Urban Planning and GIS Assistant

About the role

The Urban Planning and GIS Assistant will support UN‑Habitat’s programme in Nairobi by developing and maintaining geospatial databases, collecting field data, and producing suitability and risk maps to guide settlement planning and climate‑smart interventions.

Key responsibilities

• Compile, organise and integrate spatial and non‑spatial datasets from government agencies, partners and project sources.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive geospatial database covering settlements, infrastructure, services, environmental features and hazards, including metadata, version control and backups.
• Conduct field verification, GPS surveys and participatory mapping to validate settlement boundaries and infrastructure locations.
• Perform multi‑criteria spatial analysis for settlement suitability, infrastructure accessibility and climate‑related constraints, producing maps and scenarios for decision‑makers.
• Prepare hazard and climate risk maps (e.g., flood, heat stress) and contribute to the Regional GIS Planning Atlas.

Required profile

• High school diploma; additional training in urban planning, regional planning, human settlements, architecture or related field is desirable.
• Minimum five years of progressive experience in GIS, spatial planning, geomatics, remote sensing or related discipline (reduced by two years with a first‑level university degree).
• Proven experience in spatial database development, field‑based geospatial data collection, GPS surveying and geospatial modelling.
• Experience supporting development, humanitarian or local government programmes is a plus.

Required skills

• GIS software and spatial analysis
• Spatial database management
• GPS surveying and field data collection
• Remote sensing and geospatial modelling
• Suitability analysis and multi‑criteria spatial analysis
• Hazard mapping (flood, heat stress, etc.)