Mercy Corps
Location: Any Mercy Corps office location or Remote US
Position Status: Full-time, Temporary (Maternity Cover) September 2022 – January 2023
Salary: US: Minimum Starting Salary for this role will be $76,000 commensurate on experience, based on local benchmark for candidates outside of the United States.
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.
The Program / Department / Team
Mercy Corps is committed to generating and using evidence to understand and improve our impact, and to enhance the humanitarian and development community’s ability to address the world’s most complex challenges. The Research and Learning team enhances Mercy Corps’ ability to deliver high impact programming, learn from that programming, and influence major debates and decisions affecting our work by supporting the generation and use of high quality evidence. Mercy Corps has firmly established a reputation as an industry leader in the field of resilience, including resilience measurement and research.
The Position
Mercy Corps is seeking a Temporary hire for Sr. Resilience Researcher with a proven record of designing and executing independent research on issues related to resilience in fragile contexts. The successful candidate will engage strategically across the agency and externally to drive our resilience research agenda, and further Mercy Corps’ learning and influence in this area.
Current resilience research projects in this portfolio are focused in East Africa. Over the course of the maternity cover, many of these projects will require support during the study design, analysis, writing and/or dissemination phase, during a 16-week leave of the full time Sr. Resilience Researcher beginning in mid-September 2022.
Essential Responsibilities
The successful candidate will provide technical and managerial support on key ongoing projects. They will work closely with research partners, the broader Mercy Corps Research and Learning Team, and other Mercy Corps teams to ensure continuation of projects underway and engage in new projects, as required. Essential responsibilities include:
- Support design and implementation of a research project tied to the Strengthening Resilience in Agriculture, Livelihoods, and Markets (STREAM) program in South Sudan. The research examines how market and livelihood programming can foster psychosocial aspects of resilience through Self Help Groups. (~35%)
- Design or advise on methodology, data collection tools, and analysis plans
- Possible travel to support implementation of research fieldwork (surveys and/or qualitative data collection)
- Supervise external research consultants and partners, as required
- Lead or support analysis of surveys and/or qualitative data, including the development of an analysis plan in close consultation with study team members and active participation in analytical sessions/discussions
- Support ongoing research in Somalia Resilience Population-level Measurement (RPM) project. The research investigates how USAID investments are contributing to resilience in Somalia in order to identify concrete programmatic and investment opportunities for donors and implementers to ensure that they are working to facilitate key resilience capacities in the context (~35%)
- Liaise with Somalia country team, research partners, and relevant internal Mercy Corps teams to ensure effective execution of population-level survey and recurrent monitoring survey design, data collection, analysis, and user-centered reporting/dissemination.
- Design or advise on methodology, data collection tools, and analysis plans
- Develop and deliver written products (e.g. research reports, policy briefs, and op-eds), presentations, and other forms of communication on research and evaluation findings to internal and external audiences
- Possible travel to support implementation of research fieldwork (surveys and/or qualitative data collection)
- Pursue new research opportunities (~10%)
- Proactively reach out to and engage with Mercy Corps regional, country teams, policy, and technical teams, as well as external actors to identify new opportunities for research on resilience
- Respond to calls for research concept notes and proposals on resilience research, as required
- Engage in fundraising meetings to mobilize resources for resilience research in collaboration with the policy and advocacy team, or the corporate finance team, as required
- Support resilience related research within the agency (~10%)
- Provide technical advice on field-led research initiatives focused on resilience
- Promote alignment with the resilience research agenda questions and themes
- Help teams identify relevant/appropriate research partners
- Engage in broader agency and team initiatives, as needed (~10%)
- Participate in team calls
- Support Research and Learning team initiatives
- Collaborate with other team members on cross-cutting research projects
Supervisory Responsibility
None
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Director, Research and Learning for Resilience, Mercy Corps
Works Directly With: Other members of the Research and Learning Team, Policy and Advocacy Team, Technical Support Unit, members of the South Sudan and Somalia country teams.
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 Qualifications & Transferable Skills
- Master’s degree in relevant fields
- At least 3-5 years of applied research experience, including 1-2 years focused on developing country contexts (East Africa preferred)
- Highly organized
- Experience conducting research or programming on resilience (preferred)
- Demonstrated skills with quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies
- Proficiency using quantitative and/or qualitative analysis package
- Excellent writing ability
- Previous experience managing research projects, in cross-cultural and developing country contexts
- Ability to communicate research to multiple audiences, including policy makers, practitioners, and academics.
Success Factors
- Ability to design and implement original research that answers questions of relevance to development and humanitarian practitioners and policymakers.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to effectively gather and summarize large amounts of information from various sources. into clear, concise writing and other communications
- Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with colleagues, peer groups, and officials; and motivation to seek out and establish new relationships.
- Ability to work simultaneously on multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines under those conditions.
- Strong grasp of links between research findings, policy outcomes, and field-level program impact.
- Good organizational skills and ability to work under time constraints
- Flexibility to adapt to changing conditions and requirements
- Self-motivated and able to work without close supervision
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position can be based in any Mercy Corps office location or remote US location and it requires up to 40% travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
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 the Interagency 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 to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times.
As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential US-Based employees. Any offers of employment or continued employment are dependent on the successful completion of the screens which include, but are not limited to our Background Check and Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme processes,
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.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Covid-19 Vaccine Policy for US-Based Employees
Mercy Corps has determined that, in an effort to protect the health, safety, and well-being of all Mercy Corps employees working in the United States, all U.S.-based employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, regardless of prior COVID-19 infection status.
This policy will be revised as needed to comply with federal, state, and local requirements, and to respond to changing guidance from public health authorities.
For new employees this requirement goes into effect within 10 business days of employment. Team members that travel are expected to comply with host-country requirements, including vaccinations. Failure to comply may impact your employment. Proof of vaccination or exemption must be provided.