Description

About Mercy Corps

• Support the development and implementation of an ambitious and compelling regional technical and evidence strategy for the consolidated MENA/Europe and Asia region, in alignment with the P2P framework, in close collaboration with regional and country teams across both regions.
• Support Country Teams across MENA/Europe and Asia in the successful development and implementation of their country strategies and annual implementation plans.
• Work as a key partner to both Deputy Regional Directors – Programs (DRD-Ps) to drive and implement an impactful regional strategy across the consolidated region.
• Work closely with the Business Development Senior Advisor – MENA/Europe and Asia to ensure compelling proposals are submitted with high-quality technical input and designs that draw on Mercy Corps’ evidence base.
• Promote collaboration and close coordination between Technical and Evidence and Learning teams to ensure technical inputs feed into the Global and/or Regional Evidence and Learning Agenda, program strategies, program models and country learning priorities across both regions.

• Supervise the Regional Technical Advisors across the unified region — including the Water and Climate Advisor, Economic Opportunities Advisor, Social Integration, MEL Advisors (x2), and Program Standards Advisor — and create a cohesive, high-performing regional technical team that delivers timely and quality support to country teams.
• Develop efficient systems to identify support needs of country teams across both regions and ensure that programs access quality, relevant and timely support from Technical Advisors and structures from Global Programs & Support.
• Develop, oversee and manage Technical Rosters across MENA/Europe and Asia to ensure technical resources, particularly niche technical expertise, are available in a timely manner.
• Fill in as needed for either Deputy Regional Director, Programs, and for field leadership during vacations/home leave and/or leadership gaps as necessary.

• Ensure country teams across both regions have access to technical support and resources to deliver quality-based and technically sound programs across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
• Ensure all programs adhere to minimum program management standards, technical standards and best practices, and disseminate and promote new tools and guidance developed by global teams.
• Lead capacity strengthening and learning initiatives across MENA/Europe and Asia to ensure country teams continue expanding their technical knowledge and expertise over time, in close coordination with Evidence and Learning teams.

• Work closely with global, regional and country teams on any new business opportunities that require strong technical leadership, input, and review across both regions.
• Support regional and country teams across MENA/Europe and Asia to identify, explore, and pursue funding opportunities that support regional and country technical strategy objectives, including promoting Mercy Corps’ program models in design processes.
• Support — and when relevant, lead — the development of evidence-based technical concept notes, proposals, and other funding requests, ensuring quality submissions that maximize chances for success, including sourcing internal or external technical expertise to assist, in close collaboration with the Business Development Senior Advisor.
• Position Mercy Corps for strategic funding opportunities that build on country and/or regional programmatic priorities and technical excellence across both regions.
• Work closely with global program support units to ensure resources are available to country teams when needed and to facilitate continuous quality improvement of field programs, especially during rapid growth.

• Play an active and visible role in prepositioning efforts across MENA/Europe and Asia, working alongside country and regional teams to engage donors and partners ahead of funding opportunities, strengthen Mercy Corps’ positioning, and build the technical credibility of the organization in both regions.
• Represent Mercy Corps in donor meetings, technical working groups, inter-agency coordination forums, and other external events as required, showcasing the organization’s technical expertise, evidence base, and program impact across the consolidated region.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with donors, UN agencies, research institutions, private sector actors, and other partners relevant to Mercy Corps’ technical priorities in MENA/Europe and Asia.
• Support the development of technical positioning papers, capacity statements, and other materials that strengthen Mercy Corps’ profile with key donors and partners across both regions while ensuring adequate dissemination to these technical documents to the right stakeholders, both internally and externally.
• Provide technical input and leadership during proposal development processes, ensuring that BD submissions draw on the latest evidence, reflect programmatic learning, and demonstrate Mercy Corps’ distinctive technical value, in close collaboration with the Business Development Senior Advisor and country teams.
• Identify and pursue thought leadership opportunities, including engagement with donors, academia, and the broader humanitarian and development community, to promote the region’s technical capabilities and strategic vision.

• Oversee MEL technical support across both regions and serve as a key enabler for advancing the regional Evidence and Learning (E&L) Agenda and/or priorities and assessing program performance.
• Act as a bridge between technical and MEL functions, promoting integration and coherence in program design, implementation, and review.
• Lead coordination between technical advisors and MEL counterparts to ensure that programs generate, document, and use evidence effectively across MENA/Europe and Asia.
• Champion the use of evidence in business development opportunities, decision-making and adaptive management across all regional and country-level programs.
• Support regional technical and MEL communities of practice and joint learning initiatives spanning both regions.
• Support and contribute to research-specific opportunities in the region, from design stage to implementation and evaluation.

• Develop and implement internal systems for tracking technical support requests, priorities, and deliverables across MENA/Europe and Asia.
• Maintain a detailed planning system to cost technical advisors appropriately across country and regional programs and oversee the development of all related administrative aspects (SoWs, Budgets, etc.).
• Work closely with both DRD-Ps and regional operations teams to align technical resource planning and budgeting across the consolidated region.
• Ensure visibility of technical and evidence achievements, priorities, and needs across global and regional teams.

• Ensure program coordination and information sharing within and between regional and country teams across MENA/Europe and Asia, to maximize efficiency and cross-learning.
• Represent the consolidated region in Global Programs & Support working groups, while amplifying regional and country technical needs to advocate for additional support.
• Identify and pursue areas for thought leadership, including building connections with donors, private sector partners, academia and other actors, showcasing Mercy Corps’ program impact and promoting the region’s capabilities, expertise, innovation, strategic vision, and values. 

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.

• Detailed understanding of the finance, operations and administration mechanisms that support a grant/project implementation life cycle.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, and to solve complex problems at an organizational level.
• Confident communication skills applicable to donor relations, prepositioning, and inter-agency coordination.
• Ability to handle multiple issues at one time, especially in emergency situations, and to organize and prioritize accordingly.

• BA/BS or equivalent in international development, political or social science, public administration, business management required; MA preferred.
• At least 7 years’ field experience in senior management related to technical support and advisory, and/or direct program development and implementation.
• Direct experience managing and supervising large, geographically dispersed teams, as well as mentoring and development.
• Demonstrated technical and/or evidence generation experience in one of Mercy Corps’ outcome or sub-outcome/distinctive areas of P2P.
• Demonstrated proficiency and experience with US, UK, EU, UN and other public and private donors, government grant and financial management requirements.
• Demonstrated experience in business development and donor prepositioning, including representation in donor-facing settings and contribution to competitive proposal processes.
• Demonstrated understanding of the critical humanitarian and development issues across the MENA/Europe and/or Asia regions, and significant experience with the challenges of operating in these contexts.
• An internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.
• Knowledge of Sphere standards and other training in humanitarian response preferred.
• Fluency in written and spoken English required; proficiency in Arabic or another language spoken in the region is an asset.

Safeguarding & Ethics