Position Title: Information Management Officer
Receiving Agency: OCHA
P Level: P3
Location: Mogadishu, Somalia
Duration: 3 months
Language: English

Brief Description of Emergency Outbreak/Upsurge and the Consequences for OCHA:

Somalia continues to face a protracted humanitarian crisis driven by recurrent climate shocks, ongoing conflict, and chronic vulnerability. Drought, erratic rainfall, and localized flooding have severely disrupted livelihoods, particularly for pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities, while insecurity and inter-clan tensions continue to drive displacement and limit access to basic services. Joint humanitarian analysis for 2026 indicates that more than 7 million people are affected, with around 5 million requiring humanitarian assistance. Food insecurity is expected to worsen, with over 5 million people projected to face IPC Phase 3 or above. Large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to live in overcrowded settlements with limited access to essential services. Humanitarian partners are delivering life-saving assistance across food, nutrition, health, WASH, and protection sectors; however, needs continue to outpace available resources. Access constraints, funding shortfalls, and operational challenges limit the scale and sustainability of the response, while the evolving climate outlook and persistent insecurity risk further deterioration. Timely, coordinated, and flexible humanitarian action, underpinned by strong data, early warning, and joint analysis, remains critical to mitigate impacts, protect the most vulnerable, and adapt the response to rapidly changing conditions.

Brief Surge Need Justification:

The HNRP 2026 was developed using a hyper-prioritization approach to ensure that the most urgent life-saving needs are addressed and that increasingly limited resources are allocated as efficiently as possible. At the same time, demand for high-quality information and analysis to guide humanitarian planning and decision-making has increased significantly, while overall information management (IM) capacity in Somalia has sharply declined. Funding reductions have led to the closure of iMMAP support operations and have constrained REACH’s capacity, leaving substantial gaps in analytical support. In parallel, the rollout of the flagship initiative across four pilot districts has further increased the need for sustained IM support at sub-national level. In this context, OCHA’s Information Management Unit (IMU) remains the only entity providing a full spectrum of IM and analytical services to support humanitarian coordination. This includes HNRP implementation and monitoring, advanced data analysis, single registration and referral systems, flagship initiative support, and system-wide hyper-prioritization exercises. The scope and intensity of these demands continue to expand due to the evolving operational environment, as outlined below:
• Escalating drought and climate variability are driving rapid changes in severity, displacement, and access, requiring sustained analytical surge capacity to support continuous reprioritization, scenario analysis, and area-level decision-making.
• Expansion of Area-Based Coordination (ABC) has significantly increased demand for dedicated analytical support to enable district-level prioritization, multi-cluster convergence analysis, and translation of national HPC priorities into operational area-based plans.
• Intensified system-wide prioritization requirements, following the narrowing of the response to SO1 and the introduction of funding caps, require advanced trade-off analysis, severity threshold testing, and targeting coherence reviews beyond the capacity of core IM staffing.
• OCHA IMU Somalia’s mandate has evolved from traditional information management to strategic decision support, underpinning HPC prioritization, SHF allocation decisions, adaptive response management, and HCT and ICCG deliberations.
• More frequent reprioritization cycles, driven by drought progression,
access constraints, and funding volatility, necessitate rapid analytical surge capacity to prevent delays in decision-making and response adjustments. Maintaining coherence between national strategy, area-based planning, and funding decisions depends on continued SBP support to absorb analytical workload peaks during HPC milestones, drought escalation, and reprioritization exercises.

OCHA’s Role and Key Challenges:
 
OCHA’s overall goal in Somalia is to ensure the delivery of effective and principled humanitarian action that meets the needs of the most vulnerable people. To achieve this, OCHA supports the Humanitarian Coordinator and humanitarian partners in operational coordination, humanitarian financing, public information, humanitarian analysis, advocacy and information management.

Main Partners and Stakeholders in the Field:

Humanitarian partners: UN agencies, clusters, national and international NGOs, Red Crescent
Movement, donors, national and local authorities, and line ministers.

Long-Term Plan After SBP Deployment Ends:

OCHA Somalia has submitted a request for a Junior Professional Officer through existing mechanisms and will continue to engage potential donors to cover the staffing gap for the remainder of 2026. Starting in 2027, the OCHA office will assess the inclusion of a national staff position in the cost plan.

