Innovation Manager Climate & AgTech, Ventures

Location: Central America or Any Mercy Corps Office Location (Remote)

Position Status: Full-time, Regular

Salary Level: US: Starting salary for this role will be $64,000 to $76,000 USD commensurate on experience. Based on local benchmark for candidates outside of the United States.

Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based is required at the time of application for this position.

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

About Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV)

Mercy Corps Ventures invests in and catalyzes venture-led solutions to increase the resilience of underserved individuals and communities. Founded in 2015 as the impact investing arm of global development agency, Mercy Corps, we’ve supported 47 early-stage ventures to scale and raise over $400.4 million in follow-on capital. Our portfolio is 48% female-founded and centers around resilience-building solutions in adaptive agriculture and food systems, inclusive fintech, and climate-smart technologies, so that those living in frontier markets can withstand disruption and plan for the future. Through capital and support, piloting new approaches, action-oriented insights, and rigorously managing impact, we catalyze the ecosystem toward smarter, more impactful investments.

As part of our focus on innovative technology, Mercy Corps Ventures works with partners to responsibly pilot test new products and services tailored to un/underbanked and low-income populations.

Learn more at www.mercycorpsventures.vc

Background on Mercy Corps Ventures’ Piloting Work:

Through our Venture Lab, MCV runs pilots with startup partners to test out innovative technological solutions to major global challenges. To date, we have launched 14 pilots in 10+ countries, deploying over $2M to reach 30,000+ participants and beneficiaries. We have worked with 35 funders and partners (85% from underrepresented groups), and our pilots have an 83% scale-up rate.

These pilots are co-designed alongside pilot partners to test out key hypotheses and learning questions. Pilots are grant-funded by MCV, 6-12 months long, and focused on building an evidence base for the wider ecosystem by transparently sharing insights and lessons learned.

The Venture Lab is focused on a variety of frontier technology solutions including climate smart technologies, agtech and inclusive fintech innovations. Our Climate Venture Lab is focused on catalyzing cutting-edge solutions for climate resilience in emerging markets. We will be piloting new technologies to help the 3.3 billion people whose daily lives are at risk and highly vulnerable to climate change. For more about our work, please visit: MCV’s Climate Venture Lab

General Position Summary

If you’re interested in launching innovative climate & agricultural solutions for emerging markets, this role will let you work closely with the most exciting local startups in Latin America (and beyond).

This is the role for you if:

• You are passionate about deploying climate, agtech and inclusive fintech solutions in emerging markets.
• You are passionate about supporting underserved users to build financial resilience and climate resilience.
• You have spent 4+ years working in emerging markets in a strategy, consulting, business development / partnerships, or product design capacity.
• You appreciate the pace and disruption of working at, and with, startups, while leading with rigor and structure to ensure smooth delivery.
• You are an independent project manager, with a strong record of managing complex projects and delivering insights.

The purpose of this role is to lead implementation of pilots focused on climate & agricultural solutions with our partner organizations across emerging markets with focus in Latin America (and also Africa and Asia). You will work alongside the Mercy Corps Ventures team to develop a pilot strategy and with our pilot partners to develop a pilot plan, project management materials, impact measurement framework and more, for each engagement. You will provide management, administrative and operational support for pilots and be responsible for pilot management, partnership development, impact management, and reporting. You will be a champion of entrepreneurial solutions to the toughest global challenges and be motivated to develop expertise in emerging technologies and business models. Additionally, you will support new pilot design by conducting research on new use cases and speaking with potential partners, while also generating thought leadership on new solutions.

Essential Responsibilities

• Leading day-to-day pilot operations, including but not limited to
  • Developing pilot work plans and impact frameworks,
  • Develops and presents alternative approaches/options to various needs and situations.
  • Supporting procurement and budgeting processes
  • Ensuring pilot objectives are met and managed to established timelines and budgets.
  • Extracting insights from pilots
  • Preparing presentations / conducting analysis on pilots
  • Prepare articles and presentations outlining the pilot launch and insights for external audiences and events.
• Supporting pilot design, including but not limited to
  • Research on innovative climate and agricultural solutions
  • Sourcing and managing potential partners.
  • Development and continuous improvement of pilot processes and systems
• Supporting on thought leadership / ecosystem building / fundraising
  • Provides thought leadership and training within a defined subject or program area.
  • Coordinating with partners on events
  • Design of concept notes
• Provide support for other key projects as needed.

Supervisory Responsibility

• To oversee the work of Mercy Corps Ventures’ pilot consultants
• To support partner organizations in implementing pilot projects
• No direct supervisory responsibility within Mercy Corps Ventures

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Strategy & Operations, Mercy Corps Ventures

Works Directly With: Head of Venture Lab, Mercy Corps Ventures

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Minimum of 4+ years of relevant career experience in a startup, technology company, management consulting, investment banking, investing, international development or similar sectors
• Strong project management experience leading complex engagements with multiple stakeholders.
• Strategic thinker capable of extracting and structuring valuable insights to share with the wider ecosystem.
• Extensive work experience in emerging markets and startups; particular interest in social entrepreneurship and digital financial solutions, climate tech, inclusion, and innovation
• Familiarity with impact measurement and management concepts
• Ability to remotely manage and coordinate with stakeholders and implementers.
• Written and spoken fluency in English and Spanish required.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will be a structured, strategic thinker who is capable of managing several concurrent engagements and extracting valuable insights for wider audiences. The candidate will have a passion for creating impact for underserved populations in emerging markets, and experience working with innovative tech solutions (with a preference for fintech and climate tech). The candidate will be open-minded to the potential of new technologies in improving financial and climate resilience for vulnerable communities.

We expect this person to be independent, low-ego and a team player. The candidate will be execution-focused and straightforward, prioritizing getting stuff done over all else. Over time, the successful candidate will gain exposure to a wider portfolio of work, liaising with donors and ecosystem partners to chart out a longer-term strategy.