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.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been present in Ethiopia since 2004 working to drive bold and transformative ideas, working closely with government, the private sector and civil society actors to build a more resilient country, ensuring that programs are responsive to and influenced by participants and stakeholders. Our vision is to enhance the resilience of climate and conflict-affected communities through market systems development for improved livelihoods, access to food, and safe and clean water to thrive in the face of crises. Our strategy focuses on the four outcome areas of: 1) Economically marginalized populations have improved and diversified livelihoods, income, and assets; 2) Pastoralists, farmers, and households have access to sustainably produced, safe, nutritious food; 3) Social cohesion and inclusive governance processes are built in crisis-affected communities; and 4) People have equitable, sustained access to clean water and sanitation for domestic and productive use. Currently we operate in the regional states of Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, Somali, Sidama, Southern Ethiopia, Tigray and Addis Ababa city administration working with a diverse base of donors that includes United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union, GAC, Hilton Foundation, United Nations (UN), JOA, Sweden, EKN, and other foundations.

The USAID-funded Highland Resilience Activity (HRA) will contribute to the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) 5’s “Big Push” initiative and has the overarching goal of strengthening resilience among vulnerable households in Ethiopia’s Highlands, resulting in 120,000 PSNP households reaching the graduation threshold. HRA will support these households in moving above the graduation threshold and to where they no longer require social safety net programming for household food security and have the capabilities and assets to withstand regular and predictable shocks. The Activity will achieve this goal by directly supporting households in increasing their on-farm, off-farm, and employment incomes while facilitating improvements in the market systems required to increase demand for goods and services in PSNP communities. HRA is a five-year program that started during October 2023.

General Position Summary

The Communications Manager focusses on Resilience Storytelling and Communication provides a combination of technical leadership over resilience storytelling methods and guidance, management of a pipeline of resilience documentation opportunities, and strategic direct support to programs on resilience-focused learning capture and resilience communications strategy. The Communications Manager works closely with other technical roles in the Country Communications Specialist to link storytelling methods with broader guidance on and methods for resilience-informed program design, measurement, learning and quality implementation. She/he partners with program teams to improve systems for deliberately identifying and communicating participants and communities’ lived experience of resilience dynamics and anecdotes of change in a way that reinforces program learning for adaptation and quality. They also engage deeply to harvest and produce high quality resilience stories and strategic results and learning documentation. This role also enhances knowledge sharing among Mercy Corps’ global network of resilience practitioners. 

The Communications Manager will be based in Addis Ababa at the HRA program on a full-time basis and directly reporting to HRA MEL/CLA Lead. S/he works with: Database Information Manager, CLA Lead, MEL Manager, MEL Specialist, Country PaQ team, CARM advisor, communications specialist. The general duties and responsibilities of the Communications Manager are to provide oversight of project-level Communications and Learning activities within the HRA Program, ensuring the quality of the project’s Communications and Learning activities, information management via the programs reporting system and geographic information systems (GIS), where applicable. The Communications Manager’s role is to also oversee and ensure coordination of the various technical areas across the HRA Program, and other relevant Project staff and components. The Communications Manager is responsible for the capacity building and mentoring strategy for program staff on themes related to Communications, Resilience Story Telling, Branding protocols, infographics, graphic design, accountability, reporting and learning.

The successful candidate will be responsible to create a strong communication and work relationship with partner organizations to make sure that both USAID’s and Mercy Corps’ brands are strictly followed and protected. She/he will make sure that all ethical considerations are taken care of including but not limited to use of informed consent form, respect and inclusiveness.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Program Management

• Set direction for and steward program approach and methods for resilience storytelling, ensuring they are data-driven and promote community and local practitioner assets, voices and perspectives in line with Mercy Corps’ core values around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

• Lead the development of detailed technical guidance, didactic materials and tools to improve the use of resilience storytelling in HRA program.

• Develop and manage implementation of a strategic pipeline of high-impact resilience stories, results and learning documentation opportunities, and regularly identify and nurture new opportunities into the pipeline. 

Program Quality and Implementation

• Partner with program teams to define resilience storytelling objectives, develop tailored systems to collect and produce high-impact resilience stories and integrate systems within broader program learning and adaptive management mechanisms (focus: resilient food security and nexus portfolios in the HRA Program).  Provide ongoing mentorship to teams to improve story collection and production.

• Collaborate with program technical and MEL/CLA focal points to connect story collection to M&E, Learning, Reflection and Adaptation systems and processes, including by designing and leading facilitated learning sessions.

• Lead collection and production of high-quality resilience stories and strategic documentation efforts (e.g., case studies, learning briefs) to capture key resilience results and lessons learned.

• Facilitate program teams’ linkage with additional resilience storytelling and documentation resources and consultants and guide/support their production of resilience communication products.

