Geospatial Advisor
Job Details
Description
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by
the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do
their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they
belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can
be stronger and have long term impact.
Mercy Corps Kenya
Mercy Corps has been
working in Kenya since 2008, partnering with Kenyan communities to drive peace
and development. Last year, our programs reached over 905,000 people across the
country in the areas of strengthening governance, empowering young people,
promoting peace and stability, and supporting resilient livelihoods.
The ASAL Adapts program aims
to strengthen ecosystem health in Wajir and Garissa counties by enhancing the
uptake and use of digital information services and tools among county
governments and other key stakeholders in the rangeland management
decision-making chain. This approach is highly participatory and guides
decision-makers to think more broadly about the relationship between natural
resources and the productivity of their livestock.
The Position
The Geospatial Advisor,
working under the ASAL Adapts Program Manager, is responsible for leading
geospatial analysis, capacity building activities, and stakeholder engagement
in Wajir and Garissa. They will incorporate climate modeling and rangeland health/use
data to lead on decision making with county, ward, and community stakeholders.
They are responsible for initiating and building partnerships with local
governments in Wajir and Garissa counties, translating geospatial analyses to
ward development committees, and working closely with the Geospatial officer
and Natural Resource Managers to prioritize land management activities in
consultation with ward development committees. They will work closely with the
monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEAL) team to measure climate information
metrics.
They will supervise the
Geospatial Officer, who is responsible for the daily management and
implementation of technical activities including data collection and cleaning,
tool development, and creation of maps. The Geospatial Advisor will also have
the opportunity to participate in Mercy Corps’ wider GIS Working Group with
colleagues around the world.
Essential Responsibilities
GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS &
DEVELOPMENT (40%)
- Offer
technical support to the County Governments of Wajir and Garissa on the
adoption and utilization of a web-based and user-friendly county
development integrated system which includes the locations of assets such
as vegetation, soil water content, underground water availability,
population density, and county infrastructure like health facilities,
schools, roads, etc.
- Advise
the development of geospatial analyses, writing program code or using
desktop software from inception to production stage.
- Work
with users from county government to scope and analyze geospatial system
requirements and provide tailored support and troubleshooting to users
related to geospatial tools and analyses.
- Incorporate
insight from Ecosystems Services Valuation in geospatial analyses and
where relevant, incorporate datasets from Mercy Corps’ NASA partnership or
from the Google Earth Engine catalog.
- Consider
gender, youth, and people with disabilities in land use analysis and
planning.
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
(30%)
- Work
with Geospatial Officer in collaboration with county government and ward
development committees to make decisions about natural resource management.
- Apply
a sustainability lens to land and water use decisions, balancing the need
for livelihood activities and long term landscape ecology.
- Draw
on geospatial data and community input to make natural resource management
decisions and allocate resources for natural resource management decisions.
- Train
communities on uptake and utilization of digital climate information
services.
- Train
climate information actors on integration and co-production of climate
advisory services.
- Incorporate
feedback from government and community stakeholders into the analytical
process.
- In
collaboration with the MEAL coordinator, support in the monitoring and
evaluation of program activities.
INFLUENCE, REPRESENTATION
& FUNDING (30%)
- In
collaboration with Communications and Learning Coordinator, contribute to
knowledge sharing materials and disseminate with relevant audiences.
- Represent
Mercy Corps and the work of the ASAL Adapts program at relevant sector
conferences and meetings.
- Works
with the Program Manager and other team members to support future
geospatial funding proposals or geospatial elements of other proposals in
Northeastern Kenya.
- Collaborates
with Technology for Development (T4D) to communicate results and learnings
on the use of geospatial technology for climate change adaptation.
Supervisory Responsibility
Direct Reports: Geospatial Officer
Accountability
Reports Directly To: ASAL Adapts Program Manager
Works Directly With: ASAL Adapts program team, Kenya MEL team,
county governments and Ward Development Committees in Wajir and Garissa,
Technology for Development team.
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members
are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our
program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to
international standards guiding international relief and development work. We
are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design,
monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
- Bachelor’s
or master’s degree preferred. Must have strong components in Geographic
Information Science, quantitative analysis, statistics, data science, or
related fields. Demonstrated advanced skill and experience in geospatial technology
and development will be considered in lieu of educational requirements.
- 3-5
years of experience working in GIS, quantitative data analysis, computer
science, or a related field. Must have demonstrated experience working
with geospatial data, software (at least QGIS or ArcGIS), and methods
including experience with raster datasets and remote sensing analysis
- Background
in land use planning, natural resource management, rangeland ecology, or
water resources.
- Demonstrated
experience in training/capacity-building and in fostering collaborative
relationships with data users and other stakeholders.
- Ability
to work effectively with geographically dispersed teams.
- Excellent
oral and written English skills required; proficiency in Swahili and/or
Somali preferred.
- Attention
to detail.
- Ability
to work with a team and independently.
- It
is not required, but we encourage you to share a small portfolio of
geospatial work products with your application to get a sense of your
skills and experience. This could be web based or through attachments to
your application.
How to Apply
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted
candidates will be contacted.
Mercy Corps does not charge any fees at any stage of the
recruitment process.
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