Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To create a better world, 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.
Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of around 400 people working in Eastern DRC, with the overall country goal being to support vulnerable communities through crises, while fostering programs that build resilience and promote long-term change. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. Mercy Corps DRC’s key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs in order to 1) Improve water service delivery and ensuring equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas; 2) Improve food security and nutrition; 3) Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development; 4) Support peacebuilding and local governance. Mercy Corps DRC’s humanitarian programs aim specifically to assist populations affected by the conflict and crisis in Eastern Congo.
In September of 2023, Mercy Corps signed an agreement with the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA-USAID) for the implementation of the Graduating to sustainable Agriculture, Income, Nutrition, and food Security (GAINS) Program. The overarching goal of this 5-year Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA), with a start date of October 1st, 2023, and an end date of September 30, 2028, is: Food, nutrition and economic security is sustainably improved among vulnerable households.
The Strategic Learning Advisor (SLA) will work closely with all staff to ensure principles of Collaborate, Learn, Adapt (CLA) are recognized and acted on as core elements of RFSA programming. This staff member will ensure active, intentional, and adaptive learning within and across interventions, and will play a critical role in incorporating refinement activities and learning into implementation. The SLA will (i) refine, implement and report on strategic learning initiatives in the program, (ii) support evidence-driven adaptive management through dashboarding and CLA facilitation, and (iii) build the research, learning and adaptation capacity of the program and national team. This position will play a key role in helping build an environment of evidence-based programming and adaptive management at all levels. Additionally, the SLA will improve community engagement; peer-to-peer learning; knowledge capture, sharing, and application; activity-based capacity strengthening; and evidence and data utilization. The SLA, working with the COP and technical staff, will also ensure appropriate and continued coordination and joint-planning with other relevant USAID Bureau and Missions and other relevant donor activities, host-government initiatives, and private sector actors. The position requires high quality analysis and report writing skills which can be used to write/review consistent, high quality reports and technical briefs that are developed as learning products. S/he should be able to employ the use of traditional and digital learning approaches to develop and implement innovative, creative and effective ways to strategically capture and share technical knowledge, leverage good practices, and improve the effectiveness of Activity implementation.
The SLA must have demonstrated experience in facilitating learning and knowledge sharing processes, in establishing and managing dynamic feedback systems to capture experiential learning and unintended consequences, and in fostering collaboration across teams and organizations.
He (she) will work closely with the program MEL team and with research partners/collaborators.
Reports Directly To: Program Performance, Quality and Learning Director
Works Directly With: DCOP, P1 and P2 Leads and their teams, finance, administration and operations teams, HQ Regional Program Team, HQ Technical Support Unit, Program Performance and Quality (PAQ) team, and partner organizations.
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 projects.
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
The successful candidate will be capable of multitasking, rapid decision-making, and creative problem-solving. S/he has initiative, drive and a lot of energy, as well as high emotional intelligence, constructive mentoring skills and proven experience with capacity strengthening of local partners. S/he will be known for flexibility and creativity in project planning and building responsive systems, and is able to solicit and understand diverse perspectives, build consensus among a variety of stakeholders, and effectively and clearly communicate decisions.
Mercy Corps offers a competitive benefits package for positions based in the Kasai province, which is an unaccompanied duty station. Tshikapa is the capital of the Kasai Province, a lively rural city of 971,000 inhabitants where humanitarian actors are present. In the city center water and power are quite stable thanks to the cash power system and hotels, small restaurants, shops and banks are reasonably accessible. There are 3 main hospitals which provide adequate health care services, with evacuation options to Kinshasa or surrounding areas as required. Telephone landlines, internet and mobile network capacity exist but are frequently at a less than optimal level. The temperatures is often between 30-35 degrees.
Mercy Corps' sub-offices experience variable levels of insecurity, with the situation closely monitored by UN peacekeepers. Air travel is necessary to get from one end of the country to the other. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. Travel to field sites will be required where living conditions are clean and secure, but basic. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses. There’s reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive.
Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of 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.
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. 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.
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