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.

Mercy Corps has been operating in Ethiopia since 2004, working in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas in five regional states - Somali, Oromia, Gambella, Afar, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples, Amhara - and the capital city of Addis Ababa. We engage in both development and humanitarian work, and seek to integrate approaches, programs, and geographies as much as possible. Our partners include government, academic institutions, development and private sector actors, civil societies, and communities.

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

Mercy Corps seeks an experienced Peace and Conflict Sensitivity Advisor with experience in conflict management and mitigation, conflict sensitivity, peace-building, and institutional strengthening in Ethiopia, particularly within the context of economic development programming.   Under the Deputy Chief of Party and as part of the Program Performance team, they will be responsible for leading, designing and implementing conflict sensitivity, social cohesion and peace-building activities across all phases and components of HRA’s Market Systems Development (MSD) and resilient livelihoods activities.  This includes ensuring appropriate peace and conflict considerations are built into start-up assessments, program strategies, program activity design and implementation, and monitoring, evaluation and learning systems.  They will further support the design and delivery of strategic interventions aimed at actively enhancing social cohesion and peace, and thus the enabling environment for the success of HRA.  They will identify capacity-development needs across the program team and partners in integrating conflict sensitivity and peace-building, and will actively engage in providing training and monitoring of approaches and activities in Do No Harm and conflict sensitivity practices.  They  will support institutions and structures in assessing and understanding conflict risks, and partner with the team in crisis modifier, contingency planning, and anticipatory action related to conflict. 

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP

• Provide overall strategic direction on conflict sensitivity, conflict management, peace-building and social cohesion approaches across all components of HRA and throughout the lifecycle of the program.

• Lead the design and delivery of a peace and conflict-sensitivity strategy for the HRA program, including integration of peace and conflict considerations across all markets and livelihoods activities, as well as conflict-specific activities focused on institutional strengthening and dialogue towards social cohesion and conflict management.

• Design and/or adapt a clear approach for integrating conflict sensitivity and social cohesion activities into private sector engagement and MSD efforts, including activities that support anticipatory action in response to conflict risks.

• Work with the HRA team, consultants and partners to ensure conflict sensitivity and social cohesion is integrated into the design and implementation of the start-up phase, including workplans, assessments, and onboarding.

• Support monitoring and analysis of conflict dynamics to feed into iterative activity design and facilitate analysis of social cohesion data for program decision-making.

• Provide regular review of project concept notes, terms of reference and/or standard operating procedures for integration of peace and conflict considerations.

• Directly design, guide and oversee the quality implementation of all activities critical to peacebuilding, conflict management activities, and conflict sensitivity.

CAPACITY STRENGTHENING

• Lead a capacity assessment across all program stakeholders – staff, partners, private sector and government – with respect to peace and conflict integration, and conflict sensitivity and design a corresponding capacity-strengthening strategy.

• Regularly lead Do No Harm training for all program staff and stakeholders, including through initial onboarding of all program stakeholders.

• Directly support private sector actors in conflict sensitivity trainings and applying Do No Harm approaches as part of their business strategy

• Provide on-going guidance, mentoring and support to program team members, including all partners, on integrating peace and conflict considerations into activity design.

• Build the capacity of woredas government staff, civil society and key influential community leaders to facilitate inter-community dialogues related to the program’s objectives.

• Build the capacity of the program team to support social cohesion activities and outcomes throughout the life of the program.

• Work closely with the program team and partners ensuring we adhere to humanitarian principles, Mercy Corps’ policies, Do No Harm principles and project participant accountability standards.

PROGRAM QUALITY, MONITORING AND LEARNING

• Facilitate integration of peace and conflict considerations across all components of the program quality architecture.

• Design and/or adapt and assessment and monitoring tools relevant for the project context to support markets and livelihoods teams with decision-making, including on-going conflict monitoring.

• Jointly with partners and program staff, conduct participatory review and reflection on peace and conflict integration, and implications for the success of markets and livelihoods activities.

• Ensure program activities and efforts adhere to Mercy Corps Program Management at Mercy Corps minimum standards (includes Gender Min Standards, CARM & MEL)

• Feed into lessons learned and employ an adaptive management approach

• Inform MEL data collection, design and evaluation linked to social cohesion and conflict sensitivity outcomes.

• Support the design of and pursue research initiatives designed to increase the evidence base around the effectiveness of integrating conflict sensitivity and management into resilient livelihoods and MSD activities.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Represent Mercy Corps’ conflict sensitivity social cohesion activities to external actors, advocate for the importance of this approach as part of current and future programs.

• Liaise with relevant actors working on peacebuilding initiatives and ensure coordination and sharing of lessons across key actors in program sites.

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

• Liaise with local government officials, local NGOs and civil society organizations, local religious leaders and other notables to ensure support for and acceptance of Mercy Corps’ social cohesion and conflict management approach.

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 projects.

• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Supervisory Responsibility: None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Deputy Chief of Party

Works Closely With:  Chief of Party, Technical and Implementation Director, Technical Specialists, Program Coordinators, Community Outreach Officers, Partner teams. 

Job requirements

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in social science/s, peacebuilding, conflict mitigation, international development, humanitarian response, dispute resolution, international relations or equivalent relevant field experience preferred.

• Four- five years’ experience implementing and integrating conflict sensitivity, conflict management and peace-building activities in the Ethiopian context, including in work with rural communities, government and the private sector.

• Strong facilitation and consensus-building skills, particularly in peacebuilding and conflict management

• Knowledge of and ability to train in Do No Harm, conflict sensitivity, interest based negotiation and dialogue facilitation.

• Strong understanding of peacebuilding and conflict management mechanisms and processes as part of economic development activities

• Proven ability to manage adaptively in a changing operational enviornment.

• Must be able to work independently while being a strong team player.

• Experience working across diverse contexts in Ethiopia preferred, with strong contextual knowledge of relevant cultures and local communities.

• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to Mercy Corps project sites and field locations

• Excellent computer skills, including all Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint).

• Excellent communicator in English and at least one relevant language, with demonstrated excellent report writing and speaking skills.

Living /Environmental Conditions:

The position will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with regular travels to the field. This position requires up to 50% of travel by air and road to field offices in relatively secure environments.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

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.

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: 20 November 2023/ 4:00 PM

How to Apply

Register using this LINK