The Centre for Disaster Protection was launched by the UK Prime Minister in July 2017 to strengthen resilience in developing countries through better preparedness and planning backed by risk-based financing arrangements. The Centre is funded with UK aid from the UK government.
The Centre for Disaster Protection works to change how the world prepares and pays for disasters. Identifying, planning for and financing disasters before they strike saves lives, reduces suffering and protects livelihoods and economies, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable communities. The Centre brings countries together with international development, humanitarian and private sector organisations to find solutions and advocate for change. We find ways to stop disasters devastating lives by supporting countries and the international system to better manage risks. To do this, the Centre provides advisory services, builds knowledge, catalyses innovation and creates partnerships across the development, humanitarian and financial sectors.
With Covid-19, the world is more aware than ever of the importance of being prepared and working together to address risks. The Centre’s work has never been more crucial. With a recent funding uplift from the UK government to mid-2025, the Centre is entering a new period of organisational growth, evolving beyond its start-up phase to tackle the increasingly urgent impact of climate change and frequency of disasters around the world.
The Centre’s technical work is focused on cross-cutting goals as set out in our five-year strategy (2019-2024):
- Advice – quality assurance and advisory services and training: We will have a respected and widely used quality assurance function that has increased the quantity and quality of risk financing products and services. Our effective technical assistance and capacity building will have supported high risk, vulnerable countries to make better disaster risk management decisions through knowledge exchange and genuine skills transfer.
- Evidence and Learning: We will be internationally recognised as driving change through evidence, experimentation and learning which will strengthen the global evidence base on disaster risk financing.
- Advocacy and Influencing: Through advocacy and influencing and being a positive disrupter, we will have improved the quality and quantity of disaster risk financing through the multilateral system.
Additionally, we are focused on building effective systems and processes on people and operations to support the Centre to rapidly yet strategically scale and grow in a way that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion and ensures the organisation is a great place to work.
The role
As part of our organisational growth plan, we are expanding our Advisory team and recruiting a Risk Analyst to support the delivery of the Centre’s ambitious workplan – in which our advisory offer is a strategic priority.
This workstream includes advice, quality assurance and training to developing country governments, international development and humanitarian organisations and donors to improve disaster risk management and financing. The workstream aims to ensure high quality crisis and disaster risk financing is available to and used to good effect by countries and organisations, so that the most vulnerable people are better protected.
Examples of work to be undertaken may include, for example: being part of a team providing advice to a low-income country government or a regional development bank; reviewing a proposal from a humanitarian agency for a new risk management or financing initiative; contributing to a research paper; or providing analytics to be used in advocacy products.
In addition to role-specific responsibilities, the Risk Analyst will be required to:
- Uphold the organisation’s values and contribute to a positive organisational culture.
Help to build the Centre’s external reputation through delivering excellent technical work and the development of innovative solutions.
Support the development of effective partnerships and relationships across the development, humanitarian and financial sectors.
Skills and experience
Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:
- Strong quantitative analytical and problem-solving abilities with demonstrated attention to detail.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English with the ability to tailor communications to a range of audiences; other languages, particularly French, would be an advantage.
- Ability to work enthusiastically as a valued team member across multiple client teams in parallel.
- Strong commitment to ongoing learning, including technical and non-technical skills.
- Experience with Excel, Access, SQL, Python and/or R are beneficial, but there is also room to develop and improve programming skills.
Person specification
Successful candidates should:
- Demonstrate a passion for building resilience and reducing vulnerability in low and middle-income countries.
- Show a clear understanding of and commitment to the Centre’s values and mission.
- Be willing to travel to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and other international locations as needed, including lower income and fragile, conflict-affected contexts (as a guide, one week every 1-2 months, to be arranged only if restrictions due to COVID-19 allow).
The offer
After a successful probation period, the contract will be until the end of June 2025, renewable if project funding is extended. The roles will be contracted by DAI Global UK, who are the Centre’s managing agent.
A competitive salary in the region of £30-40,000 depending on experience.
A generous benefits package including 25 days annual leave (plus public holidays) and a contributory pension scheme.
We have an office in the City of London, but we are open to considering flexible, part-time and remote working arrangements.
For contracting purposes, candidates must be resident in and have the right to live and work in one of the following countries: UK, Belgium, Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, Pakistan, Nigeria, USA.
The Centre is committed to building a diverse workplace and so we particularly encourage applications from diverse backgrounds that are typically under-represented in this sector.
DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the USA, the UK, the EU, Nigeria, and Pakistan, and project operations worldwide. DAI tackles fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability; it works on the frontlines of global development, transforming ideas into action—action into impact. DAI is committed to shaping a more liveable world.
Application process
*Interested applicants should apply, including a cover letter (no more than one page) and CV, via DAI’s recruitment portal.* (Via the link below)
Any questions about the role or the recruitment process should be sent to: jobs_CDP@disasterprotection.org (please do not send applications to this email address).
We are recruiting for these vacancies on a rolling basis, meaning there is no fixed deadline and applications will be assessed as they are received, and the vacancies will remain open until they are filled. We are posting these vacancies in mid-December 2021 with an aim to make all appointments by the end of March 2022, preferably sooner.