Humanitarian Strategic Analyst - Africa at Save the Children

Role purpose

The role is to provide context-specific strategic analysis to support humanitarian decision-makers at all levels of the organization (country, regional, and global), in particular at times of significant contextual change. To do so, the Humanitarian Strategic Analyst monitors geopolitical events, identifies strategic issues critical to the organization’s operations and position, and engages with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders to gather, curate and convey strategic insights. The role holder is involved in key processes where building a shared understanding of the complexity of Save the Children’s operating environment is critical, from risk assessments to informing preparedness and business continuity plans, humanitarian advocacy strategies, and humanitarian policy-making. Finally, the role delivers conflict-sensitive insights on major crises, with a view to notably anticipate potential escalation, to ensure effective and principled responses in humanitarian contexts.

Principal Accountabilities

Country-facing (in the absence of a dedicated CO Analyst, upon request, and pending availability): 

• Conduct and deliver context and foresight analysis (e.g., situational analysis, conflict analysis, trend analysis, scenario analysis, stakeholder analysis) to support humanitarian decision-makers.
• Develop scenarios and support scenario-based planning to inform response decision-making.
• Provide capacity building to CO and partners on risk identification, risk monitoring methodology, and scenario building.
• Support key internal processes with bespoke analysis (e.g., risk analysis to inform the development or update of a CO’s Emergency Preparedness Plans).
• Contribute to the integration of conflict-sensitive approaches, tools, and methods in proposal writing, programme implementation and reporting.

Movement-facing (aligned with global humanitarian priorities and SCI’s global strategy):

• Collaborate across Programme Delivery Team and beyond to identify and address key contextual information gaps, ensuring integration of comprehensive contextual data and intelligence into strategic planning and operational responses.
• Contribute specialised regional and national content to global reports, highlighting key trends and context-specific characteristics.
• Support humanitarian advocacy initiatives and strategies by offering up-to-date insights and thorough contextual analysis on ongoing and emerging crises.
• Support the external representation  of senior executives (e.g., Regional Directors)
• Prepare and facilitate internal context-focused discussions (CAFU Café).

External-facing: 

• Contribute to the IASC Early Warning and Risk Analysis Group.
• Engage with CAFU’s external partners on specific contexts or themes.

Experience and Skills

Essential

• Proficiency in both qualitative and quantitative data analysis to extract actionable insights.
• Strong ability to question, synthesize, and present complex information clearly and concisely.
• Sound understanding of geopolitical dynamics (at international, national, and sub-national levels) and their interplay with humanitarian needs and practices.
• Expertise in supporting risk assessments and providing foresight analysis for strategic decision-making, particularly in areas of conflict.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills to effectively convey strategic insights to diverse audiences (internal teams and external stakeholders), with fluency in English and French,
• Ability to craft strategic recommendations covering a range of operational scenarios to support preparedness efforts and anticipatory strategies within a humanitarian framework.
• Excellent skills in collaboration, networking, and relationship-building with diverse stakeholders (including I/LNGOS, UN agencies, academia).
• Experience in delivering analytical products with short turn around and supporting the development of strategies with timely contextual insights on major or emerging crises.
• Significant professional experience of working in humanitarian sector with a focus on crisis contexts and conflict-sensitive programming.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with adherence to organizational values and humanitarian principles.

Desirable

• Additional language of Arabic or Spanish preferred 

Key Relationships

Internal (excluding direct team and manager)

• Wider Emergency Response Team
• Wider Programme Delivery Team
• Strategy, Planning, and Movement Development (CSO/DCEO)

External

• IASC Early Warning and Risk Analysis group
• ACAPS, ACLED, CHL, IARAN

Education and Qualifications 

Essential

• A degree in Political Science, International Relations, Conflict Studies, or a related field.