Senior Peacebuilding Advisor

Apr 14, 2014 | Mercy Corps
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The Senior Peacebuilding Advisor will work closely with the Director of the Youth & Conflict Management Team in the implementation of the Y-CM strategy with an emphasis on enhancing and deepening the agency’s experience and capabilities in working in and on conflict. This position will be responsible for building Mercy Corps’ conflict portfolio through program design, improving program quality and measurement, and cultivating and nurturing donor and peer relationships and partnerships. The Senior Peacebuilding Advisor will provide support to the team and provide coordinated support to country teams. There is a strong emphasis in this position on: thought leadership in understanding the drivers of conflict, peacebuilding; measurement of efforts, and representation of Mercy Corps approach to a broad range of partners and donors.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Provide support to Mercy Corps’ worldwide programs in order to help integrate and operationalize conflict management principles into relief and development proposals and programs. This includes support in all areas related to conflict management, including assessments, program and proposal development, monitoring and evaluating program impact, scaling up of effective interventions and approaches, strategic planning, skills building, training, relationship building with donors including foundations, and identifying and fostering linkages with other agencies to deepen our impact. 
• Strengthen Mercy Corps’ programming and reputation as a leader in designing and implementing conflict programs that reduce people’s participation in violent movements and increase people’s positive contribution to their communities.
• Serve as an active member of the Y-CM team and Technical Support Unit (TSU) and participates in team phone calls, teambuilding activities, and works toward shared team objectives.

Program Development:

• Work closely with Y-CM Director, Regional Program Directors and Country Directors to identify and pursue new strategic opportunities in integrated (e.g. at the intersection of conflict and governance, conflict and economic and market development, conflict and natural resources/environment) and traditional conflict management programming. 
• Actively collaborate with other TSU teams to understand and address drivers of conflict and youth participation in violence, including livelihoods, health, economic development, food security, and natural resource management on developing multi-sectoral assessments and programs.
• Integrate Mercy Corps’ experience in various sectors to develop tools that aid country and other MC teams in constructing innovative youth and conflict programs.

Program Quality

• Provide vision and technical expertise to contribute to the implementation of technical assistance, training, training of trainers, development of best practices, formation of partnerships and networks leading to a refined model for conflict management programming in country programs with support of country teams as well as to the agency overall.
• Develop conflict programming tools and training materials to support technical individuals to execute and evaluate their programs. 
• Maintain effective relationships with relevant Mercy Corps and partner agency US and field-based staff to promote successful integration of conflict management activities into on-going, programming.
• Assist in building the evidence base around Mercy Corps conflict programming, specifically developing Theories of Change and indicators to test those theories. This person will also work closely with field teams to support their M&E efforts in the agency’s conflict management programs.

Representation

• Maintain effective relationships with relevant peer agencies, bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, and the private sector, and identifies and fosters linkages with other agencies to deepen our impact, particularly at the macro level, for our conflict programming, and in particular our youth and conflict programming.
• Deepen Mercy Corps’ reputation as a thought leader in youth and conflict programming through collaborations and the building of relationships with peer agencies, bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, and the private sector.
• With the Director Y-CM and the rest of the Y-CM team, actively engage in external and internal relationship building, provides project updates, and participates in meetings, academic events, conferences, media forums and other events.