Regional Climate and Anticipatory Modeling Specialist

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger leads global efforts to eradicate hunger by developing innovative solutions, advocating lasting change, and assisting 24 million people annually through proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. Operating in over 50 countries, the organization collaborates with communities to tackle root causes such as climate change, conflict, inequality, and emergencies. Action Against Hunger USA is part of the international network and manages operations in Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Haiti.

In partnership with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, Action Against Hunger is implementing a DG ECHO-funded Regional Disaster Preparedness Program across Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti, which also supports climate and malnutrition predictive modelling in South Sudan via a FAO-led DG ECHO consortium.

Role Overview

The Regional Climate and Anticipatory Modeling Specialist will provide expert technical guidance in climate science, hydrometeorological modeling, environmental risk analysis, and the development of anticipatory-action triggers across the Greater Horn of Africa. Reporting to the Regional Consortium Coordinator, this position translates climate intelligence from sources such as ICPAC, national meteorological agencies, and global modeling platforms into actionable trigger matrices, Early Action Protocols, contingency plans, and preparedness strategies for Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and South Sudan.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the creation, calibration, and validation of multi-hazard climate and hydrometeorological models supporting anticipatory action in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and South Sudan.
• Integrate various global, regional, and national climate datasets including ERA5, MERRA-2, CHIRPS, NDVI, MODIS, IRI, ECMWF, GFS, and ICPAC seasonal forecasts.
• Apply models assessing drought, flood, heat, and climate projections such as SPI, SPEI, HBV, SWAT, and VIC to generate decision-ready risk information for pastoral, agricultural, urban, and cross-border areas.
• Evaluate risks related to shared river basins, seasonal migration corridors, urban flash floods, heat exposure, drought, and their impacts on vulnerable populations.
• Review and enhance interoperability of early-warning systems like ICPAC, FEWS NET, IGAD PREPARE, national EWARS, IDSR systems, and operational anticipatory-action platforms.
• Produce accessible climate-risk bulletins, seasonal forecast summaries, technical reports, scientific briefs, and decision-support materials for program teams, governments, donors, and regional partners.
• Develop and validate multi-hazard trigger matrices integrating indicators from climate, hydrology, epidemiology, food security, displacement, and conflict sensitivity.
• Conduct cross-border trigger validation exercises across the Ethiopia–Somalia, Somalia–Djibouti, and Ethiopia–Djibouti corridors.
• Ensure methodologies align with the SCALAA harmonization framework, IGAD Anticipatory Action Roadmap, national disaster-risk management systems, and other ECHO-funded Crisis Modifier programs.
• Analyze trigger effectiveness post-simulations, pilot activations, and Crisis Modifier operations assessing accuracy, false alarms, lead times, reliability, and decision quality.
• Develop guidance, SOPs, and training resources for trigger verification, activation decision-making, risk interpretation, and Early Action Protocol development.
• Lead climate-informed malnutrition modeling for South Sudan incorporating drought, flood, seasonal forecasts, livelihood, nutrition, SMART surveys, MUAC, IPC, and INFORM data.
• Create predictive models identifying nutrition deterioration before crises, supporting early action within the FAO-led consortium.
• Align modeling outputs with national and regional systems such as SSMD, FAO EMPRES, FEWS NET, IPC Acute Malnutrition frameworks, and ICPAC.
• Apply NEAT+ environmental screening and DG ECHO Minimum Environmental Requirements across program activities.
• Embed climate adaptation, environmental sustainability, Eco-DRR, green logistics, responsible procurement, and plastic reduction into program design and Crisis Modifier plans.
• Conduct environmental risk assessments and gender-responsive climate vulnerability analyses for target communities.
• Support urban preparedness in Djibouti Ville including flash-flood modeling, heat-risk analysis, extreme rainfall assessment, and municipal contingency planning.
• Provide technical training to national meteorological services, disaster-risk management authorities, IGAD working groups, partners, and country teams.
• Mentor staff in 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 materials for ICPAC, SCALAA, regional forums, and scientific or humanitarian audiences.
• Contribute climate and environmental indicator data, trigger performance evidence, and scientific analyses to program MEAL systems and DG ECHO reporting.

Candidate Profile

• Hold a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Climate Science, Meteorology, Hydrology, Physical Geography, Environmental Science, Atmospheric Sciences, or a related field.
• Preferably have advanced training in climate modeling, hydrometeorological risk, forecast-based humanitarian action, or climate adaptation.
• Additional credentials in Disaster Risk Reduction, GIS, Remote Sensing, Humanitarian Action, or environmental management are advantageous.
• Possess at least seven years of relevant experience in climate science, hydrometeorological modeling, early-warning system development, or environmental risk analysis.
• Have at least three years applying climate or environmental expertise in humanitarian or international development sectors within fragile or climate-vulnerable contexts.
• Demonstrate minimum five years of experience in climate forecasting including use of numerical weather prediction models and impact assessment tools.
• Show proven expertise with seasonal forecasting tools/models such as IRI, ECMWF, and GFS.
• Have strong experience with hydrological models like HBV, SWAT, VIC; drought monitoring using SPI and SPEI; and flood-inundation modeling.
• Demonstrate success designing, calibrating, and validating anticipatory-action triggers and Early Action Protocols in fragile or target countries.
• Have hands-on experience collaborating with ICPAC, FEWS NET, IRI, national meteorological services, or similar climate and early-warning bodies.
• Possess deep understanding of climate-informed humanitarian programming, forecast-based financing, disaster preparedness, and trigger-based early action.
• Experience integrating food security, nutrition, epidemiology, displacement, or conflict risks into climate and anticipatory models is highly desirable.
• Additional training in weather and climate model development and proficiency in high-performance computing environments is a plus.
• Proficient in Python and R for climate data analysis, modeling, and visualization.
• Skilled in GIS and remote sensing using ArcGIS, QGIS, Google Earth Engine, or equivalent platforms.
• Experience with key climate and earth observation datasets such as CHIRPS, ERA5, IRI, MODIS, and NDVI.
• Ability to communicate complex scientific insights clearly to governments, humanitarian practitioners, donors, and non-expert audiences.
• Strong skills in facilitation, technical writing, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement.
• English language proficiency at professional level is required; working knowledge of Somali, Amharic, or French is highly desirable.
• Willingness and ability to travel 30%-40% within Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and South Sudan, including remote and high-security areas.

Why Work With Us?

This opportunity allows you to transform climate science and early warning data into impactful humanitarian actions across the Greater Horn of Africa. It involves collaboration with country teams, regional institutions, and partners to improve models and trigger systems that support preparedness and early response, ultimately helping vulnerable populations receive timely assistance before crises escalate.