Urban and Migration Advisor – Informality, Municipal Finance, and Social Cohesion

The Urban and Migration Advisor provides high-level technical expertise on urban development, migration, and municipal finance to support Cities Alliance's programming across Africa. The role involves strategic advisory, knowledge production, global advocacy, and resource mobilization to help secondary cities manage rapid urbanization, improve municipal finance, and foster social cohesion.

Responsibilities

• Deliver authoritative technical advisory services and peer reviews for complex urban development and migration programmes across multiple geographies.
• Advise local and national governments on integrated slum upgrading strategies, informal settlement regularisation, and inclusive housing policies.
• Provide strategic guidance on municipal finance frameworks, including capital investment programming, local revenue mobilization, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and municipal budgeting to ensure sustainable financing of urban infrastructure.
• Formulate entry points to manage rapid urbanization and demographic shifts, ensuring cities can structurally absorb incoming migrant and displaced populations.
• Advise the end-to-end development of flagship knowledge products, including thematic policy briefs, urban diagnostics, and regional programme strategies.
• Provide strategic and evidence-based guidance linking urban informality with municipal finance.
• Lead the development of policy guidance on maintaining social cohesion and civic inclusion amid high-volume migration trends, preventing segregation within rapidly expanding secondary cities.
• Conceptualize, facilitate, and moderate high-level regional and international peer learning exchanges, technical dialogues, and policy workshops.
• Provide strategic guidance on Cities Alliance’s position on migration-responsive urban development by showcasing innovative approaches to social cohesion and inclusive urban planning.
• Deliver authoritative technical advisory in key international forums targeting global donors, local government networks, and development partners.
• Provide an authoritative voice in fundraising initiatives by developing high-quality concept notes and funding proposals for multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors.
• Design innovative programmatic interventions that explicitly combine urban planning, local government financing, and migration governance.

Requirements

• An Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent), preferably in Urban Planning, Municipal Finance, Development Economics, Civil Engineering/Architecture, Human Geography, Migration Studies, Sociology, or a related urban/political discipline, is required.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor's degree or equivalent) in related fields combined with an additional two (2) years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of progressive professional experience in sustainable, inclusive urban development and international development in low-income countries is required.
• Previous experience working in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is required.
• Proven experience of applied international development assignments on urban and migration is required.
• Experience in research and policy work on migration, sustainable and inclusive urban development in low-income countries is an asset.
• Specific professional experience working in or advising on urban migration context challenges in Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is highly desirable and considered a distinct asset.
• Fluent English is required.
• Intermediate French is desirable.
• Intermediate Somali is desirable.
• Intermediate Amharic is desirable.

Skills

• Urban Planning
• Municipal Finance
• Development Economics
• Civil Engineering
• Architecture
• Human Geography
• Migration Studies
• Sociology
• Sustainable Urban Development
• Inclusive Urban Design
• International Development
• Urban Migration Analysis
• Policy Research
• Strategic Advisory
• Knowledge Production
• Global Advocacy
• Resource Mobilization
• Experience in Africa
• Applied Urban Development
• Applied Migration Studies

Languages

English, French, Somali, Amharic