Senior Assessment Officer Cross-Cutting Unit Analysis for Afghanistan , based in Geneva Switzerland
BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH
REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED ) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) 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, supporting and working within the framework of the humanitarian reform process.
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.
IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative.
The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis, GIS and remote sensing. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO with headquarters based in Paris and presence in thirty countries.
The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, which allows IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support in its fields of intervention.
We are currently looking for an Assessment Officer / Senior Officer / Specialist to lead cross-cutting inter-sectoral analysis work on Afghanistan, from a regional base (to be determined).
Position : Assessment Officer / Senior Officer / Specialist (title contingent on level of experience)
Contract duration : 6 months with possibility of extension based on performance
Starting Date : November 2024
Location : Geneva, Switzerland, with the possibility to be delocalized in IMPACT country offices
COUNTRY PROFILE
IMPACT has been active in Afghanistan since 2016, launching its flagship REACH and AGORA initiatives in 2018. Working across all 34 provinces, including hard-to-reach areas, the Afghanistan team’s research supports and facilitates emergency response efforts immediately following conflict or natural disaster, inter-sectoral research that informs humanitarian planning and prioritization cycles, as well as more long-term oriented resilience and recovery activities with cross-cutting climate change research.
IMPACT Afghanistan currently has three research portfolios that focus on programming in key response areas : one portfolio focuses on inter-sectoral research that feeds directly into emergency humanitarian planning and prioritization (including real-time monitoring), the second works closely with partners and coordinating bodies to improve and increase the sustainability of programs, and the third uses area-based assessments, advocacy, and strategic engagement to support longer-term durable solutions and resilience programming in Afghanistan.
While IMPACT has established strong programming around data collection and coordination with the broader humanitarian response, more remains to be done on ensuring that existing data is interpreted, analyzed, and used to improve response objectives and inform strategic decisions.
To this end, IMPACT Afghanistan is currently looking for an Assessment Officer / Senior Officer / Specialist to lead on analysis of specific topics of interest to the response using both internal and external data sources, as well as to build capacity within the larger mission for the use and interpretation of data.
POSITION PROFILE
The Assessment Officer / Senior Officer / Specialist will be responsible for supporting or overseeing thematic analytical research portfolios that cut across mission research units and for building capacity of IMPACT Afghanistan staff to analyze data and share key analytical findings (portfolio contingent on level of experience).
The position will fall under the supervision of the IMPACT Research Manager, Deputy Country Coordinator, Country Representative, and HQ in Geneva, dependent on level of experience and position.
The candidate should be comfortable representing IMPACT with external humanitarian partners.
This position requires an analytical mind, creativity, independence, and an interest in the Afghanistan context as well as ability to work remotely.
Candidates should have strong writing and presentation skills and be able to clearly think through and articulate implications of research findings.
The position will regularly require looking at data, pulling out relevant findings, writing engaging briefs and factsheets, presenting findings to external audiences with varying amounts of data literacy, and guiding colleagues in how to think more analytically about their own research.
Depending on experience, the portfolio may also include support to and / or management of parts of research cycles, including research design, data collection, and analysis, as relevant to the topics and analytical pieces.
This largely analytical position will be based in a regional country, with cycles through the Afghanistan office.
The Assessment Officer / Senior Officer / Specialist responsibilities include :
1. Program Cycle Management
Understanding key IMPACT Afghanistan research cycles and how this research contributes to strategic response objectives.
May include managing parts of a research cycle, including oversight of research design, data collection, or analysis, as necessary and relevant for the workstreams
2. Contextual Understanding
Keeping up to date with the shifting Afghanistan context, reading reports from IMPACT as well as other information actors
Ability to synthesize and pull from different information sources to produce thematic reports that are informed by and inform the context
Ability to understand and articulate key concepts within the Afghanistan response, including humanitarian principles and programming, nexus programming, durable solutions, humanitarian-development shifts, etc.
3. Technical Skills
Overseeing development and implementation of analytical workstreams, including use of existing REACH data in thematic briefs, reports, presentations, etc.
Depending on experience, may include supporting aspects of research cycle including research design, tool development, and data collection if relevant for workstreams
Must be able to think and write analytically and critically at a high level
Must be able to analyze data and identify key findings or themes
4. Staff Management and Training
Promotes capacity building across the IMPACT Afghanistan mission related to deepening analytical capacities using existing research (capacity building portfolio will depend on level of experience).
5. Coordination
a. Internal Coordination
- Interacts autonomously with HQ departments and may serve as mission focal point for particular themes or technical areas;
- Coordinates with research units and teams to move forward or improve aspects of the research cycle;
Supports the CR, DCC, and RMs with designing, planning, and implementing strategies, and objectives.
b. External Coordination
Leads on external engagement related to analytical research findings as necessary.
The Assessment Officer / Senior Officer / Specialist will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes.
He / she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during his / her assignment with IMPACT.
REQUIREMENTS
- Excellent academic qualifications, including a master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline (e.g. international studies, development, humanitarian response, data science, political science, etc.);
- 2-4 years of relevant working experience in a humanitarian or development setting, such as assessments, monitoring and evaluation, research design and analysis, etc.;
- Excellent quantitative and qualitative research data analysis experience required;
- Excellent verbal and written communication and drafting skills for effective reporting required;
- Excellent ability to operate Microsoft Word and Excel required;
- Prior knowledge of the region preferred;
- Fluency in English required, Dara and / or Pashto an asset;
- Ability to operate Adobe suite an asset;
- Experience with quantitative analysis programs (R, SPSS, Stata, Python) an asset;
- Experience with qualitative analysis programs such as NVivo as asset;
- Prior experience with humanitarian coordination forums an asset;
- Prior experience in Afghanistan an asset;
Ability to operate in a complex and challenging security environment and willingness to travel.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
- For this position, gross salary between 5’500 CHF and 5’700 CHF monthly (before income tax).
- NB - IMPACT salaries are strictly determined by our salary grid depending on the grade of the position and the level of education and experience of staff.
A contribution to medical insurance of 520 CHF per month is already included in the salary figure.
- Insurance covering professional and non-professional accidents throughout the period of employment with IMPACT
- Health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance in case of field visits / temporary deployments
- Enrolment in IMPACT Initiatives Research Foundational Learning Programme within the first 3 months from the start of contract.
- Applicants must hold a valid work permit for Switzerland or be EU / EFTA citizens
- Up to 40% of remote work on a weekly basis