Senior Research Officer - MSNA - Global, based in Dakar

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT & REACH

REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs ( and ) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme ( ). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

BACKGROUND ON MULTI-SECTOR NEEDS ASSESSMENT (MSNA)

Over the past 10 years, REACH has established itself as a leader in the delivery of independent, crisis-wide Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessments (MSNAs). MSNAs respond directly to Grand Bargain commitments by providing impartial, unbiased, comprehensive, context-sensitive, and timely data to inform humanitarian decision-making. In doing so, MSNAs promote a shift in how humanitarian needs are measured and how response planning and prioritization decisions are made. MSNA data enables and promotes needs-based, evidence-based and people-centred decision making when it comes to aid. MSNAs are delivered on an annual cycle aligned with the Humanitarian Planning Cycle (HPC). IMPACT delivers approximately 20 MSNAs each year across some of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. In 2026, IMPACT embarked on an exciting but ambitious journey to expand and improve the MSNA programme. The ultimate goal is to improve the resilience of the data, information and analysis system underpinning humanitarian aid policy by streamlining delivery of MSNAs, making them easier, faster and cheaper the deliver by 2028. Delivering on this agenda requires a scale-up of the Global MSNA Team, close coordination with country teams and partners involved in delivering MSNAs. This position is therefore based in our Regional Office in Dakar.

We are currently looking for a Senior Research Officer to join the Global MSNA Team of the Research Systems Unit (RSU).

Title: Senior Research Officer – Training, Learning and Country Support (MSNA)

Location: Dakar, Senegal, with travel (up to 30% deployment to HQ & MSNA countries / regional locations)

Line management: Reports to the MSNA Training, Learning and Country Support (TLC) Specialist; administratively hosted by the IMPACT/ACTED office in Dakar

Contract duration: 12 months

Start date: ASAP.

POSITION PROFILE

This position is situated within the Research Systems Unit (RSU) of the Global Programmes Section. Under the overall guidance of the Research Manager, the RSU supports the delivery of core, multi-sectoral research across IMPACT’s countries of operation. Reporting directly to the Training, Learning and Country support (TLC) Specialist, the Senior Research Officer (SRO) will support and contribute to the design and implementation of REACH MSNA research cycles globally, with a primary focus on the MSNA Training and Certification Programme (TCP) and on direct support to a portfolio of MSNA country teams. Approximately 70% of the role is dedicated to the training and certification programme and 30% to country support and quality assurance.

The position is based in Dakar in order to bring training, certification and count...