Consultant – Writer/Editor/Content Development Consultant for Sahel Collaboration and Communications (SCC) – Remote

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Project Background

Mercy Corps has been present in Niger since 2005, focusing its interventions on improving food security, livelihoods, gender, social cohesion, governance and emergency response outcomes. Mercy Corps has also been working in Burkina Faso since 2016 with activities in conflict research and livestock programming. Our work in these areas contributes to local communities’ resilience to shocks and stresses and enables them to achieve long-term, inclusive and equitable development. Mercy Corps’ vision for change requires the private sector, government and civil society to work together to create meaningful and sustainable change.

The Sahel Collaboration and Communication (SCC) project led by Mercy Corps focuses on resilience, learning, and adaptive management, exemplifying USAID’s collective impact in the Sahel. SCC enables USAID’s implementing partners, civil society, government partners, and research institutions to jointly understand and prioritize development actions and continuously adjust them based on real-time results.

SCC is looking to procure the services of an experienced writer/editor/content developer to help develop a series of knowledge and learning products emerging out of research activities, knowledge sharing, and peer learning events being coordinated by SCC. The writer/editor/content developer will help the SCC team to draw out a variety of knowledge and learning products such as learning briefs, impact stories, blogs etc.

The writer/editor/content developer will help SCC develop simplified knowledge and learning products that will help partners, donors and other stakeholders to showcase and understand the findings emerging from resilience programming being conducted in the Sahel. These knowledge and learning products will be repurposed and repackaged for different stakeholders to ensure that the lessons learned across USAIDs resilience portfolio in the Sahel are well documented, shared and used to influence future programing such as program adoption or scaling-up of good practices.

SCC is seeking the services of a versatile communicator who can lead the development of creative, engaging, and fit-for-purpose knowledge and learning products in French and English to support the activities being conducted by SCC. The chosen service provider will work with SCC to identify lessons learned, document them and lead in the overall knowledge generation process.

Consultant Activities & Deliverables:

The SCC is looking for an experienced writer/editor/content development consultant to help to develop a variety of knowledge and learning products including but not limited to:

• Support the SCC team to strategically identify and document key themes and messages emerging from reports, learning notes, good practice sheets and databases where resilience knowledge and learning is stored, with a special focus on showcasing promising or proven resilience practices and resilience programming knowledge guided by proactive collaboration, adaptation and collective learning to achieve results.
• Produce different knowledge and learning products to be shared across multiple stakeholders: learning briefs, good practice briefs and case studies on impact that are short, visually engaging and highlight key findings
• Provide basic layout and design for documents; develop templates, accessible design tools and guides for developing knowledge and learning products
• Edit and finalize key documents on resilience research, knowledge and learning (learning notes, good practice briefs, learning briefs, evaluation briefs, etc) produced by other SCC personnel, working with these staff to address comments and questions from reviewers
• Track status of each knowledge and learning product in process until finalized for dissemination (including review/approval by key SCC staff and partners as appropriate)
• Provide capacity building sessions for SSC staff on documentation, identification and development of knowledge and learning products, content development and others (as determined by the CoP)
• The writer/editor/content development consultant will work together with the SCC team to infuse resilience focused communication across written products. The consultant will also advise the SCC team on how best to package complex evidence emerging across multiple USAID partners and support the documentation process in collaboration with various partners.

The Consultant will work closely with:

The writer/editor/content development consultant will report to the Development Evaluator. The consultant will work with various members of the SCC and USAID team as deemed necessary by the Chief of Party.

Required Experience & Skills:

The writer/editor/content development consultant must have excellent English and French skills with an eye for engaging multiple stakeholders in creative and dynamic ways. The preferred consultant should be able to demonstrate an understanding of development issues and how these can be communicated to tell complex stories taking place in complex contexts. Knowledge of the Sahel would be an added advantage. The successful consultant should have experience in synthesizing complex information into easily digestible knowledge and learning products that can be used for adult learning and decision-making process. The desired consultant should also have a willingness to engage in creative ways, framing complex information in ways that are easy to understand and developing stories/reports for multiple formats. Interested consultants must have the following qualifications:

1. 5+ years proven experience writing, editing and developing technical content with an eye to design and language that engages the audience
2. Willingness to work in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines.
3. Excellent written and spoken English and French skills
4. Able to work on various deliverables between September 2022 February 2023 (with possibility of extension)
5. Available to work for approximately 40 days over 6 months (6-7 days per month)

To Apply:

Interested Consultants are requested to Submit:

1. A cover letter outlining relevant experience and suitability for this role.
2. A detailed CV with at least 3 traceable references.
3. 2-3 examples of previous similar knowledge and learning products.
4. The proposed daily rate with justification based on past rates for similar work.

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 team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.