Senior Researcher

Background

The Centre for Disaster Protection works to prevent disasters devastating lives, by helping people, countries, and organisations change how they plan and pay for disasters. We focus on disaster risk financing to help ensure that money and plans are in place before a disaster strikes, so that the poorest and most vulnerable people are better protected. We are committed to work in partnerships across sectors and geographies to drive more impactful and more equitable disaster risk finance that leaves no one behind. Specifically, through a focus on:

· Delivering excellent client outcomes and promoting lasting disaster risk finance expertise. We provide clients with impartial and evidence-based advice, quality assurance and training that meets their needs and drives more effective disaster risk finance.

· Quality evidence and learning. We work to strengthen the evidence base for prearranged financing and document and share what shows the greatest potential to achieve system change.

· Impactful communications and global policy engagement. We seek to engage and influence through evidence-led policy and inclusive policy dialogue that bridges both ‘local to global’ and the humanitarian development climate nexus, targeting the bottlenecks key to effect transformative change of the international crisis financing architecture.

Additionally, we are focused on building effective systems and processes for people and operations that support the Centre to rapidly, yet strategically, scale and grow in a way that supports our people to do their best work through safe challenge, promoting and integrating diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Centre is funded with UK aid through the UK government. Read more about us in our updated strategy (2022-2025) and find out more at www.disasterprotection.org.

The role

The Centre’s Evidence programme spans two principal areas, Effective International Support for DRF and Operational Learning and Accountability.

The Effective International Support for DRF area includes researching disincentives and barriers international actors face in pre-arranging more of their financing and how these could these be managed better; and the structural, political and economic barriers to demand, including conflict, how these could be addressed; as well as understanding what realistic limits to demand, and realistic timelines might be.

Operational Learning and Accountability includes responding to research and evidence requests originated by the Centre’s own Advisory team and clients. This could include documenting and communicating guidance on emerging lessons and good practice in DRF and conducting operational or process learning evaluations. Over the last year, the Centre has decided to also concentrate on accountability and inclusion as a major theme across all functions as a means to drive greater effectiveness in DRF.

The Senior Researcher role will work closely with Evidence Project Leads within multidisciplinary teams of Centre staff, external consultants and partner organisations, to support the delivery of high quality, rigorous, and impartial evidence in support of the Centre’s strategy and work plan, on time and on budget. The Senior Researcher role may also require supporting linked technical communities of practice convened by the Centre and supporting or leading communications and engagement around evidence products.

Role responsibilities

· Contribute to the design of new research projects, developing research methodologies, implementation plans, drafting and managing project budgets.

· Support the management of multi-disciplinary teams to deliver research projects.

· Support the commissioning and procurement of external expertise including drafting Terms of Reference, tenders and conducting interviews and bid analysis.

· Conduct rigorous literature reviews and produce high quality synthesis of findings.

· Lead or contribute to qualitative data collection through key informant interviews and expert convenings.

· Conduct data-led research and analysis including development of novel methodologies ensuring rigorous treatment of data, meticulous data hygiene and documentation of sources and methodologies.

· Draft and contribute to publications including research reports, working papers, guidance and blogs.

· Support the publications process, including peer review, editing and promotion of evidence products.

· Represent the Centre’s evidence work externally in working groups, meetings and events.

· Support routine monitoring and reporting.

In addition to role-specific responsibilities, the Senior Researcher will be required to:

● Uphold the Centre’s values and contribute to a positive organisational culture.

● Build the Centre’s external reputation through managing relations with clients and partners

across the development, humanitarian, financial and academic sectors.

● Collaborate effectively with teams of Centre staff and consultants.

Skills and experience

Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate a range of the following skills and experience:

• At least five years’ demonstrated experience of qualitative and quantitative research in a related field such as disaster risk financing, development economics, public financial management, social protection.

• Experience of producing or contributing to research and evidence products to exceptional standards of rigour, quality and impact including leading peer review processes.

• Experience of producing high quality data-led research and analysis.

• Ability to communicate complex information in creative, precise and engaging written and visual formats.

• A strong understanding of the key actors and policy environment of the international development architecture.

• Experience co-delivering research with partner organisations including universities, NGOs and research institutes in low- and middle-income countries.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Other languages, particularly French given our expanding portfolio in Francophone countries, should be highlighted.

Person specification

Successful candidates should:

• Demonstrate willingness to learn key principles, features and functions of disaster risk financing to a level where you can critically engage and challenge.

• Show an understanding of and commitment to the Centre’s values and mission.

• An ability to take initiative and work proactively and effectively as part of a dynamic, multidisciplinary team in a hybrid working environment.

• Whilst a significant amount of travel is not anticipated, applicants should be willing, if required, to travel to Africa, Asia, and other international locations as needed including lower income and fragile, conflict-affected contexts.

• Demonstrate a commitment to ongoing learning, including technical and non-technical skills.

The offer

This role is expected to be offered on a fixed term contract basis, anticipated to start in September 2024 and continuing to June 2029, with an initial probation period of up to 4 months. The role will be contracted by DAI Global UK (or local partner/representative), who are the Centre’s managing agent.

The position is offered in the first instance as a position based in the UK, Nigeria or Pakistan. Whilst the role is primarily remote, regular visits to the Centre’s office in the City of London will be required and preference will be for candidates who can commit to working from the London office at least two days a week. Flexible, part-time and remote working arrangements will be considered. Applicants for the role must already have the right to work in the UK/Nigeria/Pakistan as relevant.

Other locations of employment may be considered, subject to feasibility. Candidates based elsewhere who fulfil the above skills and experience and person specification criteria and have interest in the role, may contact the Centre on the enquiry e-mail below in the first instance, to enquire whether the role could be offered in their preferred location.

A competitive salary and benefits package will be offered depending on experience (indicative gross salary range between £38,000 to £48,000 per annum where the role is based in the UK). The proposed salary will be confirmed at the offer stage.

The Centre is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace and so we particularly encourage applications from diverse backgrounds that are typically under-represented in this sector and from citizens of countries affected by disasters.

DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the USA, the UK, the EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine, and project operations worldwide. DAI tackles fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability; it works on the frontlines of global development, transforming ideas into action—action into impact. DAI is committed to shaping a more liveable world.