Climate Data Analyst at International Rescue Committee

Major responsibilities

Climate Data Analysis & Forecasting

• Conduct and automate regular climate analysis, including historical and forecast  data (rainfall, drought, floods, heatwaves, cyclones, water scarcity) in IRC countries.
• Review and interpret monthly forecasts from sources like Columbia IRI and CHIRPS.
• Develop systems for automated short- and long-term hazard forecasting and reporting.
• Collaborate with other teams to build data products integrating climate analysis.
• Explore and assess the use case of external climate platforms, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis (such as EarthMap, Copernicus, GLOFAS, Google Earth Engine, vegetation stress, flood mapping, land degradation).
• Collaborate with other teams to explore forecasting methodologies for hazards other than floods and droughts. 

Stakeholder Engagement & Application of Climate Insights

• Liaise with Country Programs, Regions and Technical Advisors to interpret forecasts and guide anticipatory action and other climate resilience programming.
• Host regular calls with key stakeholders (such as DDPs, REDs, Emergency Coordinators) to discuss impacts of forecasted hazards.
• Issue rapid alerts for impending climate events and support preparedness planning.
• Produce monthly global climate briefs summarizing forecasts, risks, and recommended actions.

Strategic Integration & Knowledge Building

• Contribute climate analysis to IRC’s Emergency Watchlist and other risk-tracking analysis.
• Support integration of climate risks into crisis analysis and emergency classification systems.
• Collaborate across technical units (health, education, livelihoods) to link climate hazards to sectoral impacts.
• Explore climate–conflict interaction analysis and resource stress mapping.
• Build IRC’s expertise on climate risk management through internal capacity development, such as conducting trainings and presentations on climate data analysis.
• Explore and build strategic partnerships with universities, research institutions, technology companies, and other key stakeholders.

Key Working Relationships:

• Position reports to: Management in partnership between the Director, Global Crisis Analysis on the GCA team, and the Anticipatory Action Sr. Specialist
• Position directly supervises: N/A
• Internal contacts: Economic Recovery & Development and Education Technical Unit teams, Climate Global Practice Area team, Signpost, Senior Sustainability Advisor, Airbel and IRC country office staff.
• External contacts: IRI, GLOFAS, other NGOs involved in Anticipatory Action

Preferred Technical Requirements:

• Experience and familiarity with climate forecasting tools (e.g. IRI) and understanding of flood, drought, and other hazard forecasting methodologies (e.g., GLOFAS).
• Skills in geospatial & remote sensing, such as in GIS tools and analysis (ArcGIS, QGIS, Carto) and experience with Google Earth Engine for Surface water mapping, precipitation time series analysis (CHIRPS), flood mapping using SAR imagery, and drought mapping using MODIS NDVI.
• Strong data analysis skills, with the ability to automate climate analysis and reporting processes.
• Candidates who do not meet all technical requirements are encouraged to apply, provided they demonstrate adaptability and a willingness to quickly learn new tools and methodologies.

Professional Requirements:

• Demonstrated experience in managing multiple stakeholders and partnerships with external organizations
• Capacity to communicate and collaborate effectively in multicultural teams.
• Excellent critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent organizational skills: the ability to multi-task, learn quickly, and work independently and productively in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to effectively collaborate with and motivate a variety of people in a multi-cultural environment.
• Dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion and a passion for IRC’s mission.
• Excellent digital literacy: MS Word, Excel. Proficiency in Excel strongly preferred.
• Excellent written English, including the ability to synthesize information and draft high-quality reports.

Working Environment:

• Standard office working environment.
• Some international travel.
• This role may require working remotely full or part time and part time remote employees may be required to share workspace.