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Under the overall supervision of the Deputy Regional Director for Operations and direct supervision of the RE2CLID Regional Programme Specialist, with technical supervision of the Regional Thematic Specialist (Data & Research), working in close coordination with the Humanitarian Response and Recovery and Climate Action regional units and IOM’s Climate Mobility Innovation Lab, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning Officer (Data) will support the design and delivery of data-driven initiatives to identify multi-hazard displacement risks, strengthen resilience, inform early warning systems, and enable anticipatory action in the region, while also contributing to programmatic approaches that translate this evidence into concrete interventions for disaster risk reduction and preparedness.
The Regional Office for East, Horn, and Southern Africa provides strategic and technical support to country offices across the region, spanning migration governance, humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation. Within this framework, the Regional Data Hub (RDH) serves as the central hub for data innovation, supporting evidence-based decision-making and providing actionable insights to inform programming, partnerships, and policy dialogue.
In May 2023, representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Directorate General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) of the European Commission began discussions on an action to be implemented under the Regional Multi-Annual Indicative Plan for Sub-Saharan Africa (RMIP SSA) for 2024 which resulted in the development of the “Regional Responses to Climate Displacement in Sub-Saharan Africa” programme (RE2CLID) outlining a regional response to climate displacement.
The RE2CLID programme seeks to enhance the resilience, self-reliance, and protection of Displacement-Affected Communities (DACs) living in areas at risk of disasters, environmental degradation, and the adverse effects of climate change. The programme operates across two highly vulnerable sub-regional clusters, inclusive of Cluster 1 – the Lake Tanganyika Basin, encompassing Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, and Cluster 2 – the Southern Africa and South-West Indian Ocean region, including Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros. The objective of the programme is to improve overall capacity to respond to and increase overall resilience to disaster displacement at the regional level through strategic interventions regionally, nationally and locally.
The Climate Change and Migration Data (CCMD) Programme, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark under the Danish Organisational Strategy for IOM (2024–2026), focuses on strengthening evidence-based migration management in North, East, and West Africa. By addressing data and knowledge gaps on human mobility linked to climate change, environmental degradation, and other migration drivers, CCMD supports countries of origin, transit, and destination along key migration corridors to anticipate risks, reduce irregular migration and displacement, and inform more resilient policy and programmatic responses.
Given the region’s growing exposure to climate change impacts, environmental degradation, and disaster-related displacement, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning Officer (Data analysis and information management) will support IOM country offices to work with partners at the national, regional, and global levels to identify risks of displacement triggers. This will include developing cooperation and data science techniques to model relationships between hazard, vulnerability, and exposure data relating to displacement, as well as contributing to capacity development activities at national and regional levels to ensure the sustainability of interventions. The role will provide strategic support to multiple country offices, develop regional analyses on climate-related mobility and displacement, and ensure programmatic alignment across diverse initiatives.
The Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning Officer (Data analysis and information management) will be provided with regular feedback on his/her performance and progress, with special attention granted to goal setting and overcoming challenges.
Responsibilities
Technical Expertise & Knowledge Sharing
1. Support the improvement of displacement trigger risk modelling in the region, through modelling hazards such as floods, droughts, and storms, other drivers like conflict, and data on climate vulnerability and exposure of populations, including displaced populations. This will include co-production processes fostering a whole-of-society, sustainable approach with a wide range of partners.
2. Support the use of geospatial and predictive analytics tools, leveraging mobility/displacement data from Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), to support Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Anticipatory Action (AA) frameworks.
3. Contribute to regional initiatives on risk analytics, hazard monitoring, and trigger design in collaboration with the relevant partners.
4. Maintain and advance technical knowledge of DRR and EW data tools and methodologies.
5. Contribute to knowledge sharing by organizing workshops, trainings, consultations, and tailored knowledge products for governments, partners, and communities.
Regional Strategy & Integration
6. Contribute to the development and implementation of a regional Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Anticipatory Action (AA) strategy linking national Disaster Risk Management (DRM) systems, humanitarian response plans for (IOM) programming.
7. Provide technical inputs, backstopping and quality assurance for country offices drafting and refinement of data-driven DRR and AA, including review of triggers, operating procedures, and monitoring frameworks.
8. Support efforts to align work with regional and continental frameworks and climate resilience strategies, including those of African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs).
9. Contribute to strengthening evidence-based policy and programming, including by supporting data-driven programme design, promotion of evidence outputs, and supporting IOM’s engagement in relevant for a at national, regional, and global levels.
