Project Specialist - Climate & Water Systems

About the role

The Climate and Water Systems Specialist will expand DRC Kenya’s climate‑focused programme portfolio, addressing the intersection of displacement, climate change, and water access. The role strengthens the quality, effectiveness, and scalability of integrated interventions such as climate‑smart agriculture, water resource management, and resilient WASH for vulnerable and displaced communities in arid and semi‑arid lands.

Key responsibilities

• Provide technical expertise for designing, testing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating pilot initiatives on resilience design, climate‑smart agriculture, and farmer‑managed natural regeneration.
• Lead technical design and quality assurance of water resource management components, including IWRM planning, water security, groundwater/aquifer management, and engagement with basin‑level governance structures.
• Ensure programme approaches embed climate‑resilient WASH principles: climate risk screening, drought/flood‑proofing, water safety planning under climate stress, and low‑carbon/renewable‑powered water systems such as solar pumping.
• Link interventions to anticipatory action and forecast‑based financing for pre‑positioning of WASH resources.
• Generate evidence to inform programme improvement, scaling, and resource mobilisation.

Required profile

• Strong technical grounding in climate‑resilient WASH and integrated water resource management (IWRM).
• Knowledge of policy, legal, and financing frameworks for climate adaptation in Kenya and the wider region.
• Experience designing and scaling climate‑resilience interventions in ASAL contexts.
• Ability to work with diverse stakeholders, including water user associations and governmental water authorities.

Required skills

• Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)
• Climate‑resilient WASH
• Climate Smart Agriculture
• Water safety planning
• Solar‑powered water systems (solar pumping)
• Resilience design (RAD)
• Groundwater/aquifer management