Description

Background:

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.

Nowadays, water security is becoming an increasingly urgent global priority as water scarcity, climate variability, pollution, and unsustainable use threaten livelihoods, ecosystems, and long-term resilience. In Mercy Corps operational contexts, these pressures are already undermining food systems, rural and urban services, and community stability. In such settings, saving, protecting, and restoring limited water resources is essential to sustainable development, long-term resilience, and community wellbeing. At the same time, water is becoming a strategic concern for many corporations whose operations and supply chains depend heavily on reliable water sources. In response, many companies are expanding investments in water-saving and replenishment initiatives to reduce business risk and meet public sustainability commitments.

As corporate demand for credible water-saving investments grows, there is an opportunity to channel this financing toward water-stressed contexts where such interventions are most needed. Mercy Corps is well positioned to respond to this opportunity given its presence in fragile and water-stressed settings, its proximity to communities, and its experience across water security, climate adaptation, and natural resource governance. However, to report accurate water savings, grounded in economic, social, and environmental realities, and to avoid risks such as overclaiming impacts, overlooking tradeoffs, or failing to meet standards expected by key partners and local stakeholders Mercy Corps is therefore developing a robust agencywide Water Savings Approach to establish a consistent and credible system for estimating, monitoring, and reporting volumetric water savings across diverse programs and geographies. This approach will provide a basis for designing and implementing interventions with realistic water-saving potential, using methods that are both technically rigorous and operationally practical, validating water-saving results with confidence, and communicating results credibly across different contexts and stakeholders.

To support this process, Mercy Corps seeks a consultant to provide specialized technical support for the development of the Water Savings Approach, including its core framework, methodology, tools, and guidance. This Scope of Work outlines the consultant's responsibilities and expected contributions.

Purpose / Project Description:

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide specialized technical support for the development of Mercy Corps’ Water Savings Approach. Drawing on Mercy Corps’ review of external evidence and existing approaches, as well as its assessment of internal experience, technical capacities, and operational feasibility, the consultant will help develop the framework, methodology, tools, and guidance needed to support consistent and credible water-savings programming across different contexts. This includes helping Mercy Corps identify and design suitable initiatives, measure and monitor water savings, verify results, and communicate them clearly to relevant stakeholders. The consultancy will also help ensure that the approach is technically rigorous, practical for field use, and scalable.

Consultant Objectives:

•  Support the development of the Mercy Corps’ Water Savings Approach, ensuring technical rigor, internal coherence, and alignment with scientific standards and operational realities.

•  Lead the design and integration of several Water Savings tools, to support the technical robustness of the Mercy Corps’ Water Savings Approach.

•  Ensure accurate monitoring for Water Savings programs, and the generation and incorporation of evidence into the Mercy Corps’ Water Savings Approach.

•  Support the internal capacity building and the future landscape analysis for Mercy Corps. 

Consultant Activities & Deliverables:

•  Water Savings Framework and shared terminology

Drawing on existing evidence and Mercy Corps’ internal expertise, the consultant will: 

•  Develop the Mercy Corps Water Savings Framework, defining the conceptual and technical foundation for water savings across the organization. The framework should establish standardized terminology, definitions, units of measurement, system boundaries, typology of water-saving modalities, minimum evidence and data requirements, ensuring consistency and comparability across projects and geographies.

•  Facilitate technical working sessions with relevant internal teams to validate, refine, and align the framework components.

Deliverable: Water Savings Framework Draft. 

•  Project selection criteria and decision tools 

To develop a practical tool for screening and prioritizing interventions and contexts most likely to deliver real and sustained water savings, the consultant will: 

•  Propose and co-design project selection criteria with key regional and country teams at Mercy Corps.

•  Build a simple and practical decision support tool.

•  Develop a list of potential initiatives, based on Mercy Corps priorities, capacities and potential reach, and using the decision support tool.

•  Develop a risk management guide, including key risks and possible mitigation measures.

Deliverable: Project selection criteria, decision tool, priority intervention list, and risk management guide  

•  Water Savings Quantification, Verification & Monitoring Methodology 

As a core part of the assignment, the consultant will develop the methodology needed to estimate, track, verify, and monitor volumetric water savings across Mercy Corps interventions. This methodology should provide a technically robust foundation while remaining practical for use across different contexts and water-saving modalities. The consultant will:

•  Develop the standardized core methodology for estimating the volumetric water saving targets in the project design phase, including (but is not limited to) baseline logic, “no-project” and “project” scenarios, boundaries and uncertainties, initial data required, and estimation methods and models, tailored to specific water-saving modalities.

