Senior Communications Officer at International Rescue Committee

Overall purpose of the role: The Climate and Water Systems Specialist will focus on expanding DRC Kenya's climate-focused programme portfolio that address the intersection of displacement, climate and water access related challenges in Kenya. The role will contribute to strengthen the quality, effectiveness, sustainability and scale-up of integrated yet sector specific interventions on climate resilience including climate smart agriculture, water resource management and access, rangeland management and enhancing the adaptive capacity of vulnerable and displaced communities and pastoral communities in arid and semi-arid lands. The role requires a strong technical grounding in climate-resilient WASH, integrated water resource management (IWRM), and the policy, legal, and financing architecture that underpins climate adaptation programming in Kenya and the region Duties & Responsibilities: Programme Quality and Technical Support Provide technical expertise to country programme initiatives in the design, testing, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and validation of pilot initiatives with focus on Resilience Design, Climate Smart Agriculture and Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration generating evidence to inform programme improvement scaling and resource mobilization. Lead technical design and quality assurance of water resource management components, including IWRM planning, water security and water conservation approaches, groundwater/aquifer management, and engagement with basin-level water governance structures (e.g. Water Resource Users Associations, Water Resources Authority) relevant to ASAL contexts. Ensure programme approaches reflect climate-resilient WASH principles: climate risk and vulnerability screening of WASH infrastructure at design stage, drought, and floodproofing of water systems, water safety planning under climate stress, low-carbon/renewable-powered water systems (e.g. solar pumping), and linkages to Anticipatory Action and forecast-based financing for WASH pre-positioning. Lead the application and scaling of Resilience design (RAD), Climate Smart Agriculture, Water systems methodologies. Strengthen DRCs water access and climate-focused programme approaches that support communities in drought and flood conditions, including climate smart agriculture and resilience design, natural resource management and rangeland management, forestry initiatives and WASH. Explore further effective climate programme models and solutions relevant to displacement settings that DRC and partners could implement. Ensure technical guidance and programme design are grounded in relevant national and international policy and legal frameworks such as UNFCCC/Paris Agreement (NDCs, NAPs), SDG 6, Sendai Framework for DRR, and relevant WASH Cluster standards. Align climate programme models with other DRC sectors ensuring there is clear integration, understanding challenges and opportunities for implementation. Development of technical guidance, tools and standards for programming. Provide field level support to ensure technical quality and compliance with global WASH, climate standards. Programme Design Development and Partnerships Work with country office and area programmes on developing high quality, competitive concept notes, proposals and budgets supporting ideation, design, delivery modalities, and writing. Explore alternative financing sources and recommend financing modalities, including carbon credits, investment finance, and other climate funding sources. Support engagement with donors and private sector partners to position DRC's work in this area. Explore and map WASH and climate finance opportunities for DRC including traditional donors and finance modalities, identifying relevant opportunities and partners and that DRC can work with to access the diverse sector funding Develop partnerships with relevant WASH and climate agencies, networks and coalitions that compliment DRC's work and can open opportunities to access additional integrated water management/water and sanitation and health and climate financing Support the realization of DRC Localization Strategy by participating in Partner Identification Process, Partner Capacity Assessment sessions and Project close-out meetings. Monitoirn Evaluation Accontability and Learning Contribute to the development of MEAL frameworks, indicators, tools and systems for WASH and Climate related programmes (Ensure indicator frameworks capture water security and climate-resilience dimensions (e.g. water availability, water safety, adaptive capacity) alongside standard WASH access indicators). Support quality donor reporting and technical evaluation processes. External Representation, Coordination and Advocacy Represent DRC Kenya in relevant technical working groups and advisory forums. Contribute to the development of advocacy approaches related to climate and WASH issues. Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing Conduct workshops and training sessions to share knowledge and develop capacity with DRC teams and partners on WASH and climate programming, financing and WASH. Lead in the development of high quality and comprehensive knowledge products namely case studies, learning papers, technical reports, including preliminary analyses, programmatic approach documents, and final reports. Use monitoring data and lessons learnt to improve programme design and inform adaptive management Experience and Technical Competence Required: At least 3-5 years' experience in climate-related programming and WASH, with a focus on displacement and/or fragile contexts. Strong technical experience in design and delivery of climate programming including resilience design and permaculture principles, resilient food systems and smart climate agriculture; with hands-on experience ideally focused in humanitarian settings, Solid understanding of integ

