Climate Analyst – International Rescue Committee (IRC)

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 Watch list, 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.
  • 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.
  • Map historical drought extent & frequency
  • 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.

Key Working Relationships

  • Position reports to: Management in partnership between the Crisis Data Specialist on the GCA team, and the Anticipatory Action Specialist
  • Position directly supervises: N/A
  • Internal contacts: ERD & Education Technical Unit teams, Airbel and IRC country office staff.
  • External contacts: IRI, GLOFAS, other NGOs involved in Anticipatory Action

Minimum Technical Requirements: experience with at least 3 of the following technical areas and interesting in learning

  • 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:  Surface water mapping; Precipitation time series analysis and short-term (CHIRPS); Flood mapping using SAR imagery; Drought mapping using 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.

Working Environment:

  • Standard office working environment.
  • Some international travel.
  • This role may require working remotely full or part time and part time remote employees may be required to share workspace.

Compensation:

Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits:

The IRC offers a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. All US employees are eligible for sick time, a 403b retirement savings plans: up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus an 3-7% additional IRC contribution, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

In addition, full-time employees are eligible for 10 US paid holidays, 20-25 paid time off days, disability & life insurance, medical, dental, and vision insurance (employee contribution starting at $135, $7, and $5 per month respectively) and FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs. Part-time employees are eligible for a proportionate amount of paid time off. These additional benefits apply to employees who work at least 6 months within a 12 month time period.

Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.

For application: https://careers.rescue.org/us/en/job/req49532/Climate-Analyst

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