IRC Climate Analyst Jobs in Kenya
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities.
A force for humanity, IRC employees delivers lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
Climate emergencies are growing in scale & severity. The humanitarian system is unable to address ever increasing needs. New approaches are needed that protect long-term investments in climate adaptation & mitigation. This includes the integration of crisis modifiers into longer-term programs, adaptive programming, shock responsive social protection, parametric insurance, and anticipatory action.
To support IRC’s growing portfolio of adaptive programming, parametric insurance and anticipatory action IRC is increasing its capacity to forecast climate hazards as part of our well-established Global Crisis Analysis (GCA) team. Climate forecasts will inform IRC’s programming across different sectoral technical units and geographic regions.
Major responsibilities
The Climate Analyst supports the integration of climate forecasts into IRC existing suite of crisis analysis products (annual Emergency Watchlist, risk monitoring & emergency classifications).
The Climate Analysis will be working within the Global Crisis Analysis team within the Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Unit (EHAU) and working closely with the Anticipatory Action Specialist (ERD), and Climate Advisors. The role involves liaising closely with Country Programs & Regions to interpret and action the forecasts that the analyst produces.
A significant focus of the position is to ensure regular and timely production of reports. This is also a new role so its responsibilities may evolve as we build greater understanding of IRC needs in this area.
Conduct regular climate analysis:
• Review monthly forecasts from Columbia University International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) to identify critical time periods based on livelihood calendars for regions where IRC has on-going programming.
• Identify countries at high risk of above or below average rainfall (i.e. at risk of flood or drought), particularly where this could impact existing IRC country programs and/or may increase needs in a place aligned with IRC entry criteria.
• Produce & disseminate clear & concise regular analysis identifying at risk Country Programs.
• Explore options for automating monthly forecast analysis & reporting.
• Flood Risk Analysis & Forecasting: in counties identified as being at high risk of a specific, forecast high rainfall event.
o Run flood forecasts and disseminate reports as frequently as required during periods of heightened risk.
• Drought Risk Analysis & Mapping: in counties identified as being at high risk of a specific, forecast low rainfall event.
o Map historical drought extent & frequency
o Run regular precipitation analysis based on CHIRPS data (or similar source)
Engage colleagues to ensure they understand the climate analysis and support them to apply it to their
work:
• Host monthly call with Deputy Director of Programs (DDP) of climate hot-spot countries & Regional Emergency Directors (RED) to discuss monthly forecast and implications for utilization of established Crisis Modifiers, initiating Anticipatory Action / Early Action & preparing for a Humanitarian Response
• Host regular call with Country Program Emergency Response Coordinator & Regional Emergency Director to discuss implications of flood and precipitation forecasts
Collaborate with GCA, wider Technical Excellence team and external partners to build the IRC’s expertise on the intersection of climate and other crisis risks:
• Contribute climate analysis to IRC annual Emergency Watchlist.
• Support integration of climate risks to the Global Crisis Analysis team’s ongoing risk work and development of the risk radar.
• Support relevant updates to the IRC’s Emergency Classification System and explore possible connections between the IRC’s Emergency Classification System and anticipatory action work.
• The GCA team maintains the IRC’s Emergency Classification system, which is a critical first step in all IRC emergency responses. Most classification requests are handled during working hours by other members of the team, but all team members participate in a roster system to share responsibility for handling classification requests at weekends. The Climate Analyst may, very occasionally, be involved in processing and issuing a classification at weekends where this is crucial to ensure a timely response to a new emergency.
• Explore potential for automating CHIRPS analysis & integration with Household Economy Analysis (HEA) in collaboration with IRC’s Anticipatory Action Specialist
• Explore potential for strategic partnership with IRI, or other similar institutions and organizations, such as GLOFAS or other NGOs.
Minimum Technical Requirements:
• Experience with climate forecast (e.g. IRI)
• Experience with GIS tools & analysis (e.g. QGIS).
• Experience with flood forecasting (e.g. GLOFAS)
• Experience with Google Earth Engine, in particular for:
o Surface water mapping
o Precipitation time series analysis and short-term (CHIRPS)
o Flood mapping using SAR imagery
o Drought mapping usings long-term MODIS NDVI
Minimum Professional Requirements
• Demonstrated experience of partnership management.
• Excellent critical thinking skills to problem-solve independently.
• Excellent organizational skills: the ability to multi-task, learn quickly, and work independently and productively in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to effectively collaborate with and motivate a variety of people in a multi-cultural environment.
• Excellent digital literacy: MS Word, Excel. Proficiency in Excel strongly preferred.
• Dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion and a passion for IRC’s mission.
• Excellent written English, including the ability to synthesize information and draft high-quality reports.
How to Apply
For more information and job application details, see; IRC Climate Analyst Jobs in Kenya
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