Research Assistant: Database Management and Analysis for the Tomorrow’s Cities’ Nairobi Urban Disaster Risk Hub at African Centre for Technology Studies

The Nairobi  Urban Disaster Risk Hub

Disasters represent one of the greatest threats to humanity, currently and in the future. In the context of urbanization, cities are increasingly becoming hotspots for disasters with over 60% of the world’s population living in urban areas. Resilience of these cities is critical to the livelihoods and sustainability of world’s population. The Nairobi Urban Disaster Risk Hub is part of a larger research project funded by UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund known as the “Tomorrow’s Cities” programme, which is a five year interdisciplinary global research programme where the mission is “to reduce disaster risk for the poor in tomorrow’s cities”. The project works globally to bring multi-hazard disaster risk management to the centre of urban policy and practice and the focus for our research is on four rapidly developing cities: Nairobi, Kathmandu, Istanbul and Quito. In Nairobi, this exciting opportunity brings together leading researchers,  community representatives and government leaders to work towards an unprecedented resolution to influence planning and to deliver real impact through interdisciplinary research.

Floods, collapsing buildings, and fires are prevalent hazards in Nairobi. While most parts of the city experiences such disasters in different magnitude, Nairobi’s informal settlements (slums) are major frontiers of these hazards, both natural and human risks owing to a number of compounding reasons. For instance, fires are common phenomenon in slums often emerging from various sources including electrical faults (resulting from poor/illegal electrical infrastructure), poor cooking spaces among others.  The main goal for the Nairobi Hub is to provide Nairobi with the capacity and policy framework that enables a shift from crisis/emergency response towards integrated urban development and planning for enhanced disaster risk preparedness and management, through policy relevant and transdisciplinary research. The need for such a transition is recognized at the Nairobi city county government level, reflected among others in the Nairobi Disaster Management Act 2019, which is currently under review.

The Nairobi hub is managed and run by organizations with excellent track records in research, policy and community work:

1. African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS): The hub is led by ACTS as the coordinating partner – hosting the hub office. ACTS is an independent, not for profit, inter-governmental, and Pan-African development and policy research organization, working to harness applications of science, technology and innovation for accelerated sustainable development in Africa. Founded in ACTS 1988, ACTS remains one of the leading think tanks in Africa with a specific mandate to conduct research and policy analysis; to provide technical advisory services; and to undertake capacity building and dissemination of knowledge on applications of science, technology and innovation for sustainable development. Within its mandate, ACTS works on various timely research projects hosted within a variety of timely and contextually relevant programmes: Climate Resilient Economies (CRE), and STI for development and Agriculture and food security. ACTS has established itself as a centre for excellence informing green growth and sustainable development in Africa and internationally. In 2016, ACTS was ranked among the top 3 think tanks in climate change, resilience research and policy influence globally - an improvement in relation to the think tanks ranking in the past. The ranking, an authoritative and worldwide known assessment of the most cutting-edge institutions working in the field of climate change economics and policy, by the International Centre for Climate Governance (ICCG) under the “ICCG Climate Think Tank Ranking Initiative is based on organizational activities, publications and dissemination.. The 2016 ranking assessed 244 think tanks specialized in the research fields of climate change and climate policy.
2. University of Nairobi: The University of Nairobi will co-lead a number of research activities under risk modelling and community resilience planning. The Centre for Urban Research and Innovation (CURI), is a centre of excellence on urban research, and is part of a consortia formed to help plan Mukuru. CURI has continued to participate in many community-based initiatives such as informal settlements upgrading, Community Fire Response Mechanisms, Urban Learning Studios, Sustainable Urban Mobility, Land and Natural resources tenure security, Urban Development Control Policy, and Unlocking Poverty and upscaling the Respect for Rights in Informal Settlements. Other departments – Geography & Geology – will bring in key experts in physical hazards research. Further the University, is help strengthen our impact strategy through anchoring capacity building strategies, multi-hazard courses and executive trainings among others.
3. Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI): KDI is a non-profit design and community development organization registered as a Non-Governmental Organization in Kenya since 2013. KDI partners with underserved communities to physically transform communities and in the process, improve environmental, economic and social quality of life.
4. Nairobi’s City-County Government: The City-County government is the primary authority charged with providing public services and mandated to develop the City Disaster Management Plan. The Nairobi city-county government will be the lead impact partner for the hub, and will co-host the community of practice meetings with partners.
5. Slum Dwellers International (SDI) Kenya: A key support NGO for Nairobi’s federation of urban poor groups (Muungano wa Wanavijiji), a partner in the Mukuru Spatial Planning Area (SPA) consortium, and an affiliate of Shack/Slum Dwellers International. SDI Kenya, is the non-profit technical and professional secretariat for the federation of Kenyan slum residents known as Muungano Wa Wanavijiji. SDI Kenya is part of the Kenyan alliance (with Akiba Mashinani Trust Muungano waWanavijiji), that is charged with coordination, community organization and communication. As part of SDI, the Akiba Mashinani Trust is also involved to support linkages with the Spatial Planning Area.
6. UK-based partners: to support research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), as well as management and leadership. These include experts from the Kings College London, University of Sussex- Institute of Development Studies, University of Edinburgh, University of Leeds, and the UK Met Office. Various physical and social scientists from these Universities have been integrated to support various research work packages taking place in the City. Other indirect partners include the Mukuru Community and a Community of Practice to be structured - who will be instrumental in the pathway to impact.
7. Global partners: the Risk Nexus Initiative (RNI), which has networks in Costa Rica, Spain, South America and India.

