Regional Climate and Anticipatory Modeling Specialist

Who We’re Looking For

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Climate Science, Meteorology, Hydrology, Physical Geography, Environmental Science, Atmospheric Sciences, or a closely related field.
  
• Advanced training in climate modelling, hydrometeorological risk, forecast-based humanitarian action, or climate adaptation is strongly preferred.
  
• Additional qualifications in Disaster Risk Reduction, GIS, Remote Sensing, Humanitarian Action, or environmental management are an advantage.
  
• Minimum seven years of relevant experience in climate science, hydrometeorological modelling, early-warning system development, or environmental-risk analysis.
  
• At least three years of experience applying climate or environmental expertise within the humanitarian or international development sector in fragile or climate-vulnerable contexts.
  
• At least five years of experience in climate forecasting, including practical use of numerical weather-prediction models and impact-assessment tools.
  
• Demonstrated expertise with seasonal forecasting tools and models, including IRI, ECMWF, and GFS.
  
• Strong experience with hydrological models such as HBV, SWAT, and VIC; drought monitoring using SPI and SPEI; and flood-inundation modelling.
  
• Proven experience designing, calibrating, and validating anticipatory-action triggers and Early Action Protocols in a target country or comparable fragile context.
  
• Hands-on experience working with ICPAC, FEWS NET, IRI, national meteorological services, or comparable climate and early-warning institutions.
  
• Strong understanding of climate-informed humanitarian programming, forecast-based financing, disaster preparedness, and trigger-based early action.
  
• Experience integrating food-security, nutrition, epidemiological, displacement, or conflict-risk information into climate and anticipatory-action models is highly desirable.
  
• Specialized training in weather and climate-model development and experience running models on high-performance computing systems are advantages.
  
• Proficiency in Python and R for climate-data analysis, modelling, and visualization.
  

• Lead the development, calibration, and validation of multi-hazard climate and hydrometeorological models supporting anticipatory action across Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and South Sudan.
  
• Analyze and integrate global, regional, and national climate datasets, including ERA5, MERRA-2, CHIRPS, NDVI, MODIS, IRI, ECMWF, GFS, and ICPAC seasonal forecasts.
  
• Apply drought, flood, heat, and climate-projection models—including SPI, SPEI, HBV, SWAT, and VIC—to produce decision-ready risk information for pastoral, agricultural, urban, and cross-border contexts.
  
• Assess shared river-basin risks, seasonal migration corridors, urban flash flooding, heat exposure, drought conditions, and climate impacts affecting vulnerable communities.
  
• Review existing early-warning systems and identify opportunities to strengthen interoperability between ICPAC, FEWS NET, IGAD PREPARE, national EWARS and IDSR systems, and operational anticipatory-action platforms.
  
• Produce accessible climate-risk bulletins, seasonal forecast summaries, technical reports, scientific briefs, and decision-support products for program teams, governments, donors, and regional partners.
  
• Lead the development and validation of multi-hazard trigger matrices integrating climate, hydrological, epidemiological, food-security, displacement, and conflict-sensitivity indicators.
  
• Conduct cross-border trigger-validation exercises across the Ethiopia–Somalia, Somalia–Djibouti, and Ethiopia–Djibouti corridors.
  
• Ensure trigger methodologies align with the SCALAA harmonization framework, the IGAD Anticipatory Action Roadmap, national disaster-risk management systems, and other ECHO-funded Crisis Modifier programs.
  
• Analyze trigger performance following simulations, pilot activations, and Crisis Modifier responses, including accuracy, false-alarm rates, lead times, operational reliability, and decision quality.
  
• Develop technical guidance, standard operating procedures, and training materials for trigger verification, activation decisions, risk interpretation, and Early Action Protocol development.
  
• Lead climate-informed malnutrition modelling for South Sudan by integrating drought, flood, seasonal forecast, livelihood, nutrition, SMART survey, MUAC, IPC, and INFORM data.
  
• Develop and validate predictive models that identify potential nutrition deterioration before crises emerge and support early-action decisions within the FAO-led consortium.
  
• Align South Sudan modelling outputs with national and regional systems, including SSMD, FAO EMPRES, FEWS NET, IPC Acute Malnutrition frameworks, and ICPAC.
  
• Lead the application of NEAT+ environmental screening and DG ECHO Minimum Environmental Requirements across program activities.
  
• Integrate climate adaptation, environmental sustainability, Eco-DRR, green logistics, responsible procurement, and reduced single-use plastics into program design and Crisis Modifier planning.
  
• Conduct environmental-risk assessments and gender-responsive climate-vulnerability analyses for target communities.
  
• Provide technical support to urban preparedness activities in Djibouti Ville, including flash-flood modelling, heat-risk analysis, extreme-rainfall assessment, and municipal contingency planning.
  
• Design and deliver technical training for national meteorological services, disaster-risk management authorities, IGAD technical working groups, implementing partners, and Action Against Hunger country teams.
  
• Mentor technical staff in the practical use of R, Python, QGIS, ArcGIS, Google Earth Engine, CHIRPS, IRI data tools, and ICPAC platforms.
  
• Produce working papers, technical publications, operational research, and learning products for ICPAC, SCALAA, regional dialogue platforms, and relevant scientific or humanitarian audiences.
  
• Contribute climate and environmental indicators, trigger-performance evidence, and scientific analysis to the program MEAL system and DG ECHO reporting.