Will Other Surge Resources Be Requested?

No.


ROLE REQUIREMENTS


Main Tasks and Duties to be Executed:

Data Management
• Advanced information analysis, including but not limited to trade-off analysis, severity threshold testing, targeting and trend analysis, and advanced spatial analysis.
• Design, develop and manage databases, spreadsheets and other data tools; understand, document, and ensure the quality of high-value humanitarian data for accuracy, consistency and comparability;
• Consolidate operational information on a regular schedule to support analysis. Data collection and analysis
• Support assessment and needs analysis activities, including humanitarian needs overviews, secondary data reviews, preliminary scenario definitions and multi-cluster initial rapid assessments; provide advice on assessment design to ensure data quality; manage platforms and tools that support data collection and analysis such as KoBo Toolbox and Open Data Kit (ODK);
• Organize, design and carry out the evaluation and analysis of location specific datasets through meaningful statistical techniques. Mapping and
Visualization
• Produce and update information products such as reports, charts and infographics (interactive and/or static) by turning data into graphical products to convey messages and a storyline
• Develop advocacy materials including posters, presentations and other visual materials while adhering to OCHA branding.
• Produce and update high-quality map products and online services


Expected Outcome of the Deployment:

• Data analysis provided in support of coordination and information products • Inter-cluster assessments support provided • High quality maps are developed and updated • High quality visualizations (static and interactive) are developed and updated


Language(s) Required: 
English


Specific Required Skills:

• High level of expertise in Excel required
• Proficiency in graphic design using Adobe Suite is desirable.
• Ability to process and analyse complex data require
• Proficiency in ArcGIS desirable
• IM experience in a humanitarian emergency is required.
• Fluency in English is required.


OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Security Level: 
Overall Security Situation:

General Threat Assessment: Armed Conflict - Substantial, Terrorism - High, Crime-Substantial, Civil Unrest - Moderate, Hazards - Moderate

Duty Travel:

100% of the time will be spent in Mogadishu

Visa Requirements:

All UNLP holders are exempt from visa requirements to enter Somalia for official business/mission trips, while non-UNLP holders are required to get e-visa before departure. To facilitate the issuance of e-visa, kindly, share copy of your national passport, PAF/Contract/surge deployment letter/mission ToR with the admin unit to prepare an invitation letter. Upon receipt of the invitation letter, kindly apply for the visa using the online application portal https://apply.visa.gov.so/OnlineApplicationFormv1, upload the invitation letter and use below office address for e-visa application.

Please confirm workstation & communication/MOSS equipment will be provided:

True

R&R Cycle and Location/Destination:

Every 4 weeks/Nairobi, Kenya

Is SSAFE Training Required?

True

Arrangements for SSAFE Training (if required):

SSAFE is held monthly in Mogadishu; SBP will attend in the first available slot on arrival.
 


Medical Requirements (e.g. Vaccinations):

Standard UN vaccination requirements; COVID-19 vaccination required. Yellow fever vaccination required for entry from at-risk countries.

Medical Facilities Available:

UNSOS Level 2 Medical Facility (Mogadishu); CASEVAC procedures per UN Somalia contingency plans. COVID-19 Vaccination Programme for UN Personnel: Confirmed that SBP experts are eligible to receive vaccination under the UN Vaccination Programme. Current vaccination situation: COVID-19 vaccines available through UN Somalia medical service

Living Conditions:

Hard-wall single en-suite accommodation with kitchenette within a MOSS compliant UN facility.

Accommodation Provision:

Billing directly between OCHA and SBP organisation.


CANADEM and its partners have a no-tolerance policy for inaction to prevent, respond to and follow up on alleged cases of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEAH). For this reason, we adhere to all policies, procedures and training of the United Nations on The Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH). CANADEM mandates all deployees successfully complete the PSEA online course. This e-learning course is composed of a set of lessons designed to raise awareness about SEAH, become familiar with a range of measures to combat SEAH, understand the impact on victims and the consequences for UN Personnel who commit Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment.