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.

Mercy Corps seeks to establish a global roster of experienced Emergency Nutrition and Food Security (ENFS) consultants to provide rapid, high-quality technical support across humanitarian and fragile contexts. The consultant roster will be used by country teams, regional teams, and headquarters to fill short-term technical gaps during emergencies and periods of heightened operational demand. Assignments may range from remote business development and proposal support to on-the-ground deployment for rapid start-up, assessments, and early implementation, as well as targeted technical troubleshooting during scale-up or transition phases. This SoW outlines the scope, expectations, and typical deliverables for consultants engaged under this roster. Specific assignments will be governed by individual consultancy agreements or task orders aligned to this overarching SoW.

The primary objectives of the Emergency Nutrition and Food Security Consultant roster are to:

1. Strengthen the technical quality, speed, and appropriateness of emergency nutrition and food security responses.

2. Provide hands-on technical leadership for nutrition-specific interventions (including CMAM/IMAM and IYCF-E) and/or integrated nutrition and food security responses during rapid-onset and protracted crises.

3. Support country teams to design, rapidly launch, and adapt emergency programming evidence-based, context-appropriate emergency programming.

4. Enhance institutional capacity to secure and implement humanitarian funding for nutrition and food security responses.

5. Ensure emergency programming aligns with Sphere, WHO, UNICEF, WFP, Global Nutrition Cluster guidance, donor requirements, and safeguarding commitments.

The Consultant will:

· Lead or support rapid needs assessments, including food security, nutrition, market, and multi-sectoral assessments (e.g. SMART, Rapid Nutrition Assessments, FSNA, MSNA, RAM, market assessments).

· Analyze and synthesize assessment data to inform program design, targeting, and strategic decision-making.

· Provide clear, actionable recommendations for emergency response options, including nutrition specific, nutrition sensitive, and integrated response options.

· Produce concise assessment reports and briefing notes suitable for operational and donor decision making.

· Provide technical leadership for the design of emergency nutrition and food security interventions, including:

o Community based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM/IMAM)

o Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E)

o Blanket Supplementary Feeding Programmes (BSFP) and Targeted Supplementary Feeding (TSFP)

o Emergency food security and livelihoods (ESFL)

o Nutrition-sensitive market-based approaches and cash and voucher assistance (CVA)

· Ensure alignment with global technical guidance, national protocols, and donor requirements.

· Support development of targeting criteria, referral pathways, integration with health services, and linkages with protection and WASH as relevant.

· Advise on adaptive design in volatile and insecure operating environments.

· Support or lead the development of high-quality emergency nutrition and food security proposals and concept notes, often under tight deadlines.

· Serve as Technical Lead for nutrition and/or food security components within complex humanitarian proposals.

· Contribute to donor engagement strategies and input into response frameworks, scenario planning, and pre-positioning efforts.

· Draft or review:

o Technical narratives

o Logframes and theories of change

o Indicator frameworks (nutrition and food security)

· Ensure alignment with donor priorities (e.g. ECHO, WFP, UNICEF, country-based pooled funds) and global best practice.

· Support rapid program start-up, including workplans, targeting approaches, implementation tools, SOPs, community mobilization and outreach strategies, and field-level guidance.

· Provide surge technical support during early implementation or scale-up phases.

· Troubleshoot technical challenges related to targeting, performance, delivery modalities, community engagement, referral mechanisms, and integration across sectors.

· Review and improve program quality through spot-checks, remote accompaniment, or in-country support.

· Strengthen linkages between emergency food security, nutrition outcomes, and market recovery approaches.

· Provide practical, applied coaching to program teams and partners implementing emergency nutrition and food security activities.

· Strengthen staff capacity on:

o CMAM/IMAM, IYCF-E and/or nutrition-sensitive CVA in emergencies

o Nutrition-sensitive design within food security programming

o Use of assessment data for adaptive management

· Deliver short trainings, orientations, or technical refresher sessions as required.

· Support or represent the organization in Nutrition Cluster and Food Security coordination mechanisms and technical working groups at country or sub-national level, where requested.

· Engage with local and international partners, UN agencies, and donors to strengthen coordination and response coherence.

· Document key lessons learned, adaptations, and good practices from emergency nutrition and food security responses.

The Consultant will:

Deliverables will vary by assignment but may include:

· Assessment reports and technical briefs

· Emergency response strategies or intervention recommendations

· Proposal sections: technical narratives, logframe, indicator and budget inputs

· Start-up tools, SOPs, and technical guidance notes

· Mission or deployment reports with prioritized, actionable recommendations

· Learning notes or short case studies

All deliverables should be clear, concise, action-oriented, and suitable for use by operational teams under emergency conditions.

· Assignments may range from short-term inputs (5–15 days) to longer surge deployments (up to 2–3 months).

· Level of effort may be full-time or part-time, remote or in-country.

· Travel to insecure or low-amenity environments may be required for field-based assignments.

· Consultants will report to a designated technical manager or program lead, depending on the assignment.

· Close coordination with country teams, regional teams, and relevant technical units is expected.

· Consultants are expected to work in a highly collaborative, matrixed environment.

· Advanced degree or equivalent professional experience in nutrition, food security, public health, or a related field.

· 7–10+ years of experience in humanitarian nutrition and/or food security, including direct field-based humanitarian response.

· Demonstrated experience in nutrition and/or food security rapid assessments and emergency program design.

· Strong experience supporting proposal development for emergency nutrition and food security funding.

· Proven ability to translate technical standards into practical field solutions.

· Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills.

· Willingness and ability to work in high-pressure, fast-changing emergency environments.

· Experience integrating nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches.

· Familiarity with cash and market-based approaches in nutrition and food security responses.

· Experience across multiple geographic regions.

· Fluency in English required; French, Arabic and/or Spanish preferred.

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.

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. 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.