Senior Advisor, Youth Employment – Jobtech – Africa, UK, Middle East

Location: Africa, UK, Middle East, open to other Mercy Corps locations.

Work Location: Remote, onsite or hybrid – Open to negotiation

Position Status: Full-time, Exempt, Regular

Salary: Based on local benchmark depending on the location of hire.

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 a long-term impact.

About Programs at Mercy Corps

The Technical Resources and Quality (TRaQ) Unit has nine technical and cross-cutting thematic teams, Climate and Water Security, Economic Opportunity, Food Security, Peace and Governance, Global Resilience, Social Inclusion, Cash, Infrastructure, Training and Program Standards. This position will be part of the Youth Employment team, which sits within the Economic Opportunities team. The Youth Employment team has established goals and strategies that will guide the Senior Advisor’s work.

The TRaQ Unit is an integral part of the Program Department that supports country-led work to deliver impact, leads agency thinking in key technical and program management areas, and ensures quality programing while maintaining agency visibility with key audiences. TRaQ’s goal is to equip our global programs with the most effective technical solutions and quality program management tools to tackle the world’s toughest challenges, while simultaneously building our global reputation and technical resources.

The broader Programs Department is composed of headquarters and regional departments which are guided by Mercy Corps global strategy: Pathway to Possibility. It is composed of regional and country teams which implement our programs, as well as headquarter teams which provide support to programs, to deliver the highest quality programming and impactful results. The Programs Department is a key steward of Mercy Corps’ strategic commitments – Climate Smart, Locally Led, Evidence Driven, Innovative and Creative, and Safe, Diverse and Inclusive – and the integration of these commitments into programming. Our Core Behaviors of collaboration, curiosity, inclusion, and integrity are at the forefront of all our work.

The Position

The Youth Employment team supports programming that facilitates more work, better work, or better access to work for young people, women and other marginalized people. This enables individuals, businesses and markets to become more resilient to conflict and climate related shocks and stresses. The Youth Employment team focuses on three major workstreams – Market System Development for Employment (MSD4E), Jobtech, and green jobs.

The Senior Advisor has both an internal and external facing role. Internally, the Senior Advisor provides technical support to Mercy Corps program working on employment. Support includes supporting the design and development of programs, assessing and enhancing program quality including through providing technical advisory support directly to programs, writing proposals and concept notes, providing training, supporting research and learning, and supporting program, country and region teams with their strategies as these relate to Youth Employment. Externally, the Senior Advisor’s role involves maintaining current knowledge on industry best practices, disseminating information, evidence and learning to external partners, representing Mercy Corps at key events, and building a network of key relationships with external partners. The Senior Advisor will also build the capacity of their peers and the organization in the course of their role.

This role will have particular responsibility for supporting and growing our Jobtech work, including supporting Jobtech programming to apply a Market Systems Development approach. This involves serving as the custodian and focal point for Mercy Corps’ Jobtech Approach – providing technical support and guidance on digital youth employment solutions, promoting our Jobtech work to donors, building relationships with key actors in the Jobtech sector, and keeping the approach up to date with the latest developments in the digital technology space including gig work, digital work, artificial intelligence, and Web3, among other technologies. The Senior Advisor will also support our broader youth employment programming where needed.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY

• Support the Director of Youth Employment with developing, communicating and reporting against Mercy Corps’ Youth employment strategy, and annual workplan, particularly refining and executing Mercy Corps’ global Jobtech strategy.
• Support Mercy Corps’ regional and country teams with their strategic planning as it relates to youth employment, and particularly as it relates to Jobtech.

PROGRAM DESIGN AND PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

• Write, review and advise proposal teams on grant proposals and concept notes for donors including foundations, corporations, and government agencies, with a focus on harnessing Mercy Corps’ key technical approaches – especially Jobtech – within the design of new programs.
• Research, analyze, and assess data to determine program needs, priorities, and Mercy Corps’ advantages for funding; maintain knowledge of development strategies by governmental, academic, and non-profit groups.
• Collaborate with program, country, regional, and other TRaQ teams on prepositioning and strategy development, and designing multi-sectoral programs that meet the outcomes and commitments in Mercy Corps’ 10-year strategy
• Lead write complex, competitive proposals following Mercy Corps’ best practices and technical approaches in youth employment as well as best practice in proposal development and team management.

PROGRAM QUALITY

• Provide technical support to Mercy Corps’ teams globally, including those in complex crisis environments; support effective interventions – particularly Jobtech interventions – through integrated approaches and systems thinking.
• Support teams to maintain standards of program delivery through application of agency approaches – particularly Jobtech and MSD4E – and to maintain compliance with relevant regulations and requirements.
• Increase program capacity within Mercy Corps through developing and circulating tools such as training and workshops, manuals and guidance, case studies, webinars, and monitoring and evaluation tools; collaborate with Director of Youth Employment to set and execute strategies addressing agency-wide program quality needs, particularly in our Jobtech workstream.
• Grow the quality and quantity of programs using Jobtech by proactively engaging with Mercy Corps country, region and program teams, and by communicating effectively, regularly and frequently within Mercy Corps about Jobtech
• Work with the Director and the youth employment team to identify potential collaboration points between the different initiatives, including incorporating Jobtech into employment programs, as well as encouraging programs in the Jobtech portfolio to take a market system approach and green jobs angle where appropriate.

