Climate Adaptation & Resilience Lead

Permanent. Full Time. Hybrid Working (2 days per week in the office)

Location: This role can be based in any of our global Hubs; Abuja - Nigeria, Bogota - Colombia, Dhaka - Bangladesh, Nairobi - Kenya, New Delhi - India

Salary - Competitive

If we receive a high volume of applications, we reserve the right to close the advert before the scheduled closing date. Therefore, we encourage interested applicants to apply at their earliest convenience. 

About us

Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We are a global movement of people, churches and local organisations who passionately champion dignity, equality and justice worldwide. We are the changemakers, the peacemakers, the mighty of heart.

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and recognise the value this brings in forming strong, creative and high performing teams. We welcome applications from all sections of the community, and from those with experience from outside of the voluntary sector. And no, you don’t have to be Christian to work here – we encourage people of all faiths and none to apply. We just ask that everyone lives out our values of dignity, equality, justice and love. We value a good work-life balance, so we’re open to part-time and flexible working. We also offer hybrid working for our office-based colleagues.

Learn about our vision, mission and values

About the role

Reporting in to the Global Head of Programme Policy & Practice, the Climate Adaptation & Resilience Lead is designated as the single point of accountability for climate change, adaptation and resilience leadership across the organisation, aligning with organisational values and goals.

The post-holder is responsible for co-developing a thematic strategy, collaborating with Strategy & Learning colleagues in Organisational Effectiveness Department, and with the Policy and Advocacy colleagues across the Impact Department.

The role is ultimately accountable for the delivery of the thematic strategy on Climate and for reporting progress towards this at regular intervals to measure success and maximise impact.

Some of the main responsibilities of the Climate Adaptation & Resilience Lead include:

• Co-develop, create and deliver a thematic strategy for the whole of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience thematic priority, including clear measures of progress and impact/success which are then reported against at regular intervals aligning with organisational values and goals.
• Manage the Senior Climate Resilience Advisor to clearly contribute to the delivery of the strategy, and to support and collaborate with programmes and partners to achieve organisational standards on resilience.
• Lead as the organisational technical expert on climate programming and collaborate with staff across all 5 multi-country clusters, and the broader Impact department and IPE department so they are able to draw on climate adaptation and resilience expertise – ours and our partners’ – in order to design, fundraise for and facilitate the delivery of strong signature programme work
  on climate adaptation and resilience, maximising impact and income.
• Foster a culture of learning and improvement by identifying best practice among our partners and facilitating knowledge sharing across partners; by commissioning (or directly undertaking when appropriate) research and learning reviews to evidence good practice and course correct where needed.
• Build strong relationships with key policy and advocacy colleagues – particularly the Global Policy and Advocacy Lead for Climate –, focusing on ensuring insight and learning from programme practice feeds into, and influences public policy development, and provides evidence for advocacy materials.
• Collaborate with the Strategy & Learning Manager and the Impact & Evidence Manager to ensure appropriate evidence is being gathered and consolidated to measure and communicate the impact of our work on climate adaptation and resilience and to adapt our signature programme approaches as necessary.
• Lead and build external networks globally so Christian Aid’s work on climate adaptation and resilience is presented and promoted nationally and internationally, resulting in:
  1) an enhanced organisational profile within the sector to maximise our impact, 2) a portfolio of work that is innovative and in line with sector best-practice, 3) a pool of potential partners to engage and work with.
• Programme advisory and resource materials on climate adaptation and resilience are developed on the basis of organisational values, goals, strategies, adaptive programming approaches, and informed by ongoing learning of Christian Aid.

About you

Who we are looking for:

Essential:

• Postgraduate or equivalent in Climate, Environmental Science, Agriculture, International Development etc.
• Extensive practical experience of programme design, management and implementation on climate adaptation and resilience within and across East & Central Africa, West & Central Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East in line with Christian Aid's 5 Multi Country Cluster (MCC) coverage
• Detailed understanding of current innovations in climate related programming including climate adaptation, renewable energy and resilience.
• Developed ability to engage with climate research and climate science.
• Detailed understanding of current thinking/debates on climate change, including those happening at global level related to the UNFCCC process at national and regional levels related to NAP's
• Highly developed communicator in English (written and orally).
• Extensive experience of International Development, including strategic planning & programme management.
• Detailed understanding of current thinking in sector-specific M&E, including adaptive management.
• Ability to apply analysis of power/social exclusion to programme design and management.
• Highly developed facilitation skills and ability to promote critical thinking and reflection.
• Significant experience of managing staff, providing training, technical support and/or advice.
• Developed ability to build effective working relationships across organisations, including at a distance.
• Developed negotiation, facilitation and diverse stakeholder engagement skills.

Further information

At Christian Aid we strive to be an inclusive and diverse employer and recognise the value that this brings in helping to build strong, creative and high performing teams.

We are actively encouraging racialised minorities, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people with caring responsibilities, people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, women, and older workers to apply. This is because these groups are under-represented within our teams, especially at senior level, and we recognise and value the contributions members of these groups make to strong, creative and high performing teams. 

We have a strong Christian ethos and we encourage applications from all faiths. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of and sympathy with Christian Aid’s faith identity. 

All successful candidates will require a DBS/police check appropriate to the role and location and a Counter Terrorism Sanction check as part of your clearance for commencing your role with us. We also participate in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.  In line with this Scheme, we will request information as part of the referencing process from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

This role requires applicants to have the right to live and work in the country where this position is based and undertake the role that you have been offered. If you are successful and we make you an offer for the role, we will be required to conduct a right to work check on your immigration status in the UK. We will contact you regarding the documentation you will need to provide to evidence this. 

You can expect a wide range of rewards and benefits, please refer to the benefits booklet for your location to see our full list of employee benefits. 

For Salary details for this role, please refer to the Salary band by location.

• Type of contract:Permanent
• Contracted hours:35
• Location:MCC Hub - anywhere, MCC Hub - Asia (New Delhi, India) (through Change Alliance)
• Closing date:22 December 2025

Documents for Application

Further Information

As a volunteer, you will receive:

• Support and supervision from a named contact within Christian Aid
• Appropriate induction and training for your volunteering role.
• Out-of-pocket expenses as agreed.
• Our regular volunteers e-newsletter
• Access to our Volunteers’ Hub for all our latest news, events and resources

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