Advancing Inclusive Mediation

ADVISOR – PEACE & CONFLICT TSU-

Niamey, Niger, or any Mercy Corps location

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.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps’ Technical Support Unit (TSU) is a key part of the Program Department. TSU subject-matter experts help set agency strategy and provide consultation – from assessment and design through project implementation and results measurement – to field offices worldwide, in some of the world’s toughest places. TSU team members lead research, foster organizational learning, represent Mercy Corps to external audiences, and develop partnerships. The TSU is also integral to global business development and revenue.

General Position Summary

Recognizing that violent conflict is the leading cause of suffering and extreme poverty, Mercy Corps distinguishes itself among leading international aid and development agencies by working to address the root causes of conflict in the world’s most difficult places. With Mercy Corps’ focus on reducing fragility and building community resilience and well-being, the Peace and Conflict team is a leading agency voice that both amplifies the peace and conflict work of our global peacebuilding leaders and contributes to program excellence and the lasting impact of our work. Since the late 1990s, Mercy Corps has implemented more than 100 conflict management programs in more than 40 African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Latin American countries.

The Peace and Conflict Advisor focuses on providing expert technical support and capacity building to Mercy Corps field teams in peace and conflict. The support includes program design and development, advancing key technical initiatives, network and partnership development, representation at key sector forums and events, helping to monitor and improve program quality and relevance, staying current on industry innovation and best practices, writing competitive proposals for submission to donors, delivering training, and disseminating information to internal and external partners. The Advisor will also coordinate cross-agency matrixed teams, share and build the capacity of others, and help integrate their technical areas with others.

Interest-based negotiation and mediation (IBNM) has long been a cornerstone of Mercy Corps’ and other practitioners’ peacebuilding efforts. Since 2004, when Mercy Corps merged with the Conflict Management Group and its team of experts from the Harvard Program on Negotiation, we have supported leaders to become more effective negotiators and mediators in countries as diverse as Iraq, Myanmar, Kenya, Jordan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Colombia, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger, Uganda, and Mali. Combined with other approaches to build social cohesion and tackle the underlying structural drivers of conflict, mediation training and support have helped communities prevent conflict from escalating into violence and sustain peace structures that can manage conflict peacefully in the long term. Mercy Corps is beginning a new global program called Advancing Inclusive Mediation (AIM), which seeks to increase local communities’, Mercy Corps’, and the broader peacebuilding community’s skills and knowledge in inclusive mediation, which will ultimately reduce violent conflict. To achieve this goal, the program will focus on four outcomes:

Mercy Corps’ Interest-Based Mediation resources becomes gender-transformative, youth-centered, and digital-aware.
Mercy Corps’ global cohort of mediation and peacebuilding experts increase their skills and knowledge in facilitating inclusive mediation programs.
Community leaders and global peacebuilders access inclusive mediation tools online and on their smart devices.
Mercy Corps advances the evidence base of inclusive mediation in two countries.

The Peace and Conflict Advisor will lead the AIM program at the global level, providing technical and strategic direction, leading and writing new guidance with the close collaboration of other global Mercy Corps experts and outside stakeholders, co-leading workshops to strengthen skills and expertise, and partnership to ensure the delivery of digital adaptation and research. The Advisor will also coordinate the technical input and support from other sectors, including Gender, Equity, and Social Inclusion (GESI); Young People and Protection )YPP); and Technology for Development (T4D); in addition to Research and Learning. This position will be grant-funded though fully embedded within the Peace and Governance technical support unit.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Program and Proposal Development

● Provide technical input and guidance related to negotiation and mediation into peacebuilding-specific as well as complex, integrated proposals following Mercy Corps’ best practices in proposal development, team management, and the appropriate sectoral area.

● Cultivate and nurture donor relationships and strategic partnerships that positively impact Mercy Corps ability to influence program strategies and proposal design, as well as strategic partnerships that result in stronger and impactful program development efforts around negotiation and mediation.

● Work closely with country team leaders to influence their engagement and support of program pre-positioning, development and implementation.

Program Quality

● Advance global technical excellence in IBNM, including strengthened intersectionality with other sectors.

● Participate as an active, integrated member of the team providing technical support to a portfolio of field programs, specifically those connected to the AIM program, including those in complex crisis environments.

● Support effective interventions in AIM and other relevant programs, 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 Mercy Corps staff and partners to better design and implement programs.

