Mercy Corps Scotland Job Description Position: Economic and

Mercy Corps Scotland
Job Description
Position: Economic and Market Development Technical Specialist
Location: London, UK
Line Manager: Director of Programmes, European HQ but working closely with the
Economic and Market Development Technical Unit
Purpose:
Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by building secure,
productive and just communities. We work in transitional environments, where
complex interconnected webs of social, political and economic factors are often
underpinned by weak governance and institution, dysfunctional markets and ongoing
conflict. In these challenging environments, we seek to catalyse civil society, public
and private sector actors through interventions that are community-led and marketdriven.
The Economic and Market Development (EMD) Technical Specialist is a part of the
Mercy Corps European Headquarters located in the United Kingdom. S/he will work
primarily with the global Mercy Corps Economic and Market Development Technical
Support Unit (TSU), and also with the Youth and Conflict team and the Governance
and Partnerships team, collaborating on nexus points between economic development,
conflict mitigation and good governance.
The EMD Technical Specialist will take an integrated approach in supporting the
development of programming that simultaneously integrates market development,
conflict management and good governance. S/he will play a key role in the areas of
programme development, technical support to ongoing interventions, impact
measurement, and training and organisational learning. The EMD Technical
Specialist will also dedicate a significant portion of time to thought leadership
initiatives and actively represent Mercy Corps to the UK government (DFID and the
FCO), and potentially other partners, by developing collaborative relationships with
key counterparts in technical or geographical departments. The EMD Technical
Specialist will work in close collaboration with the Edinburgh-based Programmes
team, members of the TSU, in particular the Economic and Market Development
Unit. The EMD Technical Specialist will contribute to fostering Mercy Corps’
reputation in the field of multi-sectorial programming and leveraging funding interest
by promoting programmes that integrate elements of market development, conflict
management and good governance. This position requires a minimum of 30-40%
travel within the UK and internationally
Main Duties:
1. Strategic Vision and Leadership:
Critical to this role is adherence to the principles of multi-sectorial programming at
the intersect of economic development, conflict management and good governance
(internally referred to as the “Trisect”), Mercy Corps’ Vision for Change and
Strategic Framework, and M4P/market systems principles. The EMD Technical
Specialist will work as part of the Mercy Corps European headquarters to:
 Provide technical leadership, guidance and development of policy and good
practice of Mercy Corps’ interventions at the ‘Trisect’.
 Participate in strategy discussions, standards development, branding materials
and organisation learning documents related to Mercy Corps’ ‘Trisect’
strategy and market development more broadly.
 Identify, document, and communicate the ideas, trends, and emerging
capacities that fall in the intersection of Mercy Corps’ vision and the interests
of partners related to economic and market development, conflict mitigation
and good governance programmes.
2. Programme and Business Plan Development & Support:
 Provide support in programme design and development both in the field and
remotely. Lead proposal writing efforts as agreed upon with a particular focus
on DFID and FCO funding but also other European donors as appropriate.
 Ensure best practice principles are incorporated into programme design and
implementation.
 Technically support on-going programming within the EMD mandate, both in
the field and remotely.
 Deploy on short notice to assist with field-based initiatives.
3. Representation & Partnership Development
 Track strategies, interventions and best practices in the field
 Collaboratively identify and nurture strategic partnerships with the UK
Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (the FCO).
 Participate in relevant UK fora and others as identified within the EMD
external relationship strategy.
 Actively engage in external relationship building, including with potential
implementation partners, corporate donors and foundations, and learning
organisations, in collaboration with EMDTSU.
4. M&E and Impact Measurement
 Ensure monitoring and evaluation efforts in “Trisect” programming reflect
best practice.
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Work in tandem with the M&E and EMD teams to ensure indicators are
relevant and accessible to programmes, tools are created to effectively
measure indicators and that staff capacity is built.
Support implementation of results chains and DCED standards for monitoring
and evaluation.
Support field capacity to follow DFID approaches to Value for Money
monitoring and systems approaches to impact evaluation.
Support activities to assess and document the impact of our trisect and market
systems approaches.
5. Organisational Learning:
Promote and assist in the documentation and dissemination of Mercy Corps Trisect
development interventions and other systems approaches and lessons learned
including case studies and training materials and maintaining a community of
practice, in collaboration with EMD.
Mercy Corps Scotland
Person Specification
Position: Economic and Market Development Technical Specialist
Location: London, UK
Line Manager: Director of Programmes, European HQ but working closely with the
Economic and Market Development Technical Unit
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
 Masters degree in related field with previous experience in pro-poor market-based
approaches to economic development, conflict mitigation and peacebuilding and
governance with experience working in fragile or conflict-affected environments
essential.
 Previous management experience in field-based projects with an economic
development focus and experience in DFID-funded design phases of new projects.
 Strong knowledge of M4P/market systems approaches.
 Demonstrated successful track record on proposal development and donor cultivation
 Self-motivation and effective interpersonal skills.
 Proven success working with teams of diverse backgrounds
 Experience building solid working relationships with external stakeholders
 Experience in designing or managing DFID funded programmes would be prefered
 Knowledge of Value for Money principles.
 Ability to present projects to donors, government and other official stakeholders.
 Strong IT, organisational and communication skills.
SUCCESS FACTORS:
 Self-starter, demonstrating leadership in economic development programming
 Flexibility in a non-hierarchical environment.
 Ability to multi-task with the proven ability to organise and prioritise competing
priorities
 Demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of
varied work styles, follow procedures, and meet deadlines
 Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving
 Proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and be accountable for results
 Ability to understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details
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Demonstrate a strong understanding for cultural, political and religious environments
and be able to live and work successfully in those environments.