Description

Location: Colombia, Home Based 

Position Status: Full-time

Salary Level: hiring range- COP 20,250,000 - COP 25,125,000 commensurate on professional experience 

Language: Required langage fluency in English (Spanish fluency preferred)

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 long-term impact.

The Technology for Development Team

Technology for Development (T4D) collaborates with Mercy Corps country teams to unlock new possibilities and reach more people through the power of technology. T4D develops technology-based strategies to respond to urgent needs and support long-term recovery and resilience.

Mercy Corps maintains strategic partnerships with major tech companies and tech-facing foundations to develop and scale data science infrastructure, methodologies, and organizational capacity. The AI Solutions and Delivery Manager works across these opportunities, identifying key entry points for applying effective, efficient, and expeditious geospatial data science at the program and country level.

The Position

The AI Solutions and Delivery Manager will lead and grow responsible AI practices within the Technology for Development team, focusing on improving AI literacy and capacity within the Mercy Corps organization. The AI Solutions and Delivery Manager, working under the Senior Director for T4D, is responsible for implementing grant-funded activities, designing and managing AI solutions, and ensuring alignment with Mercy Corps’ ethical AI governance principles. They will collaborate closely with the Director of Data Science to launch and nurture a three-tiered AI and Data Science Learning Community to strengthen technical capacity across Mercy Corps’ global teams. The AI Solutions and Delivery Manager will also lead the development of Mercy Corps’ AI Strategy, shaping the agency’s vision for AI-enabled programming, operational efficiency, and responsible innovation.

The duties of the AI Solutions and Delivery Manager include day-to-day management of the AI project portfolio, developing pilot AI tools, building partnerships with technical partners and academic institutions, and ensuring that all AI initiatives meet rigorous standards for transparency, accountability, and contextual relevance. The AI Solutions and Delivery Manager will actively engage with field teams, technical support unit, technology partners, and donor representatives to advance Mercy Corps’ leadership in responsible AI for global humanitarian action.

Essential Responsibilities
 

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, PROPOSAL SUPPORT, AND PROJECT DESIGN

• Lead the planning, scoping, and delivery of AI initiatives, ensuring alignment with Mercy Corps’ programmatic priorities and responsible AI principles.
• Collaborating with country teams and technical support units, identify emerging opportunities for AI-enabled program design across sectors and geographies.
• Develop concept notes, proposals, and budgets for AI projects in partnership with the Data Science Program Manager and regional and country teams
• Support the integration of AI approaches into multi-sectoral proposals and digital transformation strategies for donor submission.

TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION AND UPTAKE

• Oversee AI solutions' technical design, development, piloting, and refinement, ensuring usability, ethical compliance, and contextual fit.
• Work with global and country-level teams to implement AI tools and workflows, providing direct technical support and capacity strengthening where needed.
• Collaborate with the Data Science team to ensure integration of AI systems with existing data pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and analytics platforms.
• In coordination with the director of data science, support the design and launch of a three-tiered AI and Data Science Learning Community, developing materials and sessions to foster technical adoption.

LEARNING AND IMPACT

• Design and manage monitoring and evaluation processes to track the Agentic AI pilots and implementations' impact, risks, and outcomes.
• Lead learning reviews and after-action analyses to distill best practices, lessons learned, and areas for improvement.
• Document and disseminate case studies, technical briefs, and toolkits to internal and external audiences to support wider adoption and scaling.
• Support Mercy Corps’ global learning agenda on responsible AI through webinars, workshops, and contributions to thought leadership pieces.

POLICY, ADVOCACY, AND REPRESENTATION

• Collaborate with MEL, IT, and T4D to drive organizational strategy discussions regarding AI technology, policies, and architecture
• Represent Mercy Corps and the work of the T4D team at relevant sector conferences and meetings; publish pieces for thought leadership in humanitarian AI work
• Identify and support strategic partnerships with other organizations and institutions.
• Present concepts and ideas to donors, partners, and peer organizations that influence them to drive innovation and positive change

MANAGEMENT

• Provide technical project management on geospatial analytics and supervise analytics consultants as needed, delivering an AI project for country projects. This work will often be in collaboration with other departments or external delivery partners
• Provide internal opportunities to expand T4D’s technical understanding of AI and AI services and tools
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback to direct reports, peers, and leaders
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Hire, orient, and lead team members, including consultants as necessary.

Supervisory Responsibility

Direct Reports: Consultants on managed projects

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Sr. Director, T4D

Works Directly With: Relevant field-based PMs, Global Crisis Analytics and field teams, program and country teams, HQ-based Program Operations, Finance, ELT, and TEQ staff

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 international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in designing, monitoring, and evaluating our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.
• 3-5 years of relevant experience in AI, machine learning, data science, or advanced analytics, with demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder technology projects.
• Proven technical proficiency with modern AI/ML tools, platforms, and frameworks (e.g., LLMs, agentic AI systems, cloud-based data platforms such as Cloudera, AWS, Azure).
• Experience designing and implementing responsible AI solutions, with awareness of AI ethics, data privacy, and governance principles.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts into accessible training and guidance for diverse audiences.
• Strong track record of building and managing partnerships with donors, technology providers, research institutions, or peer organizations.
• Excellent project management, budgeting, and reporting skills; experience delivering donor-funded technology projects preferred.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to facilitate learning communities, deliver training, and represent Mercy Corps externally.
• Experience working in or supporting humanitarian, development, or non-profit contexts is strongly preferred.
• Ability to thrive in dynamic, multicultural teams and balance multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
• Fluency in English required; proficiency in additional languages relevant to Mercy Corps’ portfolio is an asset (especially French, Spanish, and Arabic)

Success Factors

All members of our data science team are expected to be strong communicators who can effectively work with colleagues from a variety of technical and non-technical backgrounds including developers, designers, and subject matter experts. They do not hesitate to seek clarification and assistance when needed and are able to explain technical concepts to a non-technical audience. They are curious about other people’s ideas and perspectives and willing to share their own. They welcome and proactively seek feedback and are interested in exploring alternative paths to solving a problem. 

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in our regional office in Bogota, Colombia or remotely within Colombia and it requires up to 20% travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. 

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

Team Engagement and Effectiveness 

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

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 Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. 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.

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 ([email protected]).