Mercy Corps works in Dollo Ado and Gode field offices in the Somali region to improve the livelihoods, economic opportunities, and food security for refugees and host communities through this WFP-funded award. Mercy Corps engages people in socio-economic activities through user groups acknowledging their capacities, thus improving the quality of their lives and building their resilience for possible shocks in the future, while contributing to self-reliance in the long term. Mercy Corps interventions focus on strengthening market systems, diversifying livelihoods and income, and improving resilience capacities by promoting financial, livestock, and crop market activities.

General Position Summary

NRM and Climate Services Specialist is required to manage the climate risk solution of the program in promoting participatory NRM, early warning, and disaster risk management.  This position requires someone who understands the role of culture and local communities in managing climate-based information and has deep experience in facilitating participatory early warning committees to develop plans to strengthen the community’s resilience against drought.

Essential Job Responsibilities

 Strategy & Vision

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to countrywide strategy development.
• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.

Program Management

• Conduct initial assessments of climate vulnerability, livelihood sensitivity, and community capacity analysis with special emphasis on resources on traditional disaster risk management and decision-making structures.
• Identify existing capacities at local and regional government, scrutinize the DRM policy, and seek a better approach to leverage for streamlining better mechanisms to improve early warning system of the public
• Advocate better disaster risk management and expose tested models to the local and regional government to take up and use in their planning system
• Built the capacity of the public sector key actors through training and technical support, create different platforms to work with the project, and gradually transform the public system
• Develop a deep understanding of the natural resource management (NRM) approaches and livelihood framework in particular focus on the importance of utilizing communal structures for better climate adaptation
• Support identification and systematic inclusion of key NRM governance stakeholders at local and regional levels in all relevant activities and processes.
• Develop and implement a strategy for community-led disaster risk management by integrating the traditional forecast system with that of the science-based information for the community to be able to anticipate and prepare for risks.
• Support the identification and systematic inclusion of key Climate change adaptation options at local and regional levels in all relevant activities and processes.
• Provide support to livestock production and insurance activities in environmentally sustainable practices
• Contribute to the strengthening of knowledge management in DRM by attending partnership meetings; providing technical advice on project issues; monitoring the achievement of project milestones
• Integrate community-based NRM approaches, gender sensitivity, and capacity building of vulnerable groups into all activities as appropriate.
• Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.

Capacity-building

• Provide training and on-site technical guidance to the implementation of small-scale irrigation systems, soil and water conservation, water harvesting, rangeland rehabilitation and conservation, and other land restoration activities, including DAs, NR committees, community members, government partners, and other program staff as applicable.
• Organize and provide technical programmatic inputs and training to the field team, government partners, and community partners on natural resource and disaster risk management planning and implementation techniques.
• Organize and facilitate training, consultative workshops, and field-based institutional capacity-building activities around multi-community NR/CCA activities that result from community-based agreements.

Influence & Representation

• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with community leaders, partners, local governments, and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and programmatic obligations are met.

Organizational Learning 

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

•  Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically
  to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs, and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Disaster Risk Management, Natural Resource Management, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Engineering, or other related field or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

• Desirably: Master’s Degree in Disaster Risk Management, Climatology, Agricultural Economics, Rural Development, or Natural Resource Management, Environmental Engineering or another related field

• A minimum of five years of experience in relevant sectors like DRR, NRM, Livelihood, EW,etc

• Experience in conducting CVCA and ion of Participatory Scenario Planning, specific experience in Somali Region is a benefit

• Analytical skills and good research background

• Fluency both in English and Somali is required

Success Factors

The successful candidate is adaptive, innovative, and has an anthropological mindset; s/he is able to work independently while striving to integrate activities to fulfill larger program goals.