Consultant – Humanitarian Analysis (Middle East) – Remote

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.

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 Crisis Analytics provides regular tailored analysis for Mercy Corps programs and the wider humanitarian community. Typical products and services range from informal briefings to weekly products, contributions to risk assessments, in-depth assessment of the political economy of a defined geography, deep-dives on specific thematics, etc., ranging in themes from conflict to market systems to governance, in line with programmatic needs.

Purpose / Project Description:

The program provides clear analysis and data on the evolving humanitarian context, conflict dynamics and economic trends with the aim of improving Mercy Corps humanitarian assistance and programming.

Consultant Objectives:

The Humanitarian Analysis Consultant is expected to bring and maintain a comprehensive knowledge of the dynamics of the Middle East context. The Consultant works with the Team Leader to contribute to biweekly, area deep dives, and thematic briefings to stakeholders and is therefore able to present professionally and distil the ongoing analytical outputs for easy consumption.

They will leverage their understanding of the humanitarian and development sector, and their ability to meaningfully engage with the Mercy Corps program teams and external stakeholders to identify trends and issues for the team to monitor and explore. These outputs will improve the ability of Mercy Corps and the wider humanitarian community to operate with impact.

The Consultant will provide high quality analysis and be comfortable creating and engaging with qualitative and quantitative data sets matched to predefined indicators.

This quality will come from an experience in analysis, data collection, local networks, and a collaborative and open-minded approach to problem solving. The Consultant will adopt a flexible approach and a willingness to use non-traditional tools and information sources in order to generate insights within a dynamic environment.

The Humanitarian Analysis Consultant will be equally comfortable giving assessments on conflict dynamics as understanding the relevance and impacts of regional economic trends.

The Consultant will attend program meetings as directed, to share knowledge and develop an understanding of the information needs of teams.

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

• Work closely with the internal Mercy Corps programs, data analysis and HQ teams, as well as, external partners/stakeholders to understand the information needs, and provide timely and relevant advice.
• Familiarize and utilize current data input and visualization tools.
• Assist with the development and review of economic indicators guiding data creation and analysis.
• Other activities related to data collection and analysis as directed.
• Submit work in accordance with the program’s output time-line and determined deadlines.
• Join all project meetings and calls as required.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will:

• Contribute to the drafting of biweekly and other analytical products that meet the current and future information needs of the program’s audiences.
• Develop bespoke products as directed by the program’s requirements.
• Participate in weekly team meetings and status updates.
• Engage with all project planning meetings as necessary

Timeframe / Schedule:

7 month consultancy (estimated approximately 12 days per month).

Estimated start date: Mid-May 2021

Due date for deliverables will be established with Team Lead according to the established schedule and requirements of project partners.

The Consultant will report to:

Team Lead

Consultant will work closely with:

Senior Director Crisis Analytics; Senior Advisor Crisis Analytics.

Required Experience & Skills:

• At least 5-10 years’ experience in the aid and development sector, with a level of experience in a conflict-affected environment.
• Master’s degree in a relevant social science field
• Demonstrated experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods and in research management (especially remote management).
• Ability to develop rigorous, efficient and innovative data analysis methodologies and data management systems.
• Familiarity with regional economic trends.
• Strong written and analytical skills.
• Demonstrated high capacity for writing in English on technical subjects.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, including in multi- and cross-cultural communication and relationship-building
• Competency in Internet and Microsoft Office systems including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and other
• Fluency in English, both written and spoken is required.

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.