, Full time

Salary: Le 166,100,078 gross per annum

Applicant Process: Interested applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and a cover letter.

Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 11 August 2021. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply early. C40 may close applications ahead of the deadline if a suitable candidate is identified.