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.

The Humanitarian Capacity team at Mercy Corps delivers humanitarian training for Mercy Corps team members and local partners to build/refresh key humanitarian competencies. It also develops guidance documents to help Mercy Corps team members and local partners collaborate in humanitarian programming through equitable partnerships.

Purpose / Project Description:
The Humanitarian Capacity team is coordinating the development of the Partners Orientation Package.Mercy Corps teams can use the package during orientation sessions with local partners to help them take an informed decision on whether to partner with Mercy Corps and to prepare for the initial steps of a successful partnership. The package will include a slide deck and a facilitator guide aimed at supporting Mercy Corps team members to implement orientation sessions.

The slide deck and facilitator guide are being developed by multiple teams involved in humanitarian partnerships. It will then be tested by a sample of country/response teams to collect feedback and lessons learned. After testing, it will be finalised by integrating the feedback and lessons learned.

Consultant Objectives:

The Humanitarian Capacity team is looking for a consultant to design and support the feedback collection during the testing phase, and analyze the feedback and lessons learned to improve the draft Partners Orientation Package, both in its content and its format, so that it is relevant and easy to use.

As improvements are identified, the Humanitarian Capacity team will coordinate the finalization of the content, whereas the consultant will work on the final lay out, format and graphics of the package (facilitator guide and slide deck), to make it visually appealing and easy to navigate.

Consultant Activities:
The Consultant will:

• Become familiar with the draft Partners Orientation Package
• Engage with the Humanitarian Capacity team, and other relevant teams, in workshops/meetings.
• Develop questions and channels to gather feedback from the testing phase
• Collect and analyze feedback, to share with the Humanitarian Capacity team (and other teams contributing to the package)
• Propose improvements to make the Partners Orientation Package user-friendly and visually appealing
• Implement agreed improvements (e.g. lay-out design, illustrations and graphics).

Consultant Deliverables:

• Document (any format) containing the plan for feedback collection, questions to use, channels to use
• Brief report containing summary of feedback and lessons learned (after the testing), and proposed improvements for the Orientation Package
• Partners Orientation Package (containing a slide deck and a facilitation guide) finalized based on agreed improvements, in formats that will be agreed during the final stages (note: said formats should allow for future translations in other languages and future edits, as needed).

Timeframe / Schedule:

Mercy Corps estimates that the assignment should take approximately 25 days, to be spread between March and June 2024.

The Consultant will report to:
Humanitarian Capacity Senior Advisor, based in London, UK.

Required Experience & Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in a field that is relevant to this project (international studies, statistics, graphic design or related fields)
• 5-10 years of experience in relevant technical field (e.g. designing and implementing feedback mechanisms for knowledge products)
• Familiar with processes of user-centered design
• Proficient with vector-based design and drawing programs, and publishing tools, such as Illustrator
• Effective time management skills and the ability to meet deadlines
• Able to give and receive constructive criticism
• Layout skills
• Creativity
• Attention to detail
• Fluency in English (fluency in French or Arabic is a plus).
• Familiar with the humanitarian sector and localization agenda (preferred)
• A strong eye for visual composition, with experience as a graphic designer or in related field using computer aided design (preferred).

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
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 team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging 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.