Consultant - Savings Group eLearning Courses Facilitator - Remote

Background:

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.

Our programs often integrate financial services as a critical function in our economic recovery and growth work. At Mercy Corps, our financial inclusion work aims to increase people’s access to and use of affordable financial services. It is not an end in itself, but it enables people to make quick and easy payments; borrow to invest in their farms and businesses; save for the future; and insure against shocks.

For the most vulnerable and most remote populations, informal approaches such as savings groups (SGs) remain a critical means of building assets and improving resilience, and Mercy Corps implements SGs across multiple countries in every region of their global operations. The Financial Inclusion team within Mercy Corp’s Technical Support Unit (TSU FI team) is supporting program teams to implement a single savings group approach across all programs. This will allow them to provide higher quality support and deliver more consistent and better quality savings groups, supported by more data and a stronger evidence base. The approach chosen is the PSP-SILC model originally developed by CRS.

A key component of TSU FI’s support has been the creation of two eLearning courses to be taken by Mercy Corps staff, principally project officers and field supervisors, to equip them to recruit, train, and support field agents and to ‘graduate’ them to become Private Service Providers who are paid by the groups rather than by the program. The first course covers the SILC methodology, and the second the PSP delivery model, and are based on CRS’s guides (available here and here). By developing a thorough understanding of the theory and of how to apply this practically, the courses will equip staff to design, implement and manage effective SG projects.

Both courses are designed to be blended courses, with a mixture of ‘self-paced learning’ in which participants will work through the eLearning units on MC’s online Learning Management System, and ‘facilitated learning’, during which participants will meet for online ‘class calls’ with a course facilitator, and other participants within their course cohort. There is a class call at the end of each of the six units within each course, so participants do the self-paced eLearning component for each unit by themselves, and then meet together at the end of each unit for the call. The participants prepare for the calls, which are designed to reinforce their understanding of the content, and allow them to practice its application through exercises and group based discussions and role-plays. Each of the six units within the courses take about 3 hours, with 2 hours for the self-paced learning component and one hour for the class call, giving a total of about 18 hours for each course. Each cohort is expected to have approximately 12 participants.

Purpose / Project Description:

Mercy Corps is seeking a consultant to facilitate the eLearning courses and to develop a team of MC staff who can take on this facilitator role. The assignment will last 12 months, during which the consultant will facilitate a number of SILC and PSP courses, in both English and French (translation support can be provided if necessary). The consultant will facilitate the class calls, ensure participants complete the exercises and preparation as required before the calls, and provide support to the participants as they complete the self-paced component, as required. In addition, the consultant will work with TSU FI team to identify and train a select number of MC staff to form a team of facilitators, and ensure the structures and processes are in place so that they can continue the facilitation once the consultant’s assignment finishes.

Consultant Objectives and Activities:

The objective of this consultancy is to facilitate a number of SILC and PSP eLearning courses for MC staff, and to build the capacity and competency within MC to ensure this facilitation can be provided once the consultancy assignment has finished.

The key activities to facilitate the courses are:

Facilitation preparation:

• Complete the self-paced courses on MC’s LMS, including the exercises taken by participants to prepare for the class calls
• Ensure familiarity with the SILC FA Guide and PSP Implementation manual from CRS
• Review the Facilitator Guides that have been created to guide the facilitation of the class calls. Review and update PPT slides for use during the class calls.
• Agree with the TSU FI an approximate timing for each of the courses to be facilitated during the year, and advise the TSU FI on how best to identify and engage with new course participants

To facilitate each course:

• Having received the list of course participants from TSU FI, send out an introductory email, including course schedule and links to the eLearning courses, and schedule the calls with the participants
• Facilitate each of the class calls, including one introductory call and one call for each of the six units. Each call will last 60-90 minutes.
• Receive exercises from the participants prior to the calls and evaluate them and provide feedback as required
• Have short update calls with the group as required, and address any questions / issues from participants in the group chat
• Check on participant progress through the LMS and follow-up in case any participants are not progressing according to the schedule
• After the course, send out a questionnaire to gather participant feedback on their experiences and, and provide suggested improvements to the TSU FI on how to improve the course quality and participant engagement and completion rates.

To create a team of facilitators:

• Identify potential facilitators from among course participants and evaluate their willingness and ability to act as a facilitator
• Train and support facilitators to facilitate courses, including initial training prior to facilitation, and then support as they themselves facilitate a course
• Update existing facilitator resources as required to enable facilitators to perform their role effectively

Consultant Deliverables:

The consultant will:

• Facilitate six eLearning courses during the year; two SILC courses in English, two PSP courses in French, and one of each course in French
• Create a team of 5-10 MC staff who are equipped to facilitate courses, with at least two being French speaking
• Ensure there is a process in place through which the TSU FI can identify and engage with participants and ensure a high engagement and completion rate through the course

Timeframe / Schedule:

The assignment will run for 12 months, from January – December 2023, with some flexibility on the start date depending on the consultant recruitment process.

It is expected that the consultant will spend 38 days on the assignment during the course of the year.

The Consultant will report to:

Senior Advisor Digital and Financial Inclusion, TSU

The Consultant will work closely with:

The TSU Financial Inclusion team and course participants

Required Experience & Skills:

• 5-10 years of experience in a relevant technical field
• Demonstrated experience and skills in facilitating training courses for adults, preferably within an international development context, and preferably with some experience of facilitating online training courses
• Experience of developing learning courses and content preferred
• Experience of working with savings groups preferred, ideally through application of the SILC-PSP methodology
• Exceptionally strong verbal and written communications skills and organizational skills are required.
• Fluency in English is required; fluency in French strongly preferred

**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 OpportunityWe 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 & EthicsMercy 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.