Specific Objectives of the Nairobi Urban Disaster Risk Hub

Nairobi Hub will adopt a transformative approach that seeks to utilize interdisciplinary research evidence as a tool for convening various stakeholders to achieve the specific objectives listed below;

1. To apply interdisciplinary research evidence to convene and strengthen the emerging community of practice around Disaster Risk Reduction, enabling it to work to reduce multiple risks in a more coordinated and collective fashion, and creating awareness on multi-hazard thinking collective action;
2. Support the incorporation of co-produced disaster risk reduction measures in new pro-poor action planning initiatives in low-income (informal) settlements; risks from the city’s multiple and interacting hazards, particularly for more vulnerable residents;
3. To support the design of a more risk-sensitive policy framework built on the multi-hazard thinking particularly in relation to more proactive management of risk accumulation currently associated with the city’s urban growth and expansion;
4. Provide compelling examples of multiple interacting risks and how they can be co-managed by state and non-state actors;

We are seeking a qualified candidate for the position of a Research Assistant in Database Management and Analysis, to support the implementation of the Nairobi Risk Hub. The position provides commensurate remuneration and a career growth opportunity in the area of research and development. 

Purpose of the position

This position is aimed at supporting the Nairobi Disaster Risk Hub with managing its research database and contributing to analysis of the same both for technical and policy purposes. The Nairobi Hub is expected to generate enormous primary and secondary data at different levels and from different sources. As such, organizing, consolidating and communicating the data in different forms is critical for the expected outputs and outcomes of the Hub. 

Working alongside the Hub partners drawn from local and international domains, this role will set-in place a robust database and management framework supportive to the research outputs, strategy and impact. Specific responsibility will be to manage data from different research teams and workstreams including both qualitative and quantitative data. This role will particularly form a critical interphase between research data and associated products and the candidate is expected to work within a team, consult on the various datasets and also draw new and gather data from various secondary sources. The candidate will be expected to produce analytical products including maps, infographics, and graphs drawn from the database ensuring that the gathered data is organized into various versions for ease of utility for various purposes including scientific publications, decision support tools among others.

Programme: Nairobi-Urban Disaster Risk Hub under the Climate Resilient Economies Programme and the Africa Sustainability Hub at the African Centre for Technology Studies

Qualifications

• The candidate should possess a minimum of Master’s degree qualifications in Data Management Systems, Actuarial Science, Statistics, Geographical Information Systems and any other relevant field.
• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in data management and analysis

• Experience of using different design and data visualization with the ability to translate complex information into clear and attractive representation.
• Applied experience in data management and very strong computer literacy skills with advanced skills in relevant open source technologies e.g. collection tools, database, open source web systems etc.

• Preference will be given to applicants with demonstrated experience in working in research and policy environment and ambitious career goal around research and development.

Skills and competences

• Excellent interpersonal, management and communication skills, with proven ability to support narratives to describe
• A team player with ability to build strong working relationships, and experience of working across different disciplines.
• Intercultural competence and ability to engage different sets of stakeholders
• Ability to work under limited supervision and meet deadlines
• Good writing skills and demonstrated ability to engage in technical writing
• Ability to write effectively and report to different audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver to tight deadlines and to work on a wide range of different demands.

Main Responsibilities

• Support setting up the Nairobi Hub’s database and analysis systems including frameworks for organizing, analyzing and presenting data in different forms
• In consultation with research teams, put in place mechanisms for ensuring data quality control including data cleaning, verifications and alignment.
• Document the various data collection methods, tools and approaches and link these to respective data sets.
• Work closely with research teams to gather and maintain a range of analytical tools including graphical analysis, GIS, statistics, Access etc.
• Provide technical support and guidance to colleagues on how to interact with the data base based on various needs including research, policy and capacity building
• Produce various data analysis products including infographics, maps, statistical tables among others, and in consultation with the research and impact teams
• Ensure data security in coordination with the data management and M&E specialists at the University of Edinburgh
• Work with the research teams and the Hub management team to develop guidelines for data use access and security in compliance with existing data laws.
• Participate in research meetings, and provide briefs to the research teams and the coordination committee on the Hub’s data status and opportunities and support required.
• Identify data gaps and needs and report these to the coordination committee and the research teams
• Provide linkage between the research database management and the Management Information System (MIS) where possible.
• Perform any other tasks that will be prescribed by the Hub Directors

Terms of Employment

• Two (2) year Contract renewable based on performance and availability of funds.
• The position provides a competitive pensionable remuneration with an inclusive medical cover
• Provides an opportunity to work and establish networks with globally renowned researchers in the field of Disaster Management and with real career growth opportunity in the area of research and development.
• The position provides an equal opportunity for all, and women candidates are highly encouraged to apply.