Climate Analyst- Nairobi ( Climate Change Team)

To apply for this role please send a copy of your CV and cover letter to recruitment@ciff.org, stating the job title in the subject of your email. Applications received after the closing date may not be reviewed. If a high volume of applications are received, the vacancy may be closed early.

About CIFF:

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) is an independent philanthropic organisation with offices in Addis Ababa, Beijing, London, Nairobi, and New Delhi. CIFF works with a wide range of partners seeking to transform and empower the lives of poor and vulnerable children and adolescents in developing countries, with the ultimate goal of solving seemingly intractable challenges to ensure all children and adolescents have the chance to survive and thrive.

CIFF aims to play a catalytic role as a funder and influencer to deliver urgent and systemic change at scale. Areas of work include empowering girls and boys to control their sexual and reproductive health to avoid unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion and HIV/AIDS; improving children and mothers’ health and nutrition; preventing low birthweight babies; eliminating deaths from severe acute malnutrition, nested within a more integrated approach to childhood development; and deworming efforts to break transmission for good. CIFF’s child protection work focuses on ending child labour and sexual exploitation by enabling an environment that reduces vulnerability of communities and increases protection of children. The organisation’s climate portfolio is driven by a vision of a climate-safe future for today’s children and future generations that also bear the benefits of cleaner air, energy security and sustainable jobs.

We are privileged, as a financially independent philanthropy, to be able to work in challenging areas that others can’t, and we often elect to work on what can be controversial issues that others won’t. For example, CIFF is pro-choice with respect to women’s reproductive rights along with the prioritisation of access to reproductive information and to contraceptive choices. It is imperative to the CIFF family, therefore, that prospective candidates are aware of the issues we work on and embrace all our programmatic work with fully open minds to the huge number of ways in which we seek to empower young lives.

CIFF places significant emphasis on quality data and evidence. For most of its grants, CIFF works with partners to measure and evaluate progress to achieve large scale and sustainable impact. The organisation is committed to sharing as much information as possible about what they and their partners are learning.

Founded in 2002, CIFF employs approximately 160 professionals globally. CIFF strives to couple business acumen and principles with development experience and best practices to transform the landscape for children. It seeks to be the gold standard in grant making and foundation operations.

Main purpose of the role:

The CIFF Climate team is driven by a vision of a climate-safe future for today’s children and future generations. We support the urgent global transition to a zero-carbon society. We are committed to strategies that get to the heart of the greatest climate challenges and are willing to support new approaches to accelerate action and the step-change in ambition required to keep global warming below 1.50 C.

CIFF has a growing climate portfolio that includes resilient communities, cities, clean energy transition through reforms in the power sector; cooling and energy efficiency; solutions for clean air; and climate policy. New initiatives relate to transport decarbonization; low carbon agriculture and nature-based solutions; climate finance and disclosure; and industrial decarbonization.

This role is fast-paced and incredibly diverse with support to CIFF’s Africa and Climate strategies that seek to invest in grow and resiliency in the continent. You will have the opportunity to work on a wide portfolio of climate change programmes across a number of sectors and/or geographies. You will provide programme management overview, an oversight of administrative and research support, with the opportunity to manage and lead your own grants and partnerships.

CIFF is one of the largest philanthropic funders both in international development and climate change offers a broad range of opportunities to work with leading experts in their fields as well as ongoing learning and development opportunities including a personal allowance to be spent on any relevant career training every year. Your contribution will be integral to supporting CIFF and our partners – some of the best climate actors in the field – to deliver CIFF’s ambitious climate agenda.

Position Responsibilities

Principal Accountabilities:
Strategy & planning

Prior to approval of a programme proposal, assist the team in preparing aspects of the programme strategy and evidence base, working with wider teams and in country experts.

Conduct and support insightful research and analysis on specific projects and climate sector trends - including but not limited to adaptation strategies, land use and food systems; climate resilience; adaptation; and climate finance - to assist the Africa Climate team to determine strategic priorities and setting operational plans.

Provide global, regional, national and sectoral insights, and communicate them verbally and in writing to a variety of senior stakeholders, and to contribute to the strategy and planning process.

Annually support the team in providing input for Business Planning, preparation of budgets, and additional support by working across several teams.

Programme development, delivery & performance

• Lead the end-to-end oversight and administration of the management process of the grants assigned (from concept formation, proposal development through to final payment) suggesting improvements where appropriate, enable the Africa Climate team to deliver and monitor its philanthropic activity efficiently and effectively and ensuring impact.

• Lead the preparation and dissemination of regular and ad hoc reporting on sector/portfolio/programme performance, to ensure colleagues and partners (as required) have access to accurate and relevant management information.

• Work closely with members of the Finance and Legal team for the development of grant agreements, forecasting of grant payments, to enable effective grant management and reporting within the organisation.

• Act as ‘Super-User’ for CIFF’s online grants management system for the team, ensuring they are deployed appropriately to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of grant management.

• Support the preparation of summary reports, board reports and portfolio investment reports, to ensure these are produced to a high standard and in a timely fashion – which can often mean to high quality in very short timeframes.

Sector knowledge and profile-building

• Build and maintain a range of relevant sectoral knowledge and information resources to enable the Climate team to access high quality intelligence, analysis and data to inform current and future programme activity – always seeking to add value and join the dots.

Stakeholder and partner management

• Maintain good and productive relationships with our partners and grantees, which can include dealing with senior experts from around the world.

• Build the climate teams capabilities to make broader changes by building and maintaining a network of individuals and organisations both current and new that can drive bigger changes.

Organise and manage cross departmental workshops and brainstorm sessions, taking meeting minutes, circulating briefing papers, and strengthening knowledge management for the team.

The Talented Individual:

Qualifications & Experience

• A relevant postgraduate level degree (e.g. Climate, Environmental Science, Environmental Economics, Environmental Planning, Natural Resource Management, Business Administration and/or equivalent) with excellent quantitative and qualitative analytical skills.
• Gained some experience (2-4 years) working in a development/climate focussed organisation and looking to take that experience further.
• Familiarity with the development and climate policy landscape.
• Experience multitasking and managing priorities to competing deadlines, thrives on diversity of a role.
• Excellent communication skills and excellent oral and written English required.
• Track record of managing many relationships internally and externally with partners, grantees, government departments, policy think tanks, research institutions and other donor organisations.
• Familiarity with advocacy or capacity building
• Track record of strong interpersonal skills and working well as a team player
• Approach situations strategically, methodically and with a high degree of rigour
• Entrepreneurial mindset, highly adaptive and energetic
• Capacity to work in a range of cultural and socio-economic contexts
• Able to travel internationally and willing to work flexible hours
• Experience in working for bilateral and multilateral organisations will be added advantage.