Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Assist the Director of Programs in identifying strategic opportunities for expanding Mercy Corps’ work in the country.
• Analyze the country’s socio-economic situation, (donor) trends, needs and gaps, and regularly conduct stakeholder analysis, in particular who does what and where (3W).
• Contribute to the development of a country program strategy in alignment with Mercy Corps’ global/regional and country strategy.
• Support the periodic update of the Country Strategy, including organization of design and feedback sessions across field bases to feed into the national-level discussions. Support also localized strategy initiatives, such as the refinement of a country Emergency Preparedness Plan alongside the Director of Programs
• Support the strategic refinement and institutionalization of the Program department as a whole, working with Program Managers, Director of Programs, Global Support members and the broader senior management team in CAR to troubleshoot coordination issues and create a strong, efficient and durable departmental structure

Fundraising and Proposal Development

• Alert the Country Director and Director of Programs of gaps and emerging needs in order to trigger assessments in a timely manner.
• Identify funding opportunities; new donors for diversifying Mercy Corps donors’ portfolio including private companies and private foundations
• Contribute to the identification of potential relevant international and/or local partners (private sector partners, national and international NGOs, think tanks, academia, etc.) to be included in proposals
• Update monthly the New Business Forecasting tool which documents latest negotiations and proposal possibilities with donor
• Work closely with the Director of Program to coordinate proposal development in line with the country strategy and recognize opportunities for innovative actions, with support from technical Units, HQ and field staff.
• Establish internal timelines, draft and review concept notes and project proposals with inputs by program, HQ and MEL team members.
• Support the contextualization of HQ/TSU technical input during the proposal writing process and support the incorporation of local priorities and knowledge into proposals and concept notes.
• Work closely and in coordination with Mercy Corps offices in USA, UK and the Netherlands establishing strong working relationships with HQ program desk officers.
• Ensure proposals and project reports comply with donors’ and Mercy Corps’ requirements and best practices.
• Ensure the involvement of support departments in the development of fundraising documents; particularly finance for the budget and operations in case of specific donor procurement rules.Â

Reporting & Grant Management

• Oversee the development of quality narrative reports, reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with program managers, the Director of Programs and finance, which will contribute ultimately to steady cash inflow
• Liaise with the finance and operations teams when preparing reports, esp. with finance to ensure greater coherence between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports;
• Work in close relation with the MEL team to incorporate MEL data (incl. data on outputs, outcomes and impact indicators, lessons learnt and best practices) in reports.
• Work with Program Managers and Director of Programs to maintain effective systems ensuring timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Collect and organize key project management tools and documents and manage grant, administration, including overseeing electronic filing system for key program documents (donor agreements, proposals, approved budget, work plans, etc.) ensuring it meets PM@MC standards and sending reminders when needed.
• Draft and review program updates and respond to information requests for donors and other key stakeholders.
• Provide ongoing capacity-building to program teams, MEL team and local partners in grant reporting, as needed.

Program Performance & Quality

• Provide in-depth support to program teams at key programmatic moments, such as program start-up, kick-off meetings, 90-day inception meeting check-ins, quality audits and spot checks, collecting lessons learned, 90-day end of program transition meetings.
• Work closely with the PaQ Lead to help Program Managers put in place robust systems for monitoring, skills development for their teams, adaptation and learning
• Support the standardization and harmonization of tools, SOPs and processes used by Program team members, creating a stronger departmental structure and alignment in management
• Participate in the designing of assessments, baselines, midterm & end-line survey tools and analysis for projects and proposals.
• Support PaQ Lead in ensuring adherence to PM@MC, including developing plan for training and capacity building. Work with Program Managers and field teams to identify capacity building needs or structural issues in the department hampering implementation
• Support the PaQ Lead and Manager in the continued roll-out of TolaData.
• Support the SMT in the continuation of Mercy Corps CAR’s GDI strategy, both programmatically and operationally.
• Help ensure that partners (local implementing partners and government partners) have the capacity to implement the PM@MC, PAQ and Gender Minimum Standards processes (in coordination with the MEL unit, Gender & Protection Advisor and program managers).

Finance & Compliance Management

• Assist the budgeting process for concept notes and proposals, including drafting of components and coordinating the activities of MC CAR Finance and Regional Finance to ensure the overall drafting process is on time
• Support the review of BVAs, grant spending, and flag areas of concern. Ensure action points from BvA meetings are followed up on in a timely manner, and raise concerns to the direction
• Work with Program Managers to update BvA forecasts prior to BvA meetings, using accurate and detailed workplans
• Work with the finance department to ensure that partnership documents such as subgrant agreements, MoUs, required supporting documentation for partner related activities are in line with Mercy Corps compliance requirements and are properly archived.
• Ensure compliance with donor regulations Â

Influence & Representation

• Act as day-to-day representative of Mercy Corps to organizations as requested by the Deputy Country Director including representing Mercy Corps with donors and attending key internal and external meetings
• Build and support the management of collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, donors, UN agencies and other NGOs.
• Liaise with local partners as well as sub-grantees to verify their systems and that they understand and follow all appropriate procedures.
• Organize and conduct site-visits to the project sites and host visitors and donors, as needed.

Organizational Learning

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Programs

Works Directly With: Program Managers, PaQ Director, MEL Manager, Finance Manager, Country Director, consortium partner teams, Gender Specialist, HQ & Regional Technical Support Unit, donors, NGO partners, and humanitarian agencies

Knowledge And Experience

• MA/MS in international development and/or relevant field (government, political science, international relations, etc.).
• Fluency in French and excellent oral and written English skills required
• Strong Writing and analytical skills
• Ability to manage and deliver complex grants involving multiple partners to deadline.
• 2-3 years of experience with European and US institutional donors, including grant management, and proposal development.
• Field experience in conflict and development environments. Exposure to gender, protection, and social cohesion programs will be appreciated
• Â Ability to deliver high quality reports within short deadlines, as well as support, coordinate and lead proposal writing.
• Ability to juggle several competing priorities from different projects at the same time.
• Excellent communication and networking skills, to build and maintain contact networks across a broad range of partners.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, following procedures, meeting deadlines and working and problem-solving independently and cooperatively.