•  Develop the standardized core methodology for quantifying and verifying the actual volumetric water savings expected within the project (implementation & completion phases), including (but not limited to) boundaries and uncertainties, adjustments, data required, and calculation models and methods calibration, tailored to specific water-savings modalities.

•  Develop the standardized methodology for monitoring continued water savings after project closure, including (but not limited to) monitoring cycles, measurements, and data collection protocols, change assessment criteria, recalibration considerations, and reporting protocols.

•  Create calculation models and methods templates, data, and documentation requirements; to be easily used by the Mercy Corps’ teams.

Deliverable: Water Savings Estimation, Quantification, and Verification Methodology draft, calculation models, and method templates.  

•  Project Design, Implementation, Monitoring, and Learning Guidance  

To translate the Water Savings Approach into practical, field-usable guidance for country teams and partners, the consultant will develop a standardized but adaptable guidance package for the design, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and learning of water-saving projects across Mercy Corps contexts. This should include: 

•  Guidance for identifying and designing water-saving projects, taking into account different water-saving modalities, contextual conditions, donor or corporate requirements, risks identification, and the relevant water savings estimation methods;

•  Guidance for implementing water-saving projects, including key technical, operational, and risk management considerations, water savings quantification and verification methodologies, as well as procedures for project close-out; as well as agreements to ensure monitoring of the impact after the project ends.

•  Guidance for measuring and reporting water-savings results during and after implementation, including indicators, measurement and data collection protocols, data management processes, reporting requirements, and verification procedures;

•  Guidance for post-project impact monitoring to assess whether water savings are sustained over time, including monitoring arrangements, verification processes, evaluation and reporting plans, and learning agenda and processes for integrating knowledge into Mercy Corps programming. 

Deliverable: Guidance package for project design, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and learning (including templates and formats).

•  Consolidation of Mercy Corps Water Savings Approach  

The consultant will consolidate the assignment's main outputs into a final Water Savings Approach document for Mercy Corps. This document will bring together the framework, decision tool, quantification and monitoring methodology, and practical guidance into a single, coherent reference that supports internal application and future refinement.

Deliverable: Mercy Corps Water Savings Approach document.

•  Internal capacity building and handover 

The consultant will support the following activities to ensure that the general process is integrated internally in Mercy Corps: 

•  Support the training of Mercy Corps Teams.

•  Support the handover of the water savings approach and future opportunities. 

Deliverable: training workshops.

Timeframe / Schedule: 

The consultancy is estimated to last approximately 3 months, starting in April 2026 and finishing on June 30, 2026. 

The Consultant will report to:

 The Consultant will report to the Global Senior Water Security Advisor. 

The Consultant will work closely with:

The Consultant will work closely with the Water and Climate Regional Advisor, Corporate Team, and Regional and Country Teams. 

Required Experience & Skills: 

•  Advanced degree (Master’s/PhD) in hydrology, water resources, environmental engineering, or related field.

•  At least 10–15+ years of professional experience in water accounting; hydrological and hydraulic analyses; agricultural and urban water systems; watershed management; and environmental and water resource modeling.

•  Experience working across multiple geographies and sectors in water management.

•  Strong analytical and systems-thinking.

•  Desirable familiarity with corporate water stewardship standards (e.g., volumetric accounting, replenishment)

•  Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are received and will undergo an initial screening to assess eligibility and alignment with the consultancy requirements. Interested candidates should submit:

•  A technical proposal, with a maximum length of 10 pages, demonstrating their understanding of the assignment, proposed approach and methodology, relevant experience, and team composition if applicable.

•  A well-structured Gantt chart presenting the proposed workplan, timeline, and sequencing of deliverables.

•  A financial proposal, clearly indicating the proposed daily rate and total cost for the assignment, with any relevant assumptions or cost breakdowns.

•  CV(s) of the consultant or consulting team highlighting relevant qualifications and experience.

Applications will be assessed based on the quality and relevance of the technical proposal, demonstrated experience in assignments of similar scope and complexity, understanding of the subject matter, feasibility of the proposed workplan, and overall value for money.

Shortlisted candidates may be invited to an interview with the Mercy Corps team and will be asked to provide references from previous clients or employers. References should confirm the consultant’s experience and performance in comparable assignments.

Deadline: April 22, 2026.

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. 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.