BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH
REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction, and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.
IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.
We are currently looking for an Assessment Specialist with experience, knowledge, and technical expertise in humanitarian coordination and needs assessments.
Title: Assessment Specialist
Location: Pemba, Mozambique
Contract duration: 12 months
Start date: As soon as possible
POSITION PROFILE
One of the poorest countries in the world, Mozambique is home to nearly 30 million people. Extremely susceptible to climate shocks, the country has been facing cyclical droughts and flooding over the last years, including two major cyclones in 2019, which compounds the high poverty levels and increase vulnerability across most of the country. In addition, increasing violence and insecurity, mainly in the north of the country, leads to displacements and protection concerns.
To contribute to humanitarian coordination, IMPACT will provide OCHA Mozambique with extra capacity and technical expertise to foster needs assessments and analysis in support to humanitarian strategic planning and the prioritization of emergency response.
The Assessment Specialist will be based in Pemba, Mozambique, with frequent travel to Maputo, and field locations. The Assessment Specialist will be line-managed by the IMPACT Regional Coordinator for Africa based in Geneva.
FUNCTIONS
- Provide support to the Humanitarian Programme Cycle.
- Develop or improve inter-sectoral analytical frameworks/analysis plans.
- Support the IMO with the PIN and Severity calculation through methodology review / validation
- Ensure the inclusion of cross-cutting issues (e.g., gender, age, diversity, etc.) in the HNO analysis.
- Work in conjunction with OCHA/ICCG to support the development of HPC products.
- Produce situation and needs analysis periodically or on request of ICCG and HCT.
- Foster coordination of needs assessments and analysis
- Establish and co-chair the Assessment and Analysis Working Group chaired by OCHA.
- Facilitate the development of a crisis-wide assessment strategy.
- Facilitate the coordination of multi-sector needs assessments to increase availability of data.
- Maintain the assessment registry to track planned, ongoing, and completed assessments.
- Provide a forum where key assessments findings are disseminated and discussed.
- Improve the quality of needs assessment and analysis.
- Improve data quality through the development of robust and standardized tools and methodologies.
- Provide technical support on assessments, including through capacity building and training.
- Organize joint review of assessments that are implemented, and capture lessons learned.
- Contribute to the scale up of REACH activities.
- Support fundraising efforts and the setup of REACH operations in country.
- Develop and pilot a rapid needs assessment framework, including tools and methodology.
- Coordinate Area-Based assessments, from tool design to the production of analysis products.
REQUIREMENTS
- Excellent academic qualifications, including a Masters degree in a relevant discipline such as research methods, social sciences research, humanitarian studies, international development, or similar.
- At least 3 years of relevant working experience in humanitarian settings.
- At least 2 years of experience conducting field-based primary research, humanitarian research, or humanitarian needs assessments.
- Familiarity with the Humanitarian Programme Cycle and humanitarian coordination system.
- Experience with research methods best practices, social science statistics, and quant data analysis.
- Excellent analytical and drafting skills for effective reporting.
- Strong external engagement and verbal communication.
- Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment.
- Fluency in English required, knowledge of Portuguese welcomed.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, to include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Knowledge and experience in R or other statistical analysis software and Adobe InDesign a plus.
- Ability to multitask with tight deadlines and to work independently.
- Ability to operate in a complex and challenging security environment.
CONDITIONS
- Salary defined by the IMPACT salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus.
- Free food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse/or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment).
- Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance.
- Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package.