LEARNING AND IMPACT

• Provide in-country and remote training for Mercy Corps staff, partners, and programs including leading Jobtech training
• Run and continue to grow the Jobtech community of practice across Mercy Corps to strengthen program quality, facilitate cross-learning, and build a community of technical experts.
• Develop guidance, tools and resources that scale technical support – primarily on Jobtech – to a wider group of programs, and that provide a reference for program teams
• Partner with the Jobtech Alliance to identify and lead potential collaboration points between the Jobtech Alliance – Mercy Corps’ Jobtech flagship program in Africa – and other Mercy Corps program and initiatives; adapt the tools, research and resources developed by the Jobtech Alliance for use in Mercy Corps country programs.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Represent Mercy Corps at academic events, conferences, media forums, and other events, to cultivate relationships and establish Mercy Corps’ voice as a thought leader in youth employment, particularly Jobtech
• Where complementary to the Jobtech Alliance’ work, and in coordination with the Jobtech Alliance, contribute to thought leadership in Jobtech.
• Identify and nurture strategic partnerships with other organizations and institutions, including donors and Jobtech platforms; present concepts and ideas to donors, partners, and peer organizations that influence them to drive innovation and positive change.
• In collaboration with the research and learning team, support program teams to develop and disseminate learning briefs, case studies, blogs and other communication pieces on Jobtech (and, where relevant, our other strategic approaches)
• Stay up to date with the latest developments in the digital technology space as it relates to Jobtech.

PERSONAL LEADERSHIP

• Demonstrate exceptional leadership by consistently delivering expectations and maintaining composure, even in challenging situations.
• Embrace a growth mindset, actively seek diverse perspectives, and welcome feedback to drive continuous improvement.
• Maintain the highest ethical standards, treating all individuals with respect and dignity.
• Demonstrate professionalism in all aspects of life, ensuring that your conduct reflects positively on Mercy Corps and does not compromise its mission or work.
• Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

• The position may have supervisory responsibility over interns and/or volunteers in the future. At times, this position may have supervisory responsibility over other team members when the Director is (temporarily) on leave or travelling.
• The team is currently composed of the Director of Youth Employment (this role’s supervisor) and this role. We are also recruiting for an Senior Advisor based in the Africa region, and anticipate recruiting for an MSD for employment Senior Advisor (global) in the near future.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Youth Employment

Works Directly With: All other TraQ teams, HQ, Regional and Program teams, and external partners

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

This position requires strong writing skills, including experience in producing and publishing influential articles and blogs.

Please include a link to at least one sample on your resume so we can learn more about your work.

A Cover Letter is required; please ensure you include it with your application.

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in International Relations, Anthropology, Economics, International Development or relevant field required.
• 5+ years of experience working in or with technology startups and/or providing increasingly proficient technical support in technology for development, Market Systems Development (MSD) and/or in youth employment programming.
• 2+ years of practical field experience with demonstrated ability to successfully adapt support to real-world complexities. This could include time spent working in/or with technology startups, a field assignment, and/or program implementation experience.
• Fluency in English, including excellent written skills, is required. Proficiency in another language, such as French, Arabic or Spanish is strongly preferred.
• Experience in development work should include grant writing, research, and proposal development, including experience leading large and complex proposals and managing inputs from integrated grant writing teams.
• Digital literacy and an understanding of the tech startup space is required; experience working in or with technology startups strongly preferred
• This role requires a demonstrated technical understanding of the Market Systems Development (MSD) approach
• Experience in or knowledge of youth employment programming and labor markets preferred.
• Delivering capacity building support (training, coaching and/or other related processes) for program teams, technology platforms, and/or equivalent teams.
• A proven ability to combine strong theoretical (technical) and applied knowledge
• Familiarity with major donors such as USAID, FCDO, other European bilateral donors, the EC and relevant foundations and corporations.

Success Factors

The Senior Advisor will have significant experience adjusting technical theories to real world complexities; program management/implementation experience is a strong plus. The person must have exceptionally strong relationship skills – including an ability to build strong partnerships with program teams working in challenging contexts, demonstrating empathy and being willing and able to challenge. The individual should have the proven ability to influence donors, partners, and peer organizations toward innovative programs and best practices. The Senior Advisor must take a lead role in building and maintaining external relationships as well as demonstrating the drive and initiative to contribute to internal team efforts, including responding to program support requests and providing technical support on program design. The Senior Advisor will have a proven ability to take initiative, work proactively, lead workstreams, and deliver reliably.

At Mercy Corps, we value team members who embrace curiosity, act with integrity, and foster an environment of inclusion and collaboration. Our successful team members work effectively in evolving and dynamic environments, prioritize clear communication, and build collaborative relationships across departments. They interact with all global team members with an inclusive approach and excel at multitasking, meeting deadlines, and processing information to support our changing program activities.