Regional Climate Resilience Advisor

Regional Climate Resilience Advisor

Aga Khan Foundation

The position

AKF East Africa has a robust and expanding portfolio of multi-sectorial initiatives, across Kenya, Tanzania/Zanzibar, and Uganda, that focuses on advancing learning outcomes, strengthening education systems, improving the quality of early childhood development, establishing inclusive and responsive civil society, and creating climate resilience solutions to address current and future challenges faced by communities across East Africa.

Environment and climate is a core strategic priority and cross-cutting theme for AKDN. We work with communities, governments, civil society, and the private sector to enable the vulnerable to not only survive but thrive in the age of climate change.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Develop a robust, impactful, and forward-looking climate resilience portfolio in Tanzania and Kenya, and cultivate a strategic direction for relevant programming in Uganda. Adopt Nature based Solutions (NbS) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), harnessing biodiversity and ecosystem services to reduce vulnerability and build resilience of communities to climate change along the Swahili Coast and the Lake Victoria Basin.
• Drive the development of knowledge and funding partnerships across the region and in close collaboration with regional and global partnership functions. Ensure concepts and proposals are technically sound and responsive to both institutional and funding partner priorities.
• Build and maintain close working relationships and coordination with relevant departments, particularly Gender Focal Points to ensure climate resilience work also mainstreams gender equality into all modalities and deliverables.
• Work in close collaboration and coordination with AKF Global Programme Team that provide technical assistance to all AKF country units in programmatic areas.
• Collaborate with Education and Civil Society programme leads to develop actionable programming in the areas of climate education and community-based climate resilience mapping, planning, and responses.
• Lead the institutions efforts on climate adaptation and mitigation programming in the areas of micro forests, mangrove restoration and protection and working with local and international partners to advance carbon offset programming.
• Engage in local and national level policy dialogues by leveraging programming evidence.
• Cultivate relationships with AKDN agencies to develop and scale innovative and relevant programming in the areas of climate smart agriculture.
• Analyse technical information and trends to provide succinct, technically sound advice to integrate climate resilience into existing programmes. Support the development and use of monitoring, evaluation and learning tools to capture key information and learnings from climate resilience programming.
• Lead on institutional carbon mitigation and adaptation measures in close coordination with country leadership and the Regional CEO.
• Recruit and groom staff at the field level on this theme as projects become operational and re-orient existing staff on this new theme.

The requirements

Qualifications and Experience

• At least five (5) years’ experience working in Climate Resilience, Climate Change, Environment, Gender Responsive Climate Resilience, and/or other sectors, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Master’s degree in Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resource Management, Oceanography, Agronomy, Forestry, Biology, Geology and/or a related field.
• Demonstrated field experience, interacting and mobilising with communities on climate resilience interventions, preferably in East Africa or elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Specialised knowledge and demonstratable expertise in climate programme implementation and management at a Non-Governmental Organization, Donor Agency, Private Sector or equivalent.
• Demonstrated skills in leadership, programme management, field work, communication, strategy, programme design, and teamwork.
• Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity.
• Fluency in English and Swahili, both written and spoken.

LOCATION: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania or Nairobi, Kenya