capacity building and training specialist

resilience knowledge hub 

This position is contingent upon funding 

ABOUT MERCY CORPS

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.

PROGRAM/ DEPARTMENT SUMMARY

Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, oppression by building secure, productive, and just communities. Mercy Corps has been present in Zimbabwe since 2002 focusing its interventions on a multi sectoral market systems development portfolio mobilizing communities to promote small-scale agriculture and revive local economies. Its current operations focus on helping smallholder farmers increase their incomes and harvests through the power of technology and increasing urban household access to quality, reliable water, sanitation and hygiene services. Zimbabwe continues to experience recurrent environmental, economic and social shocks affecting the wellbeing of its communities and undermining development investments. Mercy Corps puts resilience at core of its strategy to contribute to the wellbeing of Zimbabweans by building communities’ capacities and strengthening systems and institutions.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY

One of the key objectives of this Resilience Knowledge Hub (RKH) under the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF)  is to strengthen the capacity of ZRBF partners (i.e. government and ZRBF consortia partner) in understanding and applying resilience and landscape concepts, tools, approaches and methodologies in their work to drive the resilience agenda as outlined in the Zimbabwe Resilience Strategic Framework. The Capacity Building and Training Specialist for the Resilience Knowledge Hub will be a key member of the RKH team responsible for a variety of technical aspects with the objective of strengthening organisations, government and civil society partners’ resilience approaches and methodologies, resilience analysis, resilience thinking and operationalization. This individual will be responsible for capacity building, designing training programmes, course content, developing manuals, learning methods and delivering all the required trainings and workshops.

The position will also support ZRBF consortia partners to conduct context, gender and resilience analyses and ; reporting; improve scenario planning, early warning systems and anticipatory action mechanism to inform ZRBF planning and implementation processes. By doing so, RKH will inform decisions on the Crisis Modifier funding system to strategically sequence, layer, and coordinate ZRBF investments and adapt them to the rapidly changing environment. For the system to function, RKH must serve as a catalyst for generating evidence through strategic resilience measurement and translating it into actionable programme recommendations. The position will also play a leading role in the development of strategic policies that support the building of absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities that enable communities to deal with shocks and stresses. This stream of work also entails leading the development of scopes of work, recruiting and supervising policy consultants and certifying the work done.

The Capacity Building and Training Specialist is integral to achieving the objectives outlined above. Specifically, s/he will support the identification of capacity strengthening needs related to resilience and landscape management among  ZBRF stakeholders and will support them to co-create and implement a plan to address those gaps showing measurable improvement. S/he will build on what is working within stakeholder organizations and share experiences across multiple stakeholders to facilitate cross-learning. In addition, this position will support the development of a resilience training curriculum to be cascaded through a training-of-trainers approach. All of these activities and interventions must be evidence-based and be able to demonstrate measurable effectiveness and value for money.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

RESILIENCE CAPACITY BUILDING

●        In collaboration with other Resilience Knowledge Hub members, lead the development of a capacity building plan for ZBRF stakeholders and implement that plan.

●        Identify technical gaps in integrating resilience and landscape thinking into program design and implementation among ZBRF partners.

●        Lead the documentation, measurement of progress and sharing of best practices of the resilience and landscape capacity building initiatives to ensure quality program and knowledge sharing.

●        Lead the development, refinement and contextualization of resilience and landscape training curriculum targeting ZBRF partners to improve both technical and operational quality of resilience programming

●        Collaborate with other Resilience Knowledge Hub members on developing innovative mechanisms to collect and share program learnings in various forums.

RESILIENCE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

●        Provide technical guidance to partners to ensure methodological soundness of resilience approaches for operational strategies, interventions, tool development, advocacy or any other needed context. 

STRATEGIC POLICY PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION

●        In collaboration with the government and ZRBFPMU, lead in identifying specific, impactful, and achievable policy themes/ opportunities that support resilience building.

●        Lead in drafting terms of reference/ Scope of Work for policy consultants.

●        Lead the recruitment process for policy consultants.

●        Supervise the work done by policy consultants.

●        Support policy launching events as required by the government, donors and ZRBF-PMU.

●        Act as the central focal point linking the government, ZRBF-PMU, RKH team members, consultants and other stakeholders in building supportive relationships around the policy development and dissemination process.

ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE FOCAL POINT

●        Support RKH team members and the entire Mercy Corps Zimbabwe portfolio in nurturing ethical behaviours, promoting the culture of reporting unethical behavior and policy violations and assist with investigations.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING 

●        As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTICIPANTS

●        Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging participant communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

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.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Reports Directly To: RKH Team Leader

Works Directly With: RKH Resilience Measurement & Research Specialist, RKH Gender Specialist, Regional Resilience Senior Director, Global Resilience Support Unit team, , consultants and partner organizations.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

●        Master’s degree in development studies, social sciences, environmental science, disaster management, or other relevant fields.

●        At least 7 years of relevant or associated experience in designing and implementing capacity building initiatives focused on building community resilience to natural disasters or climate change impacts, including strong skills in needs assessment, training development, facilitation, and monitoring & evaluation.

●        Experience applying resilience concepts, tools, approaches and methodologies in programming in Zimbabwe or sub-Sahara Africa.

●        Experience in multiple of the following technical aspects of RKH including research, facilitating learning, institutional capacity building, gender mainstreaming.

●        Proven experience in developing training materials and curriculum using adult-learning principles.

●        Excellent communication skills, including a sound ability to adapt material for different audiences.

●        Strong writing skills, including past experience generating substantive written products; excellent verbal communication skills

●        Must be adaptable to and comfortable with shifting priorities.

SUCCESS FACTORS

The successful Capacity Building and Training Specialist will be an analytical individual keen to build the capacity of partners to apply resilience thinking and approaches to all aspects of their work. S/he will be passionate about capacity strengthening, adult learning techniques and providing training to to improve program impact. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail as well as strategic vision are essential. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

ETHICS AND INTERGRITY

All Mercy Corps staff are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate the highest integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment, or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action that may lead to termination. Diversity, Equity, and 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 based on 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 Misconduct Disclosure Scheme

By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. 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 e- learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis. As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline
(integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).