Geospatial Advisor – Wajir job at Mercy Corps

JOB DETAILS:

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.

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.


JOB DETAILS:

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.

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.