Consultant-Sahel Climate Strategy & Business Development-Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, UK, EU job at Mercy Corps

Purpose / Project Description:
The Consultant will be tasked with working closely with Mercy Corps country teams in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, and relevant regional and HQ teams to inform and help establish the strategic direction for Mercy Corps’ climate change related work in the Sahel. The Consultant will lead a process to develop country specific climate action plans and business development strategies, and will be tasked with articulating areas of distinction at the regional level to feed into Mercy Corps’ Sahel regional strategy and positioning. 
The Consultant will be supported by the Deputy Regional Director, the Director of the Environment Technical Support Unit, the Global Resilience Director and will work closely with country focal points.   

Consultant Objectives:
The work produced by the consultant should help Mercy Corps:
• Develop an updated understanding of the primary climate challenges needing to be addressed at the country and regional levels. 
• Understand the priorities of donors investing in climate action, and strategies to influence them. 
• Analyze and prioritize which climate challenges are most pressing for Mercy Corps’ attention at country and regional levels considering their influence on Mercy Corps’ strategic objectives in the Sahel related to food security, economic opportunity and youth development, and donor priorities.
• Refine a vision for country teams’ climate niche, and the priority partnerships which will elevate business development opportunities
• Develop draft strategies to adapt existing work and undertake new programming, in line with donor priorities and existing funding opportunities. 
• Develop a vision for climate action at the Sahel regional level and strategic business development positioning recommendations, to be incorporated into a newly updated Sahel regional strategy for Mercy Corps
• The consultant will also be expected to work closely with country leadership, and their leadership teams, to secure important remote meetings, undertake in-person key informant interviews, and secure endorsement potential partner institutions. 

Consultant Activities:
The Consultant will lead the overall process of developing country scale climate action plans and a vision for the Sahel regional strategy. This work will be done in partnership with country teams, will require significant communication and facilitation via phone calls, workshops and meetings throughout the process. This work will include 
Host and organize various discussions and capacity building opportunities for country teams, in collaboration with regional and HQ technical experts. In particular this will include: 
 country-level kick-off conversations to identify key priorities, objectives and outcomes for each team. 
 a series of country level workshops and complementary one-on-one discussions which seek to ensure all members are operating with the same basic climate knowledge related to challenges, and possible climate actions. 
 1-2 regional level discussions for vision setting and distilling specific technical pillars for regional level positioning and programming.  
It is expected that these sessions will be conducted remotely, with the possibility of an in-country workshop if agreed between the consultant and Mercy Corps.  
• Develop and maintain a cooperative workplan with individual country teams laying out responsibilities and timelines for joint efforts. 
• The consultant will review and synthesize existing reports and literature about climate challenges in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and current climate-related government policies and priorities.  
• Conduct donor landscape studies to understand priorities and upcoming opportunities, and lead discussions with country teams to discern positioning priorities and update existing country level business development plans 
• Identify potential technical partnerships, including both local and international organizations, necessary to expand climate programming. Organize manage meetings with the most promising technical partners, donors and other key stakeholders that align with business development priorities.  
• Work with country teams to identify a prioritized set of strategies and concept notes, which address key climate challenges and are aligned with donor priorities and funding opportunities. 
• Lead the development of a 2 page brief for each country articulating Mercy Corps’ climate change distinctive that summarizes the set of strategies and concept notes 
• Lead the development of a document (2-4 pages) articulating Mercy Corps’ climate change vision and approach in the Sahel. 

Consultant Deliverables:
The Consultant will develop the following deliverables:
• A workplan, by country, which articulates the process the strategy development process will take and the rolls of various individuals and teams. Each workplan should be agreed upon with country leadership.
• A synthesis of the climate related challenges facing Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso which draws out the implication for Mercy Corps’ existing strategies, goals and objectives. 
• A donor landscape and strategy report for the same countries which outlines the key priorities and upcoming opportunities by donor for each country, and makes recommendations on how to leverage existing country impact and capacity. 
• Partnership and engagement strategies, by country, to inform country team engagement with relevant institutions with the intention of facilitating greater visibility and fostering portfolio growth. 
• Brief guidance for the consultant and country teams to use when speaking with donors and technical partners in US, UK, Europe as well as face-to-face meetings in country. 
• Two to three short (1 page) concept notes per country (total: 6 to 9) articulating key strategies for addressing climate change 
• A three-page approach/capacity statement for each country for use with external audiences articulating Mercy Corps’ climate change distinctive that summarizes country teams’ capacity, and future climate priorities.  
• A document (to be defined in consultation with the consultant) which lays out a vision and objectives for addressing climate change across the Sahel to be incorporated into Mercy Corps’ new Sahel Regional strategy. 

Timeframe / Schedule:  
This contract is for a maximum of 70 days, starting in March with an anticipated end date of May. All activities and deliverables (listed above) must be completed or submitted by the contract end date.

Required Experience & Skills:
• 5-10 years of relevant experience 
• Familiarity with climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and natural resource management sectors and associated strategies
• Strong understanding of existing and future climate finance structures and opportunities at country and regional scales. 
• Demonstrated experience with business development and/or strategy development 
• French oral fluency highly desired
• Experience working with teams to strengthen knowledge related to climate change or other relevant topics  
• The ability to work closely with, and motivate, multiple teams remotely