Research Specialist in Conflict and Political Economy

The Danish Refugee Council assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, fight for their rights, and strengthen their opportunity for a brighter future. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions. We work toward successful integration and– whenever possible – for the fulfilment of the wish to return home.

The Danish Refugee Council was founded in Denmark in 1956, and has since grown to become an international humanitarian organization with more than 7,000 staff and 8,000 volunteers. Our vision is a dignified life for all displaced.

All of our efforts are based on our value compass: humanity, respect, independence and neutrality, participation, and honesty and transparency.

About the job

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has identified evidence as one of its four strategic priorities under its current strategy (Vision 2020), including strengthened internal systems and procedures relating to research, data-production, analysis and learning. In line with this priority, DRC North Africa is seeking an exceptional multi-disciplinary research specialist with demonstrable academic and professional experience in conflict sensitivity, political economy analysis and migration. The ideal candidate will have hands-on migration-related programme experience, preferably in North Africa, a track record designing and driving a dynamic research agenda, and a proven capacity for coordinating and producing high quality analysis and research outputs with actionable recommendations.

The policy and programmatic response to irregular migration in Libya has the potential to reinforce and aggravate existing conflict dynamics and may play an indirect role in exacerbating the current humanitarian and human rights crisis. In the context of fragility, competing legislative authorities and fragmented institutions, irregular migration in Libya requires a fine-grained, multi-disciplinary and critical analysis that deepens understanding of the social, economic and political processes, interests and power dynamics interacting with migration at various levels (micro, meso, macro). This analysis will seek to advance and consolidate the evidence base to inform adaptive and relevant programme design for DRC, its partners and the wider response. In addition, it will inform initiatives that stimulate a constructive policy dialogue, encouraging more nuanced appraisals that assist in sensitising analysts and policy-makers to the potentially complex or counter intuitive impacts and implications of particular policy measures and programmatic interventions. In this regard, one of the key outputs will be the collaborative development of conflict sensitive principles and approaches for adoption by the wider response to irregular migration in Libya and the region. Your main duties and responsibilities will be:

Working in close collaboration with colleagues from DRC, partners, other organisations, consultants and relevant stakeholders:                    

• Develop and drive a dynamic research agenda and ensure coordination and supervision of specific thematic research
• Coordinate and conduct a comprehensive analysis of relevant national and international stakeholders, including actor mapping, power analysis, profiling and documentation
• Carry out a thorough political economy analysis of relevant formal and informal sectors, institutions, actors, relations and dynamics that have a bearing on irregular migration/ migration management
• Identify and establish collaborative research partnerships and initiatives with relevant organisations, institutions and individuals
• Develop, publish and disseminate high quality research outputs, including user-friendly knowledge products such as analytical documents, policy papers, desk reviews, and comparative studies
• Establish and maintain contact with relevant stakeholders on the migration situation and provide advice on strategic and policy issues to better protect and promote human rights of migrants
• Promote the integration of a gender perspective in all aspects of work, including gender-sensitive victim perspectives, in the design and implementation of research and recommendations
• Promote coordination among all relevant humanitarian actors and donors, initiating and facilitating learning through workshops, events and presentations
• Contribute to development of systems and processes for internal knowledge dissemination, management and retention, ensuring research findings actively contribute to relevant, responsive and adaptive programming and advocacy by DRC and partners
• Collaborative development and dissemination of conflict sensitive approach and principles for migration response in Libya

About you

To be successful in this role we expect you to have minimum 5 years of progressive experience conducting Political Economy Analysis, including selection of team members, scoping of desk studies, workshop design, interview planning, field work data collection, consultations to confirm findings, and finalisation of reports with actionable recommendations. Moreover, we also expect the following:

Required

• Advanced University degree in international relations, political science, migration, economics or related field
• Knowledge of and experience with a range of research approaches that support and/or complement political economy analysis, including qualitative and quantitative research, conflict assessment and gender analysis
• Knowledge of analytical tools employed in crisis-affected/fragile contexts and proven experience in developing conflict sensitive principles and approaches
• Proven experience working with government authorities, civil society organisations and academic institutions
• Demonstrated understanding of the role that formal institutions and informal social, political and cultural norms play in shaping human interaction and political and economic competition
• Expertise in incorporating Political Economy Analysis learning into programme design, monitoring, evaluation, indicator development, impact analysis, and collaborative learning
• Experience drafting user-friendly knowledge products such as analytical documents, policy papers, project and programme documents, baseline studies, desk reviews, and comparative studies
• Fluency in English and Arabic required

Desirable

• Knowledge of French preferred

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies: 

Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process. 

Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback. 

Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation. 

Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly. 

Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with DRC’s vision and values. 

We offer

Type of Contract: Expat

Contract length:  12 months

Grade/Level: A13

Designation of Duty Station: Tunis, Tunisia

Start date: 11/06/2018

Application process

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages) in English. Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Closing date for applications: 31/05/2018 at mignight.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please visit drc.ngo/jobsupport.

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.