Job Description

Position

Field Officer - Water Resources Management & Hydrology

Position Type

Project-based Staff - Fulltime

Position Profile

Field Officer with background in Water Resources Management & Hydrology. The position coordinates fieldwork related to Water Resources Management, Hydrology, Climate Resilience, and other MERL activities on Social Accountability and Governance.

Reporting Structure

·         Technically Reports to the Field Coordinator

·         Coordinates with the Project Leads and MERL Coordinators/Officers

Contract Duration

6 months with possibility of extension based on budget availability  

Duty station

Based in Mogadishu with 70% travels to field locations across Somalia. The position is field based and requires significant travels.

Salary Scale

700 USD

Background Information

RAAGSAN is a female-led local social enterprise specializing on Social Accountability, Governance and Community Engagement. We provide strategic and analytical consulting services across the Horn of Africa. We strive to bridge the gap between communities and policymakers by leveraging our network of young and middle-aged professionals supported by experienced senior consultants with post-conflict environment expertise. We offer an in-depth knowledge of the Somali community level. We work in fragile and conflict-affected states to develop and strengthen policies and systems that enhance public service delivery. Our operations have served a wide range of international and national clients and government entities. We have experience working with Ministries, Local Governments, UN agencies, INGOs, and NNGOs. RAAGSAN has primary offices in Mogadishu and Hargeisa, and a Laison office in Nairobi. We also have project offices in Beledweyne and Kismayo.

Our experts and researchers were part of projects in multiple sectors in both the humanitarian and development: livelihood and markets, social protection, cash transfers, disaster management, water sector development, health systems, chain, GESI and justice sector, and humanitarian responses. RAAGSAN has conducted MERL work in more than 50 districts and has a pool of 200+ highly qualified local field researchers that could be rapidly deployed as a team of professionals who are trained to conduct research and data collection in the field, typically at the community or local level.

Objectives of the Position

The Field Research Officer plays a key role in supporting RAAGSAN’s implementation of MERL & Community Engagement activities in the thematic areas of climate resilience, water governance, and social accountability. The position ensures that fieldwork is well-coordinated, ethically implemented, and properly documented. The role is especially suited for professionals with a technical background in Hydrology, Water, Agricultural, or Environmental Engineering, who are passionate about applied research and community engagement in fragile contexts. Specifically, the position will:

·         Technically lead all projects related to Water Resources Management & Hydrology

·         Coordinate and support field data collection and logistics of other MERL projects

·         Ensure research quality and ethical standards are upheld during implementation

·         Lead the field-level execution of two long-term and two short-term projects at any given time

·         Act as a liaison between field teams, technical leads, and community stakeholders

·         Contribute to internal learning, documentation, and operational planning

Roles and Responsibilities

Technical Role

·         Managing integration of community-sourced river data with hydrological forecasts (Mike Hydro, SWALIM models)

·         Supervising gauge reader operations, mobile submissions, and data validation

·         Coordinating calibration, station assessment, and expansion of monitoring networks

·         Supporting hydrological model setup hosted on Microsoft Azure and API data pipelines

·         Producing geospatial outputs (risk maps, flood thresholds, dashboards) and analytics visualizations.

·         Documenting lessons and field insights for system upgrade reports.

Project Management, Research and MERL Support Role

·         Coordinate field activities for assigned projects, including the preparation of field workplans and training sessions in collaboration with technical leads

·         Assist in finalizing field tools and adapting tools for specific geographic contexts and research participants

·         Ensure adherence to data collection protocols and that guidelines provided in the community engagement toolkits are applied during field data collection

·         Train field research team in data collection tools and research protocols

·         Monitor the quality of data collection and report irregularities to project leads

·         Lead review of the data and notes coming from the field

·         Support the data cleaning and analysis and ensure timely and clean data transfer

Field Operations Coordination

·         Manage all logistics for field-based data collection, including researcher deployment, security assessments, transportation, and equipment

·         Prepare detailed fieldwork plans and ensure timely mobilization of teams

·         Supervise data collection and conduct pre-field briefings and post-field debriefings with enumerators, team leads, and project staff

·         Maintain consistent communication with project leads to report progress, challenges, and resolution measures

·         Maintain and update project folders, checklists, contact lists, and logistics trackers

Reporting and Knowledge Production

·         Provide field observations, reflections, and lessons learned during internal learning reviews and project meetings

·         Support the development and documentation of field-based case studies and reflective summaries capturing community perspectives and contextual analysis

·         Assist in report writing, particularly in developing narrative sections, compiling field insights, verifying data accuracy, and supporting integration of qualitative findings into final deliverables

·         Contribute to the drafting and editing of policy briefs, learning papers, and technical summaries related to climate resilience, water governance, and accountability themes

·         Support the development of concept notes materials for external engagements such as workshop handouts and short summaries

·         Help organize and coordinate learning events and workshops to engage target audiences, social influencers, policymakers, and international stakeholders on topics such as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Climate Change Adaptation, Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and Social Accountability

·         Contribute to keeping RAAGSAN up to date on technological innovations in the DRR, Climate, and IWRM research sectors, identifying new tools and creative methods for capturing, visualizing, and communicating impact

·         Liaise with the communications team to curate and share content on emerging insights from the field especially related to DRR, climate change adaptation, and IWRM for dissemination to external audiences

Representation, Advocacy, and External Engagement

·         Serve as field liaison between RAAGSAN and local government, community leaders, and implementing partners

·         Represent RAAGSAN in field-level events, public meetings, or coordination forums as delegated

·         Report community feedback and contextual risks to the relevant technical or operations lead

·         Coordinate with the operations director to assess and manage field-level risks

Experiences and Qualifications

·         Bachelor’s degree in Hydrology, Water Resources Management, Agricultural or Environmental Engineering or other related field

·         Minimum of 2 years’ experience in field work coordination, M&E and Research project delivery in fragile contexts

·         Strong understanding of local context and field realities in Somalia

·         Experience in handling field logistics and negotiating access for field work

·         Strong interpersonal skills and ability to coordinate teams remotely and in-person

·         Fluency in Somali and proficiency in English (written and verbal)

·         Willingness to travel to field locations frequently, travel long distance in harsh environments and work extended hours when needed

Skills Required

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