Operational Preparedness & Financing
10. Support improvements to early warning systems through better forecasting lead times, ensuring coverage of displaced populations, developing displacement-related trigger mechanisms, informing preparedness and resilience programming, and improving ‘last mile’ communication for response.
11. Provide technical inputs on regional pre-arranged financing mechanisms (e.g., Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) Anticipatory Action (AA), pooled funds, insurance pilots).
Technical Support to Missions
12. Support overall RE2CLID programme-level information management.
13. Work closely with DTM teams and relevant technical officers in each implementing country to coordinate programme‑level data and information management.
14. Support the standardization of data tools, templates and processes across the programme to ensure displacement data are comparable across regions.
15. Serve as a regional focal point for displacement data issues, liaising with IOM, regional bodies and external partners.
16. Maintain and support institutional management platforms, including SharePoint and programme dashboards, to ensure secure storage, sharing and visualization of programme data.
17. Provide analytical support for high‑level dissemination and collaborate with M&E staff to validate findings and ensure accurate, timely reporting.
18. Support programme development, adoption, and impact by advising on the design and scaling of data-driven initiatives, engaging stakeholders, and promoting the use of evidence and data products to maximize resilience outcomes across East, Horn, and Southern Africa.
19. Support human mobility and climate change nexus programmes, disaster risk reduction, early warning, and anticipatory action by strengthening the evidence base, integrating analytics and innovative tools, and ensuring standards and methodologies inform regional and country programming.
Coordination & Partnerships
20. Participate as delegated in regional Anticipatory Action (AA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) taskforces and coordination platforms, including the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), African Union (AU), United Nations (UN) regional forums, Regional Climate Centres (RCCs), and the Early Warning for All initiative.
21. Support cross-border cooperation with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and Disaster Risk Management (DRM) authorities on hazard monitoring and data sharing in relation to displacement risks.
22. Contribute to ensuring regional coherence on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Early Warning (EW), and Anticipatory Action (AA) activities with other United Nations (UN) agency frameworks.
Programme Development, Resource Mobilization & Policy
23. Contribute to the design and formulation of DRR and climate change programming at regional and country levels, grounded in data and evidence.
24. Support resource mobilization to strengthen data-driven DRR and EW in relation to displacement.
25. Support the identification, development and adoption of DRR-sensitive and anticipatory action policies in line with IOM frameworks and national/UN strategies.
26. Advocate for the integration of Anticipatory Action (AA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in humanitarian and development planning cycles, including Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs), United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs), and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) on Climate Change.
27. Draft and contribute to advocacy materials, policy briefs, and communication products to influence donor and government priorities.
28. Perform other related duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications and Experience
Education
Master’s degree in DRR, Environment, Environmental Engineering, Social Sciences, International Relations, Data, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field from an accredited academic institution with five years of relevant professional experience; or,
University degree in the above fields with seven years of relevant professional experience.
Accredited Universities are those listed in the UNESCO World Higher Education Database.
Experience
Work experience in emergency situations (complex emergency or disaster response) at an international level is required;
Demonstrated experience in humanitarian affairs, emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, rehabilitation, and climate change adaptation;
Experience in implementing data analytics components of DRR and EW programming;
Technical experience with early warning systems;
Experience designing and delivering capacity development activities in the area of expertise;
Knowledge and experience of working with humanitarian coordination mechanisms;
Proven expertise with climate change impact modelling, climate data analysis, and resilience/adaptation strategies;
Familiarity with advanced climate simulation tools (SSPs, RCPs, IAMs, sectoral models); and,
Experience with NLP and text analysis may be useful.
Skills
Proven skills in conducting geo-spatial statistical analysis;
Hands-on experience with tools such as Python or R;
Ability to understand complex contexts and fast-changing migration and displacement dynamics and them within regional, global, and political contexts;
Strong analytical skills combined with the ability to effectively summarize, present, and communicate findings;
Demonstrated ability to support and coordinate multi-stakeholder data initiatives in the field of migration, environment, and climate change;
Experience supporting the designing of data-driven human mobility and climate change adaptation strategies (e.g. in sectors like agriculture, forestry, water, energy, urban planning); and,
Ability to integrate economic and social dimensions of climate change, migration, and displacement into analytical approaches and models.
Languages
All IOM staff members in all categories are required to be fluent in one of the IOM’s official languages (English, French, Spanish).
For this position, fluency in English is required (oral and written).
Working knowledge of French or Portuguese is desirable.
How to apply
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Any offer made to the candidate in relation to this vacancy notice is subject to funding confirmation.
This selection process may be used to staff similar positions in various duty stations. Recommended candidates will remain eligible to be appointed in a similar position for a period of 24 months.
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