Website National Drought Management Authority
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) is a public body established by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) Act, 2016. It previously operated under the State Corporations Act (Cap 446) of the Laws of Kenya by Legal Notice Number 171 of November 24, 2011. The Act gives the ND… read moreMA the mandate to exercise overall coordination over all matters relating to drought risk management and to establish mechanisms, either on its own or with stakeholders, that will end drought emergencies in Kenya. The history of Kenya’s work on drought management goes back to 1985, with the design of a drought contingency planning system in Turkana. In the early 1990s this system was extended to other arid districts with the support of the Netherlands government. It was then expanded further by the Emergency Drought Recovery Project (from 1992) and its successor, the ALRMP, both of them supported by the World Bank. By end of Phase II of the ALRMP, the drought management system was covering 28 arid and semi-arid districts (now 23 counties).
Job Ref No NDMA V/No.1/4/2026
Position Summary/Purpose
The Director, Research and Data Informatics, will be responsible for strengthening evidence-based drought risk management in the context of increasing climate variability and recurrent droughts in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands. The role entails providing a structured institutional framework for generating, managing, and disseminating credible information, knowledge, and evidence to guide drought risk management policies, strategies, and interventions.
Job Specifications
Duties and responsibilities at this level entail:
Provides overall leadership and vision for the Research & Data Informatics function, including integration of GIS and remote sensing applications in drought risk management by overseeing the management, review, maintenance, and updating of the national drought early warning system.
Leads the development, review, and implementation of policies, strategies, legal frameworks and work-plans for research, drought information, data/informatics, GIS/remote sensing, and early warning systems.
Translates national drought risk management and climate adaptation priorities into implementable data/information strategies, ensuring alignment with the organization’s mandate and national policy frameworks.
Provides leadership for research activities aimed at improving drought risk understanding, vulnerability analysis, impacts of climate change, livelihood resilience, and drought mitigation strategies by designing research programmes, collaborating with research institutions/universities, and ensuring quality and relevance of research outputs.
Ensures that research, data, GIS/remote sensing analyses feed into policy advice, planning, contingency planning and decision-making — thereby enhancing evidencebased drought risk management.
Advises government and the Board on strategic geospatial insights for drought preparedness and response through overseeing timely generation and sharing of evidence required for activation of contingency plans, emergency response, food security interventions, and drought-response funding requests.
Forges partnerships with global remote sensing institutions, donors, and technology providers.
Leads resource mobilization efforts — including proposals for research funding, technical assistance, partnerships, grants for drought-resilience and data/information initiatives.
Ensures sustainability and institutional capacity for GIS and Remote Sensing systems by facilitating capacity-building of internal staff and external stakeholders on GIS/remote sensing, data analysis, early warning interpretation, mapping, reporting
and use of information for planning and response.
Represent the Authority in forums on Early warning, geospatial and remote sensing for disaster risk reduction.
Ensures compliance with relevant governance, public-service, data-governance, procurement, finance and regulatory frameworks (e.g. public service regulations, data protection, ethics).
Coordinates the publication and dissemination of drought information products (early-warning bulletins, drought status reports, vulnerability assessments, maps) to relevant stakeholders — government, counties, communities, NGOs, partners. Establishes strategic partnerships with universities, international research organizations, and donors.
Coordinate research and translate research findings to policy briefs to inform drought risk management and climate change adaptation
Oversees identification and incorporation of new remote sensing data sources and emerging technologies for improved spatial analysis, drought monitoring, vulnerability mapping, and early warning.
Represent the Authority in global platforms on drought data, analytics, and knowledge management.
Approve and supervise the production of spatial products: thematic maps, hazard/vulnerability maps, livelihood-zone maps, drought risk maps, early warning dashboards, and other geospatial outputs for internal and external stakeholders.
Person Specifications
For appointment to this grade, an officer must have: –
Cumulative period of fifteen (15) years’ relevant work experience, three (3) of which should have been in an equivalent or comparable position;
Bachelor’s Degree in any of the following fields: Statistics/Applied Statistics, Disaster Risk/Management, Computer science (with GIS specialization), Monitoring and Evaluation, Mathematics, Data Science/Data Analytics, Economics and Statistics, Meteorology, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Surveying/mapping, Geomatics Engineering, Statistics/Applied Statistics, Geography and Geospatial Techniques, Environmental Science, Remote Sensing/Earth Science, and Geospatial Science from a recognized institution;
Master’s Degree in any of the following fields: Statistics/Applied Statistics, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Geomatics Engineering, Disaster Risk/Management, Computer science (with GIS specialization), Monitoring and Evaluation, Surveying/mapping, Mathematics, Geography and Geospatial Techniques, Environmental Science, Data Science/Data Analytics, Project Management, Computer science/Information technology, Economics and Statistics, Remote Sensing/Earth Observation, Geospatial Science, Meteorology from a recognized institution;
Membership to a relevant professional body in good standing, where applicable;
Certificate in Leadership course lasting not less than six (6) weeks from a recognized institution;
A valid practicing certificate/license where applicable;
Proficiency in computer applications;
Fulfilled the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution
Demonstrated merit and ability as reflected in work performance and results; and exhibited a thorough understanding of national goals, policies, objectives, and ability to relate them NDMA functions.
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Interested qualified applicants are notified of the following:How to ApplyInterested qualified applicants are requested to submit a filled Bio-data form, a cover letter, detailed CV, copies of certificates & testimonials with the title of the position and Reference Number clearly indicated in the email subject line to hr@ndma.go.ke. The Bio-data form link will be provided on the Authority’s website. Successful candidates will be required to fulfill the requirements of Chapter six (6) of the Constitution of Kenya, specifically clearance from the following institutions;Applications should be addressed to;Chief Executive Officer,
National Drought Management Authority
P. O. Box 53547 00200
NAIROBI, KENYA
Apply Through:
hr@ndma.go.ke
To apply for this job please visit ndma.go.ke.