● Take leadership in identifying and addressing program quality needs. Collaborate with field leaders to problem solve.

● Help set strategies and execute plans to address agency-wide program quality needs, as mandated by AIM, together with the Peace & Conflict Director.

Strategy, Learning, and Impact

● Support strategy development and implement key foundational initiatives related to inclusive mediation.

● On behalf of the Peace and Conflict team, lead coordination and collaboration with other TSU teams, such as GESI, YPP, and T4D.

● Advance, through relationship-building and representation, Mercy Corps’ profile in innovative and inclusive mediation practices.

● Work with the Research and Learning and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) teams and program teams to ensure that monitoring and evaluation is practical and reflects best practices.

● Contribute to agency-wide initiatives such as the research agenda around Thought Leadership priority topics.

● Provide in-country and remote training and support for Mercy Corps staff, partners, and others.

● Develop a deep understanding of the shared incentives and values that will entice partners to connect and work across sectors, both internally and within field projects.

Policy, Advocacy, and Representation

● Represent Mercy Corps at academic events, conferences, media forums, and other events; contribute to thought leadership in area of expertise.

● Cultivate strong partnerships and external collaboration related to negotiation and mediation.

Team Management

● Supervisor interns and consultants, as needed, including:

● Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.

● Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.

● Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.

● Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

● Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

Monitoring, evaluation, learning and impact measurement

● Work with teams in order to test theories and measure results and ensure indicators are relevant.

● Lead and support activities to assess and document the impact of our technical interventions, including those integrated with other key sectors.

● Cooperate closely with the Research and Learning and MEL teams to support learning objectives and produce rigorous evaluations of our Peace and Conflict work.

Supervisory Responsibility

The position has potential supervisory responsibility over interns and/or consultants.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director, Peace and Conflict TSU, with a dotted line to the relevant Regional Technical Director(s)

Works Directly With: TSU colleagues, agency leadership, HQ and field 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 and Transferable Skills

● M.A./M.S./M.Sc. or equivalent or above in a relevant technical field is preferred.

● 5-7 years of experience in international development and peace and conflict sector including fragility and stability contexts; experience with negotiation and mediation training and capacity strengthening preferred.

● 2-3 years of program experience implementing peace and conflict or related projects.

● Demonstrated success in building working relationships with a diverse public, private and civil sector actors.

● Ability to work effectively on matrixed teams and in non-hierarchical settings.

● Exceptionally strong verbal and written communications skills and organizational skills are required.

● Fluency in English is required; fluency in a second relevant language, French or Arabic, is also required.

Success Factors

The Peace and Conflict Advisor will be a highly innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial leader able to build and deliver on a vision to drive impact on negotiation and mediation initiatives. The successful Advisor requires significant hands-on practical skills, strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills, and a level of emotional intelligence that quickly builds and maintains productive relationships across teams. S/he should be collaborative, with strong teamwork skills and a demonstrated commitment to build technical skills of technical team members across diverse contexts and backgrounds. Being aware and sensitive to international development issues and diverse cultures is critical. The Advisor will have strong networking and partnership building skills, including with other peacebuilding practitioners, local civil society, academics, and other relevant stakeholders. The Advisor should have experience with program design and proposal development, and have an ability to translate technical theory to address real world complexities through tangible program interventions. The Advisor should be a skilled and effective facilitator with the ability to convey complex topics to a range of audiences as well as a skilled writer able to produce easily digestible written materials and tools.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

This position is preferably located in a Sahel country where Mercy Corps operates (Mali, Niger, Mauritania, or Burkina Faso), Washington, DC, or another Mercy Corps office if necessary. The position requires travel at least 30% time to the countries where we work, in which living conditions may be exceptionally rugged or be in volatile environments where security protocols will need to be followed. Team members must be ready to deploy to program environments on short notice in response to any emergency or crisis. When traveling, the team member must able to work in remote settings and over weekends and/or evening as required by the schedule.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. 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.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

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

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

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. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential employees. This is done following the conclusion of recruitment and prior to assuming full employment.

Our screening process is designed to be transparent and completed in partnership with new Team Members. You will have the opportunity to disclose any prior convictions at the conclusion of the recruitment process before the check is initiated. We ask that you do not disclose any prior convictions in your application materials or during the recruitment process.

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 is necessary to ensure not only the safety of our workforce, but the ongoing functionality of the organization.

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.