Climate Resilience Advisor

Role Overview

The Climate Resilience Advisor will serve as the embedded technical and facilitation lead on adaptation, working directly within the municipal office of Nairobi. The core purpose of this role is to accelerate the delivery of climate action, unlock administrative barriers, and strengthen institutional capacity within the city.

This involves supporting activities such as delivering technical assistance, coordinating capacity-building efforts, amplifying city leadership, and supporting equitable and inclusive adaptation projects that align with Nairobi’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). While facilitating collaboration between the city and C40, this role is specifically dedicated to the technical delivery of adaptation-related workstreams and is not intended to be the main point of contact for all C40 activities within the city.

This city-based role is essential for delivering C40’s Climate Resilience programme, which seeks to strengthen climate resilience in cities, focusing on specific challenges like coastal and urban flooding, droughts, and extreme heat, while promoting nature-based solutions, effective land-use planning, and equitable climate adaptation. The role supports the goals of the Resilient Urban Futures programme, funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and potentially other related climate resilience programmes.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Responsibilities:

• Support the City of Nairobi and the Region in implementing key priority adaptation actions from their CAPs, e.g., by helping them identify and establish critical partnerships for delivery.
• Support the design and delivery of tailored technical assistance projects that advance equitable, inclusive, and high-impact adaptation interventions prioritised in city CAPs.
• Collaborate with C40 teams and consultants to mainstream adaptation across financial strategies, private sector engagement, and climate governance frameworks in cities.
• Provide technical support to the City of Nairobi and the Region on climate risk assessments, vulnerability analyses, and adaptation planning, ensuring these outputs inform evidence-based adaptation actions.
• Contribute to capacity building through workshops, training, and knowledge exchange to strengthen city officials’ skills in climate adaptation, equity integration, and finance mobilisation.
• Elicit learnings and best practice examples from activities and processes and provide input to ensure this knowledge is exchanged and shared across all cities in the Resilient Urban Futures programme, as well as shared across other relevant platforms for cross-learning.
• Provide specific technical expertise, peer learning, and knowledge sharing to C40 teams and other cities in the region as needed.

Coordination & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Work closely with city officials, C40 staff, and consultants to coordinate C40-supported adaptation activities and ensure these are delivered on time and meet quality standards.
• Broker strategic partnerships between cities, local governments, civil society, and the private sector to promote collaboration and amplify adaptation efforts.
• Influence the integration of adaptation priorities into city governance structures, including budgets, planning regulations, and pilot initiatives, with a strong equity lens.
• Identify and participate in relevant C40 knowledge networks and forums to share lessons, scale good practices, and strengthen regional collaboration on climate adaptation.
• Develop annual workplans, track progress against KPIs, and contribute evidence to demonstrate impact to donors and partners.
• Where relevant, provide updates to the embassy to Denmark on project progress and/or alignment required, e.g., with local Strategic Sector Cooperations.
• Undertake other related tasks as required to advance C40’s mission on equitable urban climate action.

Person Specification and Qualifications

• Relevant qualifications or equivalent professional experience in climate change adaptation, resilience planning, disaster risk reduction, urban resilience, or related fields.
• Proven experience and engagement working with or for municipal administrations on programmes or projects, especially relating to climate action plans or climate adaptation policies. City experience and previous engagement specifically with the Nairobi City Council will be beneficial.
• Demonstrated experience in translating technical climate data into policy or investment decisions, e.g., through risk assessments, vulnerability assessments, infrastructure resilience, nature-based solutions, adaptation finance, and resource mobilisation will be a key consideration in this role.
• Strong project management skills with excellent organisational abilities and proven capacity to meet deadlines.
• Ability to convene and influence diverse stakeholders, including city leaders, community organisations, and private sector actors.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and effectively with major global partners, including NGOs, corporate sectors, funders, and multilateral development banks.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience facilitating workshops, webinars, and virtual or in-person meetings.
• Strong problem-solving, strategic thinking, and analytical skills, exceptional attention to detail.
• Proactive self-starter, able to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Experience or interest in working across diverse cultures, languages, and time zones.
• Fluency in English and the local language required.