Climate Assessment Specialist for East Africa, based in Nairobi

## **BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH**

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.

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.

**We are currently looking for a Climate Specialist to lead REACH’s climate and loss and damage (L&D) research portfolio in the Horn of Africa (pending funding confirmation).**

**Department**: REACH

**Contract duration**: 18 months, with possibility of extension

**Location**: Nairobi, Kenya – subject to visa.

**Starting Date**: September 2026 (Pending funding confirmation).

## **REGION PROFILE**

East Africa is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions, where recurrent shocks – including drought, flooding, and slow-onset processes such as land degradation and water scarcity – intersect with protracted conflict, displacement, and acute humanitarian needs.

Somalia stands out as one of the countries most acutely exposed to climate-driven shocks, where the 2021–2023 multi-season drought caused widespread livestock losses, crop failure, and large-scale displacement, with an estimated 1.1 million people internally displaced at its peak. Kenya remains highly exposed to climate variability, with arid and semi-arid regions regularly affected by drought and communities in low-lying areas increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Sudan and South Sudan face similarly complex crises, shaped by the intersection of conflict, economic fragility, and worsening climate conditions, including severe seasonal flooding that has increasingly undermined livelihoods and food security in recent years. In Uganda, climate pressures, including drought and erratic rainfall compound the needs of one of Africa's largest refugee populations.

REACH is active across the region with established presence in Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda, supporting humanitarian decision-making through multi-sector needs assessments, food security analysis, and market monitoring. Building on this foundation, REACH is scaling up its climate and loss and damage portfolio across the region.

## **POSITION PROFILE**

The Climate Specialist will serve as the primary IMPACT/REACH technical resource for any climate and loss and damage activities and will contribute to growing REACH’s climate and resilience portfolio across the Horn of Africa. Based in Nairobi, the position will involve regular travel in the region, particularly to Somalia, and close collaboration with Acted, relevant ministries, and community-level stakeholders.

The ideal candidate will combine strong technical skills in climate and humanitarian research with a deep understanding of loss and damage concepts – including both economic loss and damage (ELD) and non-economic loss and damage (NELD) – and a commitment to community-centred, locally led approaches. They will be equally comfortable leading rigorous quantitative data collection and engaging participatory, qualitative research methodologies.

## **RESPONSIBILITIES**

***Research Planning and Design***

- Serve as the lead researcher for all climate / loss and damage-related research cycles, ensuring that assessments are planned in line with project objectives, IMPACT research cycle guidelines, and donor requirements.
- Design and develop community-level L&D assessment frameworks (pre- and post-intervention), ensuring tools capture both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of loss and damage and reflect community-defined priorities.
- Design assessment(s) related to NELD dimensions such as cultural identity, traditional customs, dietary diversity, and livelihood disruption.
- Stay abreast of evolving global evidence on L&D methodologies, valuation approaches, and climate attribution, and integrate best practices into REACH’s assessment designs.
- Ensure all research designs are valida