IMPACT Initiatives
BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH
IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation 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.
COUNTRY PROFILE
Mozambique has been experiencing a multifaceted and enduring crisis over the past several decades. This crisis is characterized by a convergence of climate-driven shocks, poverty, and insurgency in the northern region. In Cabo Delgado, the northernmost province, a conflict has been raging since 2017, instigated by the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama (ASWJ) Islamist militia and fuelled by pre-existing socio-economic marginalization, political and religious ideologies, as well as the exploitation of valuable natural resources. This protracted conflict has resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of families, straining the region’s limited capacity to address their needs.
In addition to the conflict, Mozambique faces constant risks related to natural hazards, including cyclones, floods, and droughts. The country ranks 11th globally and 3rd in sub-Saharan Africa in vulnerability to natural disasters. Mozambique’s geographical location, topography, weak socio-economic infrastructure, and reliance on rain-fed agriculture contribute to this vulnerability. The population, already burdened by high poverty rates and a low Human Development Index, is particularly susceptible to the impact of these natural disasters. Cyclones and flooding pose significant threats to the coastal population, while droughts disrupt subsistence agriculture, driving food insecurity and malnutrition.
Following two brief missions in 2019 and 2023 in Mozambique, IMPACT will establish an in-country team starting in 2024. This team will be dedicated to delivering essential information regarding key humanitarian needs and supporting in the efficient prioritization of the humanitarian response.
We are currently looking for a Senior Assessment Officer to support our Intersectoral unit in Mozambique.
Position: Senior Assessment Officer
Contract duration: 12 months
Starting Date: 1 February 2024
Location: Pemba, Mozambique
POSITION PROFILE
Under the line management of the Research Manager in Mozambique, the Senior Assessment Officer is responsible for the implementation of IMPACT’s research cycle in Mozambique, including the preparation, data collection, analysis, drafting, dissemination, and evaluation stages. Throughout the assessments, the Senior Assessment Officer engages with partners to promote their participation and maximize their impact. They also ensure an efficient and transparent use of resources required for project implementation.
This position requires strong research skills, prior experience in hardship location, an analytical mind, creativity, independence, and an interest in the regional context. 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.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Senior Assessment Officer is responsible for overseeing the planning, implementation and follow-up of research cycles to which s/he is assigned, in close coordination with other team members and with relevant external partners. In doing so, the Senior Assessment Officer will ensure an effective management of related projects and resources, including (when relevant) line-management national and international assessment staff.
More specifically the Senior Assessment Officer is responsible for the following:
RESEARCH CYCLE MANAGEMENT
- Ensure that the assessments are planned in line with the country strategy, relevant research, and project objectives and with IMPACT’s research cycle and other relevant guidelines.
- Managing relevant research cycle, including oversight of research design, data collection, or analysis.
- Keeping up to date with the shifting Mozambiquan context and humanitarian partners to ensure that IMPACT’s activities are relevant and pertinent to the situation.
RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL SKILLS
- Leading the research cycle including research design, tool development, and data collection.
- Ensuring development and implementation of analytical workstreams, including use of existing REACH data in thematic briefs, reports, presentations, etc.
- In close liaison with Field Officers, monitor data collection progress and overall research quality.
- Liaise with external partners to provide technical guidance and to identify potential for findings to be integrated into existing data sources used by the humanitarian community.
STAFF MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING
- Promoting capacity building across the IMPACT Mozambique mission related to deepening analytical capacities using existing research.
- Developing and overseeing training of the assessment and data collection teams, ensuring that enumerators are well-trained on the questionnaire.
- Providing day-to-day direct and indirect management of the research team within their unit/workstream.
- The Senior Assessment Officer will ensure that the team is comprehensively briefed on the objective, expected outputs and that the overall implementation strategy of any given activity is clearly understood. He/she will ensure that project/field staff are given training and complete all the necessary documentation in line with program requirements set by IMPACT.
COORDINATION
- Internal Coordination
- Interacting autonomously with HQ departments and may serve as mission focal point for particular themes or technical areas.
- Coordinating with research units and teams to move forward or improve aspects of the research cycle.
- Supporting senior management with designing, planning, and implementing strategies, and objectives.
- External Coordination
- Leading on external engagement related to analytical research findings as necessary.
The Senior Assessment Officer will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes. They will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners collected during his/her assignment with IMPACT.
REQUIREMENTS
- Years of work experience 3 years of relevant working experience in a humanitarian setting, such as assessments, monitoring and evaluation, research design and analysis, etc.
- Research skills Excellent quantitative and qualitative research data analysis experience required.
- Familiarity with aid system Good understanding of the aid system and the research community. Prior experience with humanitarian coordination forums preferred.
- Communication/reporting skills Excellent verbal and written communication and drafting skills for effective reporting required.
- Academic qualifications 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.);
- Software skills Proven knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite, to include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Familiarity with R, SPSS and/or STATA or other statistical analysis software an asset. Experience with InDesign an advantage.
- Security environment Ability to operate in a complex and challenging security environment.
- Experience in geographical region Past experience in the region is desirable.
- Language skills Fluency in English and intermediate level of Portugues required.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
- For this position, salary between 2’580 CHF and 2’640 CHF monthly (before income tax), etc as well as a monthly living allowance of 300 USD
- NB – IMPACT salaries are strictly determined by our salary grid depending on the grade of the position and the level of education of staff. A location-dependent security and/or isolation adjustment is then applied as a recognition that some staff are required to work in difficult places where living and working conditions are much more difficult than elsewhere.
- Accommodation and food provided in a guesthouse. Depending on the country situation, a contribution to a housing allowance of up to 75% of country-specific benchmark can be considered instead. NB – IMPACT is hosted by ACTED in this country.
- Enrolment in Swiss private pension fund (Swisslife – approx. 9.975% of staff gross salary), health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance
- Flight tickets every 6 months & visa fees covered (in-country travel costs and professional expenses are fully covered).
- Contribution to the luggage transportation: between 20 and 100 kgs, depending on the length of the contract (+ luggage and personal property insurance)
- Annual leave of 36 days per year. Public holidays of the country of assignment. Family/compassionate leave when applicable.
- Predeparture induction – 3 days at IMPACT Initiatives’s HQ in Geneva + one week pre-departure training in ACTED HQ in Paris, including a 4-days in situ security training;
- Enrolment in IMPACT Initiatives Research Foundational Learning Programme within the first 3 months from the start of contract.
- IMPACT prioritizes the psychological safety of its staff and the health insurance provided covers, among others, up to 1000 € per year of psychosocial counselling fees.