• Lead or facilitate the development of communication strategies that support a strategic approach to program communication with an emphasis on highlighting resilience capacities, advocating for resilience programming, and evidencing Mercy Corps approach to resilience

• Work with media and communication outlets to facilitate strategic dissemination of resilience stories and documentation.

• Design and implement capacity strengthening and facilitation materials for resilience story collection and development, supporting programs’ ability to consistently and effectively communicate their resilience vision with key audiences.

• Counsel program teams on recommended strategies to build a foundation for strong resilience storytelling and documentation.

• Provide strategic and tactical support to resilience portfolio/backbone programs to enhance quality of their resilience communication and learning components.

• Enhance flagship HRA’s strategic communications approach for resilience and support them to develop plans to elevate their stories, evidence and influence externally and internally.

Knowledge Management

• Manage HRA’s developing communication and learning plans and systems for engagement, leading implementation of activities, and implementing methods to track overall satisfaction, engagement and quality.

• Support implementation of occasional resilience and learning events, including developing operational plans, helping develop content, and facilitating participation in different events.

Internal and External Communications

• Provide leadership in updating and implementation of a Mercy Corps Ethiopia and donor Communication Strategy and Plans

• Adherence to Mercy Corps and donor branding and marketing standards, maintaining quality across materials, events, and other media.

• Oversee the development of publications, materials, and other products from design to writing, editing, branding and distribution

• Work with the country PaQ team in the production of quarterly newsletter and donor reports.

• Manage special events and relationships that include facilitating government, corporate, donor, and other high level official visits to project sites and head office.

• Build the capacity of all relevant team members in communications, including Donor regulations and technical abilities such as photography, videography, developing messages and materials for program activities.

• Mercy Corps institutional linkage: directly work with Mercy Corps communication specialist to ensure Mercy Corps Ethiopia communications materials are linked to MC Ethiopia, donor and MC Global communications initiatives.

Information Management, Dissemination, and Feedback

• In coordination with technical teams and CLA Lead, put together monthly updates from the region and other reports as required, especially summarizing monthly lessons learned and disseminating these with partners.

• Provides weekly updates to CLA Lead in Addis Ababa to share with partners and stakeholders.

• Assists technical teams in developing, implementing and analyzing sub-activity evaluations and to alert technical teams of results provided by the online information system.

• Organizes feedback sessions and other platforms at regional level with partners, program participants and stakeholders (private and public sectors), and, with the assistance of the team lead and CLA Lead, ensures responses are provided timely.

• Collects and documents case studies, success stories and shares with internal and external audiences.

• Ensures regular and timely reporting from program staff and implementing partners by monitoring receipts of monthly, quarterly and annual activity progress reports and following up with the project staff and implementing partners on non-reporting basis.

Influence and Compliance Management

• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to humanitarian and Crisis Response programming.

• Draft and/or review scope of work to hire and manage any technical consultants, including review for technical efficacy and contract budget.

Influence and Representation

• Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments, and other stakeholders.

• Communicate effectively to ensure overall program targets and donor obligations are met.

Security

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.

• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

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 Beneficiaries

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

Supervisory Responsibility: No

Reports Directly to:  DCoP

Job Requirements

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/BSc or equivalent, preferable in Communications and Journalism, Foreign Language and Literature, Social Science, International development or MA/S in similar other relevant fields preferred.

• 8 years of professional experience in a relevant field for international development programs; USAID or another donor, or NGO preferred.

• A minimum of 4 years of experience in communications and learning on development and humanitarian response programming.

• Experience with Graphic Design, Infographics, or other geographic information systems preferred but not required.

• Ability to prepare clear and concise reports.

• High degree of computer literacy; graphic design tools, Excel and Word skills are essential.

• Ability to manage and meet deadlines.

• Ability to work independently on multi-task load.

• Excellent communication, presentation and organizational skills.

• Fluency in written and oral English and Amharic languages. Must be able to read and interpret documents and communicate with others as necessary to perform job duties effectively.

• Basic graphic design skills and able to perform job specific experience augmented with software skills.

• Good photography, videography and editing skills

Success Factors

• Excellent communication, facilitation, partnerships and networking skills with a wide range of private, partner and NGO-sector actors.

• Business minded, entrepreneurial, adaptive, curious, great problem-solving skills, unafraid to ask questions, and results motivated.

• Tolerant and flexible individual able to work in difficult and stressful environments and follow procedures.

• Computer proficiency especially in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and other graphic design tools such as illustrator.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and it requires up to 30% 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

Diversity, Equity & 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 on the basis of 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 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.

How to Apply

All qualified individuals are invited to apply for the advertised position. All applications, including a CV, three references, and all applicable official papers, must be sent electronically.

Only candidates that are short-listed will be acknowledged and called for interviews.

“Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer promoting gender, equity and diversity. Qualified female and young candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We are committed to empower women and youth.”

DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS: 10  November 2023/ 4:00 PM

Applicants Must fill out their Information through this LINK