SCOPE: The assignment covers beneficiary and assistance-delivery digital solutions, including registration, the beneficiary registry, enterprise deduplication and assistance delivery. It has two main areas of work: first, understanding Country Office priorities, constraints, user needs, journeys and CSP digital gaps, and turning them into process maps, service blueprints and a prioritised requirements backlog; second, supporting readiness, engagement, training, feedback and continuous improvement so next-generation solutions are deployed, used and improved in line with field needs. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: Facilitate discovery, business process analysis and service design for registration, beneficiary registry and assistance-delivery solutions, supporting TECD design, rollout and validation. Engage WFP, partner and government counterparts through consultations, workshops and user research to validate needs, priorities, behaviours and pain points. Document current-state processes and support future-state maps, service blueprints and prioritised requirements, reviewed with business counterparts and TECD teams. Turn discovery outputs into actionable artefacts, including research findings, process insights, feasibility inputs, dependencies, backlog items and handover materials. Serve as TECD's business-analysis and field-insight focal point, consolidating needs raised through Regional BTOs and business counterparts and translating them into structured inputs for support, product/design and development teams, without replacing established support or regional engagement channels. Support beneficiary and assistance-delivery rollout, transition planning and adoption activities for next-generation DBTP solutions in coordination with Regional BTOs and business teams, providing tools, materials, readiness inputs, change impacts and follow-up analysis while regional teams retain their country-facing coordination role. Contribute to CSP digital enablement analysis by consolidating digital capability gaps identified with Regional BTOs and Country Offices and translating them into evidence-based inputs for corporate solution evolution and prioritisation. Identify and escalate risks, dependencies and blockers affecting beneficiary and assistance-delivery solutions, including continuity, performance, adoption, data quality and transition planning, through agreed WFP governance and support channels rather than managing incidents directly. Promote alignment with corporate systems, support models, data governance, information security, data protection and privacy requirements by identifying issues, documenting implications and referring them to the responsible corporate teams for decision or action. Facilitate structured feedback loops across Country Offices, Regional BTOs, TECD, product, support and business teams to inform enhancements, rollout planning and support arrangements, ensuring feedback is channelled through the appropriate regional and corporate mechanisms. Contribute to UN80-related beneficiary and assistance-delivery activities within TECD's mandate and this assignment's scope. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Education: Advanced university degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Information Systems, Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Service Design, Programme Management or another relevant field; or first university degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training. Experience: At least five years of progressively responsible experience in business transformation, digital assistance services, beneficiary management systems, operational technology support, business analysis, change management or digital solution adoption in humanitarian or development contexts. Experience supporting Country Offices in the design, planning, deployment and continuous improvement of digital solutions, including coordination between programme teams, technology teams, support functions, cooperating partners and field users. Experience contributing to discovery, service design, user research, business process modelling, requirements analysis, solution testing or process improvement for complex digital initiatives; exposure to registration, beneficiary registry, assistance delivery, cash-based transfer or case-management systems. Knowledge & Skills: Strong understanding of business transformation, business needs assessment, stakeholder engagement, demand management, change management, operational support models and digital solution adoption in field operations. Good knowledge of discovery methods, human-centred design, service design, business process analysis, user research, workshop facilitation, process modelling and agile or iterative delivery approaches. Practical experience with requirements documentation, user stories, use cases, test plans, data analysis, dashboards, collaboration tools, process-mapping tools and multidisciplinary delivery environments. Strong analytical, coordination, risk-management and stakeholder-management skills, with familiarity with data protection, privacy-by-design and responsible use of beneficiary data considered an asset. Competencies: Excellent communication and presentation skills; Organized and detail oriented with strong judgement/decision-making skills; Able to articulate complex application concepts in non-technical language; Ability to plan and organize work and communicate effectively; Ability to handle a large volume of work and to meet strict deadlines; Ability to be resourceful, take initiative and use mature judgment; Ability to interact positively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds. Languages: Fluency in oral and written English. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP's working