Consultant - Poverty Economics & Market Systems Senior Specialist at Mercy Corps

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Consultant Activities:

The SCC Senior Resilience Curriculum Consultant will:

• PROGRAM APPROACH DESIGN AND STRATEGY (75% of consultancy efforts)
• Facilitate the team to review and own USAID Nawiri’s operational definition for “Resilient Livelihoods” and related conceptual framework that articulates the relationship between resilient livelihoods and nutrition security. Use those as tools to facilitate joint planning and decision-making across USAID Nawiri sectors and disciplines.
• Review market systems, labor market, household economy diagnostics and other research conducted during Phase 1 of the program and support the team to assess current implementation progress including relevance, effectiveness of interventions, efficiency of implementation strategies and sustainability of interventions based on prevailing economic, social, environmental and political conditions.
• Based on the “Niaseku diagram”--a program diagram that utilizes the socio-ecological framework for behavior change to illustrate the multi-dimensional package of assets and services an individual and her household require for nutrition security-- facilitate team thinking and joint planning processes on capacities households and communities need to develop resilient livelihoods and draw linkages with market actions to be undertaken by the program. This will lead to designing the strategy with its package of interventions for households and Wards.
• Use analysis to provide comprehensive recommendations and set the vision for systemic change within selected market and labor sectors that will contribute to household nutrition outcomes. This vision and its translation into a written Resilient Livelihoods strategy and implementation plans must ensure continuity between life-saving short-term interventions and longer-term resilience building interventions. The strategy will also include a scaling plan for the interventions.
• Support the team in developing zone-based work plans with packages of interventions relevant to households needs.
• Support intervention leads in defining partnership strategies (internal, with other program’s components, and external), including an advocacy and influence plan for strengthening the capacity of local systems and institutions
• Design tools and questions for USAID Nawiri teams to liaise with county officials and Ward Development Committees to ensure strategy is co-designed and relevant to context and scenario (failed rains, floods).
• Facilitate relationships with market actors (including government, other NGOs, private sector, and community partners) to revise plans and promote partner acceptance/buy-in.
• Upon request, support developing concept notes for shock-responsive economic interventions for USAID Nawiri to pivot as the context evolves.

MENTORSHIP AND CAPACITY STRENGTHENING (25% of consultancy efforts)

• Provide training and on-going coaching to Resilient Livelihoods team members in resilient livelihoods foundations and MSD/poverty economics approaches.
• Provide guidance on applying market and economy driven-thinking and systems based approaches within and across sectors and other technical areas.
• Liaise with Resilience Advisors on Humanitarian - Development - Peacebuilding coherence, and Mercy Corps’ resilience program practices to ensure the strategy targets critical resilience capacities.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND LEARNING (5% of consultancy efforts)

• Under the lead of the Strategic Learning Lead, provide strategic input into the development of the USAID Nawiri Learning Agenda related to Resilient Livelihoods for Nutrition.
• Identify key learning needs and scope for case studies and learning documents.
• In close collaboration with the Monitoring & Evaluation Lead, provide strategic input into the Monitoring & Evaluation Plan to ensure it aligns with the strategy.

Consultant Deliverables:

• Written review of current Resilient Livelihoods draft framework and strategy, assessing relevance, effectiveness of interventions, efficiency of implementation strategies and sustainability of interventions based on prevailing economic, social, environmental and political conditions. (Est. Level of Effort (LOE) 5 days)
• Written practical zone-based implementation strategy and related implementation plans for supporting and strengthening Resilient Livelihoods for nutrition security. (Est. LOE 28 days)
• Joint design of scale up plan from 12- 35 wards helping to plan staff resourcing and saturation of Resilient Livelihoods interventions within targeted implementation zones. (Est. LOE 4 days)
• Inputs to learning questions and plan (Est. LOE 1 day)
• Proposed (amendments to) M&E approaches and indicators to monitor success of Resilient Livelihoods approaches and strategies (Est. LOE 2 days)

Timeframe / Schedule:

This consultancy is for 40 days from October 1st, 2022 through January 15th, 2023.

The Consultant will report to:

• USAID-Nawiri Technical Director

The Consultant will work closely with:

• USAID-Nawiri Alternative Livelihoods & Market Advisor
• USAID-Nawiri Climate Smart Agriculture Advisor
• USAID Nawiri County Resilient Livelihoods team members
• USAID-Nawiri Strategic Learning Lead
• USAID-Nawiri Monitoring & Evaluation Lead
• Africa Resilience & Food Security Senior Advisor (Mercy Corps Africa Region)
• Agriculture & Livestock Senior Advisor (Mercy Corps Global)
• Resilience Advisor (Mercy Corps Global)

Required Experience & Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree required. M.A, M.S., M.Sc., or equivalent in economics and/or market systems development.
• At least 10 years of experience providing increasingly proficient technical support in the relevant field of expertise that includes:
• Analyzing economics trends in countries/regions with extreme poverty and protracted crises
• Producing poverty economics and market development strategies
• Training/mentoring of staff in relevant technical areas
• Demonstrating strong applied knowledge of the field of expertise
• Using integrated approaches and applying systems thinking.
• Experience in working on programs aiming at layering short-term emergency response with longer-term market development
• Experience in designing and implementation of social protection mechanisms.
• Deep understanding of poverty economics and Market System Development methodology, frameworks and their operationalization with - at least 7 years of experience advising or managing market-based programs, at least 5 years in senior advisory or management roles.
• Practical field experience including, if possible, emergency response assignments or other crisis response work that demonstrates the ability to successfully adapt support and assistance methodologies to real-world complexities.
• Delivering training in relevant technical areas to Senior Management and Staff.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to USAID Nawiri program field locations, including traveling to insecure environments, is required.
• Prior experience in Kenya’s ASALs is strongly preferred, in arid and pastoralist environments a minimum.
• Fluency in English required.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to theInteragency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere toMercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times.

How to apply

To apply: http://app.jobvite.com/m?3wmexmwu