Resilient Infrastructure Specialist Consultant

About P4I

Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I) is an Australian Government initiative partnering with Southeast Asia to drive sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth through quality infrastructure. P4I partners with Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

P4I works with partners to strengthen infrastructure decision-making and practice across the transport, energy, utilities and telecommunications sectors. P4I’s focus is on the early stages of the infrastructure lifecycle, including planning and prioritisation, financing strategy, and procurement.

The four main services offered by P4I are linkages with Australian government agencies and other institutions, technical and policy advice, infrastructure project advice and knowledge-sharing and learning. As the foundation of quality infrastructure, P4I also integrates gender equality, disability, social inclusion, disaster risk reduction and climate change considerations into all activities.

Delivered through a single team, P4I is led by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in collaboration with EY, Adam Smith International, The Asia Foundation and Ninti One. P4I has a regional head office in Bangkok, with staff also located in Australia and each partner country.

The Role

P4I has a significant mandate to operationalise Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change (DRRCC) commitments throughout its work and partnerships in the region. For P4I to meet its End of Investment Outcomes in support of inclusive, sustainable, and quality infrastructure, tailored, technical credible and specific DRRCC considerations need to be integrated into every activity that we deliver.

This role will complement the core P4I DRRCC team (based in Bangkok), providing climate and disaster-resilient infrastructure specialist advice and input across the DRRCC portfolio. The role will report to the DRRCC Lead, with the average utilisation of the role 1 day per week for 12 months (up to 60 days).

The position holder will:

• Review economic infrastructure activity proposals and integrate climate and disaster resilience principles into the design, supporting activity delivery, along with strategies, training sessions and knowledge sessions. 
• Play a quality assurance role of outputs from across P4I workstreams in relation to climate and disaster resilient infrastructure – specifically for the telecommunications, energy and transport sectors. 
• Engage with country teams, sector leads and P4I partners in co-designing activities and provide technical advice on climate and disaster-resilient infrastructure best practices. 
• Provide high-level, sector and geographic-specific political economy analysis of the economic infrastructure sector and sensitivities that will impact the sustained implementation of the disaster and climate-resilient infrastructure.
• Understand and apply the linkages and alignment to international climate and sustainable financial systems, classifications and financing mechanisms.

The role will likely include travel to the Southeast Asia region (when appropriate and in agreement with wider P4I activity teams). Anticipated travel will be 1-2 times in the 12-month period. All costs for travel including flights, accommodation and per diem will be covered by P4I.  

The position holder will also:

• Contribute to P4I planning and strategy development, in particular the preparation of Annual Workplans.
• Ensure gender and social inclusion considerations are analysed and addressed during the development and implementation of strategies and activities.
• Work with the communications team to identify and promote P4I activities through communications and public diplomacy opportunities.
• Work with other P4I teams to encourage knowledge sharing in the region, including through the development of knowledge products, participating in regional workshops or events, or collaborating with research organisations.
• Contribute to ad-hoc briefings requested by the P4I Program Executive, Australian Embassies in the region, or DFAT Canberra.

Selection Criteria

• More than 10 years of experience in the application of climate and disaster resilience in economic infrastructure, including climate risk assessments. 
• Experienced in the application of current disaster and climate resilient infrastructure global standards, guidelines and best practices and relevant frameworks and toolkits (preferably transport, energy and/or telecommunications). 
• Demonstrated experience in thought leadership, development of global and sector guidance and best practice in disaster risk reduction and climate change issues in infrastructure development. 
• Demonstrated experience delivering disaster and climate impact assessments, incorporating resilience objectives into infrastructure project concepts, and development and policy support for infrastructure development strategies and frameworks. 
• Demonstrated experience designing and delivering adaptation pathways and embedding resilience through infrastructure projects.  
• Demonstrated understanding of DRR and/or CC issues in the context of infrastructure development (preferably transport, energy and/or telecommunications) in the Southeast Asia region.
• Strong communication, writing and analytical skills in English.
• Available to work across Southeast Asian and Australian time zones. 

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted by 11:59 pm (Bangkok time) on Sunday 11 June 2023.

Interested applicants are requested to submit a CV and a short cover note in an email with the subject “[Candidate Name] – Resilient Infrastructure Specialist consultant” to recruitment@partnershipsforinfrastructure.org.

Due to the high volume of applications for P4I positions, only short-listed applicants will be contacted.