Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps works across more than 20 countries in East & Southern Africa (ESA) and West & Central Africa (WCA) to address the interrelated and compounding factors that drive vulnerability, responding to ongoing humanitarian needs while promoting good governance and conflict resolution, enhancing resilience, strengthening market systems, enhancing access to energy, finance and economic opportunities, and promoting youth employment and empowerment. We integrate programming across sectors, funding streams and geographies to tackle systemic barriers to resilience and prosperity. Mercy Corps looks to actively engage and partner with an ever-growing and innovative African private sector to achieve greater and sustained impact.

The ESA and WCA regions are closely connected with Mercy Corps’ Global Technical Resources and Quality (TRaQ) department which, along with the Regional Advisors, is a key part of the Program Department. TRaQ subject-matter experts help set agency and regional strategy and provide consultation – from assessment and design through project implementation and results measurement – to field offices worldwide. Regional Technical Advisers are a vital part of this wider network of technical specialists, providing regionally-focused support services in close coordination with the global team while working more intensively with a small number of strategic programs in the region under the direction of the regional leadership team.

General Position Summary  

Mercy Corps is seeking an experienced and field-tested Regional Market Systems in Crisis Advisor – Africa to support and grow our regional capacity to design, deliver and learn from a portfolio of high quality and impactful programs applying Market Systems Development (MSD) principles in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. The Advisor will provide strategic, evidence-based technical support to country teams, with a strong focus on enabling programs to integrate market-driven approaches into humanitarian response through Mercy Corps’ Markets in Crisis (MiC) approach. Their work will cut across sectors where programs apply MSD principles, with an emphasis on sectors of focus in fragile contexts, such as agriculture, finance, and employment, as well as integrating market-based approaches in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. In addition to supporting functionality and strengthening of market systems, the position will support interventions that sustain key market functions through conflict, climate and other shocks. They will build out a wider system of global, regional and country-level support and expertise and employ a flexible, adaptive approach to the agency’s Market Systems work that builds on local capacities of teams, partners and communities, and applies the agency’s resilience lens.

The Advisor will be an integral part of the Africa (ESA + WCA) Regional Technical Quality and Resources (TRaQ) unit and the global Market Systems TRaQ team. They will work seamlessly within agency matrixed teams to plan for and deliver the optimal level of support to field programs for increased quality and impact, using multiple sectoral entry points to achieve our desired short and long-term results. They will have a significant role in program support and implementation, representing the agency’s work in external fora, supporting new business development, and contributing to the agency’s efforts to understand lessons and share learning related to the agency’s Markets in Crisis approach and supporting more resilient market systems.

Essential Job Responsibilities

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g. Integrity Hotline and other options.

PROGRAM QUALITY AND IMPACT

• Participate as an active, integrated member of the Africa regional (ESA + WCA) and TRaQ teams providing technical support to a portfolio of market systems programs in countries including those in complex crises and fragile contexts.
• Support effective interventions in market systems development using integrated approaches and applying systems thinking.
• Help maintain standards of program delivery that apply agency priorities and comply with relevant regulations and requirements.
• Build capacity with country teams and the Community of Practice to better design and implement market systems development programs in fragile contexts. Provide in-country and remote training on MSD and MiC, upgrading materials to ensure contextual relevance. Mentor and coach program leaders and staff to implement high quality Market Systems programming and support professional development.
• Help the team gather, refine, develop and disseminate tools such as training presentations and manuals, teaching notes, best practices and lessons learned, program examples, and monitoring and evaluation tools.
• Support an increased focus on resilience and gender in MSD and Markets in Crisis programs.

Program and proposal development

• Write/review proposals and concept notes for funding from donors including foundations, corporations, and US, European agencies, including USAID, Sida, and AFD among others, to support market systems programming.
• Gather/analyze data and complete assessments, and support field teams to complete assessments, to determine program needs and priorities and Mercy Corps’ competitive advantage for funding. Ensure assessments include dimensions of resilience, gender, and youth as central cross-cutting approaches.
• Work with programs, HQ and country teams, and technical support units on prepositioning and development of program development strategies.

Learning and impact

• Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) team at regional and country level to ensure that monitoring and evaluation is practical and reflects Global best practices.
• Support new and ongoing programs with best practice advice and assistance on assessment, implementation, research, and evaluation needs.
• Conduct assessments; write case studies, learning documents, short articles, and blogs; and develop internal and external dissemination plans for all products.
• Lead and facilitate MSD/MiC community of practice within the regions to share lessons, best practices and enhance program impact through better collaboration and networking.
• Ensure learning and evidence of impact reflects how market systems approaches support resilience across diverse gender and age groups.

Influence & Representation

• Represent Mercy Corps at academic events, conferences, media forums, and other events; focused on MSD and MiC.
• Identify and nurture strategic regional partnerships with other organizations and institutions to produce case studies, assessments, and other learning documentation, as well as enhance program quality.
• Contribute to a strong and regularly updated network of technical experts and consultants that can serve as additional deployable resources for program support.

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 toward 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.

Supervisory Responsibility

The position has supervisory responsibility over interns and/or volunteers.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: ESA Regional TRaQ Director, Market Systems Director

Works Directly With: Regional Directors (ESA + WCA), Deputy Regional Directors (ESA + WCA), Country Directors and Directors of Programs, Program Directors/Managers implementing MSD and MiC programs, Regional and Global TRaQ team members, Evidence and Learning team members

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required. Formal training in Market Systems Development or M4P preferred.
• 5-7 years of experience in international development work, with a minimum of three years in a program management or technical advisor role, including proposal design and implementation.
• Minimum of 2-3 years of experience in Market Systems Development technical work – including experience with program design, partnership building, technical advising, and/or learning and research.
• Experience working in Africa required.
• Experience working in fragile contexts, conflict, and humanitarian settings required.
• Strong writing skills required.
• Strong presentation and representation skills required.
• It is expected that this position will travel to Mercy Corps country offices within the Africa region, including insecure environments, for up to 40% of time.