Resilience Storytelling and Communications, Senior Advisor at Mercy Corps

Essential Job Functions

STRATEGY AND DESIGN (20%)

• Set direction for and steward global approach and methods for resilience storytelling, ensuring they are data-driven and promote community and local practitioner assets, voices and perspectives in line with Mercy Corps’ core values around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Lead the development of detailed technical guidance, didactic materials and tools to improve the use of resilience storytelling in programs as part of Mercy Corps’ overall Resilience Theory to Practice initiative and curriculum
• Develop and manage implementation of a strategic pipeline of high-impact resilience stories, results and learning documentation opportunities, and regularly identify and nurture new opportunities into the pipeline
• Hire, manage, and mentor consultants supporting program teams with resilience storytelling

PROGRAM QUALITY AND IMPLEMENTATION (70%)

• Partner with program teams to define resilience storytelling objectives, develop tailored systems to collect and produce high-impact resilience stories and integrate systems within broader program learning and adaptive management mechanisms (focus: resilient food security and nexus portfolios in the Africa region). Provide ongoing mentorship to teams to improve story collection and production.
• Collaborate with program technical and MEL/CLA focal points to connect story collection to M&E, learning, reflection and adaptation systems and processes, including by designing and leading facilitated learning sessions.
• Lead collection and production of high quality resilience stories and strategic documentation efforts (e.g. case studies, learning briefs) to capture key resilience results and lessons learned.
• Facilitate program teams’ linkage with additional resilience storytelling and documentation resources and consultants and guide/support their production of resilience communication products.
• Lead or facilitate the development of communication strategies that support a strategic approach to program communication with an emphasis on highlighting resilience capacities, advocating for resilience programming, and evidencing Mercy Corps approach to resilience
• Work with media and communication outlets to facilitate strategic dissemination of resilience stories and documentation.
• Design and implement capacity strengthening and facilitation materials for resilience story collection and development, supporting programs’ ability to consistently and effectively communicate their resilience vision with key audiences.
• Counsel programs on recommended staffing and resourcing strategies to build a foundation for strong resilience storytelling and documentation. Support recruitment and hiring of program-level resilience-focused communication roles.
• Provide strategic and tactical support to resilience portfolio/backbone programs to enhance quality of their resilience communication components.
• Enhance flagship resilience programs’ strategic communications approach for resilience and support them to develop plans to elevate their stories, evidence and influence externally and internally.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (10%)

• Manage Mercy Corps’ Global Resilience Community of Practice, developing plans and systems for engagement, leading implementation of activities, and implementing methods to track overall satisfaction, engagement and quality.
• Support implementation of occasional resilience learning events, including developing operational plans, helping develop content, and facilitating participation in events.

Knowledge And Experience

• BA or BS in International Development, Journalism, Communications, Humanities, or relevant field
• 5+ years’ experience working in the development field
• Familiarity with resilience thinking and systems approaches
• Familiarity with food security related sectors, such as agricultural systems and livelihoods; market systems development; cash programming; climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction; natural resource management.
• Proven ability to synthesize and communicate complex subjects/topics effectively to multi-stakeholder groups through written formats. Experience communicating through other media formats is a strong plus.
• Demonstrated success developing and implementing effective communications strategies and written and visual materials. Design experience is a plus.
• Demonstrated storytelling experience
• Experience facilitating communities of practice is strongly preferred.
• Exceptional English writing skills.
• Strong representation, networking and facilitation skills.