Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Advisor - Internal Only at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

The CLA Advisor will work closely with the Technical Manager, Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP) the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager, and the thematic leads to ensure collaboration and linkages with external stakeholders across the program’s intervention areas, as well as to integrate active and intentional adaptive management exercises. The Advisor is responsible for: identifying and promoting linkages between Activity interventions and those conducted through other programs, institutions and stakeholders in the implementation area; maximizing program impact and sustainability; establishing and implementing a program learning agenda; and ensuring strong CLA processes and activities within the program.

Essential Job Responsibilities

The CLA Advisor will provide strategic guidance and management for program studies, intervention development, and planning.  S/he must establish and manage relationships with potential partners and stakeholders. This role will also work with the MRM and Program teams, developing and implementing a marketing and communications strategy across various reactive and strategically planned opportunities in print, media, events, and online.

S/he will liaise with the CoP, DCoP, Advisors, Communications Manager, and MRM Manager to identify and design key communications materials and disseminate them to identified audiences. S/he will be responsible for ensuring strong linkages between the Activity interventions and the Results Measurement team of the program. This position is based in Gombe but requires frequent travel to the other states of the Northeast.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Knowledge Management

• Lead learning, knowledge management, and adaptive programming activities.
• Facilitate strong CLA management practices in RRA and its partners throughout the program cycle.
• Assist in identifying and responding to key learning issues, coordinate efforts among implementing partners and serve as a convener for dialogue and learning around emerging issues.
• Support a RRA learning plan for that outlines key learning questions and stakeholders and their roles.
• Support strategic communications, including producing publications and organizing public events with partners and other stakeholders.
• Support a culture of CLA among RRA and its partners.
• Facilitate processes and workshops and CLA among implementing partners and other stakeholders and help develop plans for program adaptation; establish a network of key stakeholders and organize periodic learning events.
• More specific to the external side of collaboration, the incumbent will lead the Mission’s exploration and building of partnerships that can maximize the Mission’s programming impact.
• Play a lead role in the coordination and implementation of events related to engaging Implementing Partners.
• Lead role in coordinating the planning of this event, incorporating CLA as a backdrop to meeting agendas and ensuring regular follow-up and continuous refinement to these public relations events.

Research

• Conduct research into relevant market systems and trends to identify opportunities for interventions.
• Assist in stakeholder analysis of selected commodity chains and identify and establish contact with potential firms and other market actors.
• Liaise with the Results Measurement team on developing appropriately tailored research tools and methods for collecting and collating relevant intervention information from the field.
• Assist in updating and supervising MRM Team aspects of the intervention activities, including establishing baselines, indicators, and results.
• Support the conduct and/or update of market assessments involving direct stakeholders and public and private sector actors working within the target value chains and market systems.  
• Assist in collecting baseline data related to interventions targeted for study or implementation by the project.

Intervention Management

• Support the implementation of teamwork plans and the successful implementation of livelihoods and market systems development activities, ensuring timely implementation of work plan activities and identification of target groups within the approved budget, and achieving program deliverables for desired impact.  
• Support the provision of technical guidance on livelihoods and market systems development and ensure that interventions are responsive to stakeholders and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards, and strategic plan.
• Formulate strategies to develop markets in the selected commodity chains and seek opportunities to work as per the RRA sector strategy. Develop intervention strategies and implementation procedures in a participatory manner with key stakeholders.
• Ensure the appropriate communication of clear intervention guidelines, expected outcomes, timeframe, and work plan to all relevant parties.
• Remain well aware of developments in the relevant sectors/markets/commodity chains
• Refine and adapt the intervention strategies in light of participant and stakeholder requests and changing needs and opportunities within the overall program of RRA.
• Help identify market failures and pressure points for addressing these; help identify ways to render a given market more functional and efficient to benefit the program targets.
• Refine and adapt the selected intervention strategies in light of participant and stakeholder requests and changing needs within the overall program.
• Identify priority areas for interventions that will change as opportunities pass or are realized, and new ones emerge.
• Collaborate closely with and support the technical advisory and implementation team to manage the Grant Facility aspect of the program to catalyze new investment in viable economic opportunities (market systems, livelihoods, agribusiness, and employment) through grants that stimulate rather than distort market development and avoid exacerbating conflict dynamics.  

Stakeholder Management

• Create a stakeholder map and stakeholder analysis to guide collaboration with other programs, initiatives and institutions to link beneficiaries to sustainable outcomes and enable continual refinement of the program’s theory of change.
• Create and manage a linkage plan to ensure collaboration between local actors, USAID-funded activity stakeholders, host country government stakeholders, donor agencies, the private sector, and other implementing agencies managing programs and creating policy in the target geographic areas. 
• Lead the formulation and implementation of a detailed program learning plan/ learning agenda, and manage associated learning partnerships and processes.
• Manage a program “change log”, documenting changes to program design (including theory of change) required as a result of formative research findings and operational planning discussions.
• Manage learning events and processes. Work with M&E team members to ensure adaptations to the program theory of change (ToC) as new information comes to light.
• Lead the creation and management of a detailed program knowledge management platform, ensuring full integration with other relevant knowledge management platforms.
• Create guidelines for CLA in the context of the program. Manage CLA ‘pause and reflect’ events and resulting adaptive management analysis, decision-making, program/ approach adjustments, training and follow-through.
• Contribute to the creation of a culture of openness, trust, and continuous improvement within the program team and with partners and key stakeholders. Train team members on CLA in addition to ensuring peer-to-peer learning, knowledge sharing and application, activity-based capacity strengthening, evidence and data utilization within the team.
• Lead the production and dissemination of documentation pertaining to the above.
• Support overall effective external communication for the program.

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 international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in designing, monitoring, and evaluating our field projects.

Representation and Advocacy

In coordination with the other technical leads, develop and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders in Nigeria, including local communities, donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors. Ensure RRA's active representation and participation in the relevant clusters/sectors coordination. Develop strategic partnerships with local organizations. In coordination with the CoP and other technical leads, assist in organizing donor visits by supporting staff in the smooth design and running of field visits.

Supervisory Responsibility: None

Reports Directly To: Chief of Party

Works Directly with: DCoP, Communications Manager, Managers, MEL team, Technical Advisors, Communications Officers, Finance, and Operations teams. Coordinates with HQ Program Performance team and the Technical Support Unit.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/BSc. in Social Sciences
• The ability to work within a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Excellent communications skills
• A passion for the international development sector
• Exceptional analytical and writing skills.
• A strategic and creative thinker with proven experience in working on diverse and wide-ranging communication strategies, including all forms of media.