Regional Livestock Program Inclusive Market Lead at Mercy Corps

The Position  

• The Inclusive Markets Lead for the Regional Livestock Programme will use their in-depth contextual understanding, technical and practical expertise and relationship building skills to define and support the collective delivery of a transformative program for vulnerable livestock producers and micro, small and medium-size livestock-based businesses in the drylands of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.  
• The Inclusive Markets Lead will oversee the program’s inclusive market systems strategy in collaboration with country-level Program Managers and Trade Corridor Coordinators. S/He is the technical lead for all market systems development, market systems resilience and private sector engagement approaches and activities, working closely with and increasing the technical knowledge and skills of program activity staff.  S/He will support implementation teams to identify intervention points and partnership models for systems-level impact while safeguarding that the program is grounded in intersectional gender equality and social inclusion.   
• S/He will supervise the program’s technical advisors and managers and coordinate intervention approaches and activity integration. S/He will provide technical guidance to all program components and ensure high quality programming that will advance ecological sustainability, commercial viability, growth in public and private investment, gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment.  
• S/He will coordinate closely with the Monitoring and Results Measurement manager in intervention monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning systems to demonstrate impact, while sharing learning across our team and partners. 

Essential Responsibilities 
VISION AND STRATEGY (30%) 

• Work with the HoA Regional Senior Leadership team to support execution of the Regional Livestock Strategy through the Regional Livestock Programme. 
• Coordinate with RLP Senior Leadership to continuously review and revise the program’s strategic approach, partnerships, and priorities. 
• Coordinate with the RLP Program Director and Mercy Corps Regional and Country-level leadership to attract donor investment and expand the Regional Livestock Programme. 
• Build external visibility and awareness around RLP’s markets-related work, including representing RLP to local government, civic and private-sector stakeholders, across peer agencies, to RLP donors and other communities of practice. 
• Cultivate strategic partnerships with national and multi-national institutions and companies to advance the RLP impact. 
• Coordinate and advise country and regional leadership on supplemental programming and emergency interventions that supports resilient livestock market systems. 

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP & IMPLEMENTATION QUALITY (50%) 

• Lead the technical design and implementation of the Regional Livestock Programme.  
• Coordinate closely with Program Managers in the execution of implementation plans, identification of opportunities and barriers to guarantee the program is implemented on time, on scope and on budget. 
• Oversee and support adaptation of approaches and activities in face of a changing context. 
• Establish and lead internal program technical trainings on inclusive market development, private sector engagement, and investment approaches.  Oversee the technical capacity of program staff to ensure implementation quality.  
• Co-lead the development and administration of regional and country level operational plans and reports related to inclusive market interventions. 
• Ensure that market intervention strategies include cross-sectoral integration and layering of activities for ecological sustainability, climate change adaptation, commercial viability, growth in public and private investment, gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment. 
• Oversee program-level partnerships specific to inclusive market systems strategy and intervention approaches.   
• Support RLP Monitoring and Results Measurement Manager, Program Director and country-level Program Managers to interpret monitoring results and relevant study findings to strengthen MSD/MiC/PSE approach, intervention design and partnerships (i.e. adaptive management to support MSD/MiC/PSE). 
• Support the development of knowledge management products to increase the program’s understanding of successful implementation strategies; distill learnings and evidence generated into program guidance and thought leadership for internal and external consumption. 

PROGRAM FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT (20%) 

• Support RLP Program and Finance Manager(s) to manage program budgets in coordination with country finance teams. 
• Support the RLP Monitoring and Results Measurement Manager in the measurement and analysis of key performance indicators to inform strategic decision making.  
• Coordinate with the RLP Contracts and Compliance Senior Manager to review and support country team adherence to Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures. 

Supervisory Responsibility 
The Inclusive Markets Lead will supervise the: 

• Women’s Economic Empowerment Advisor, 
• Inclusive Finance & Investment Advisor, and
• Rangelands Management Advisor. 

Accountability 
Reports Directly To: Regional Livestock Program Director 
Works Directly With:  

• RLP Program Managers for Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, 
• RLP Monitoring & Results Measurement Manager, 
• RLP Contracts & Compliance Senior Manager, 
• RLP Finance Manager, 
• RLP Trade Corridor Coordinators, 
• RLP Senior Officers, Officers and Assistants (as applicable), and 
• MC Director Evidence & Learning for Dryland Production Systems. 

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders 
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.  

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills 

• Bachelor's degree in Agribusiness, Business, Economics, Farm Management, Livestock Production, or similar. 
• Master’s degree in relevant discipline preferred. 
• 5+ years of experience in agricultural economic growth or sector/market development programming. At least 5 of these years must be spent working in a large or complex/multi-country program. 
• Demonstrated experience in domestic and export livestock trade in the pastoralist and agro-pastoralist regions of the Horn of Africa required.  
• Experience leading private sector engagement programming required.  
• Experience in investment or partnership negotiation beneficial. 
• Experience working with private sector to identify and test alternative business approaches to better serve women market actors beneficial. 
• Experience in drought cycle management or anticipatory action beneficial. 
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive technical responsibility, including mentoring multi-sectorial teams focused on development assistance, preferably with an international NGO. 
• Experience in women economic empowerment or youth entrepreneurship beneficial. 
• In-depth understanding of gender, age, and other locally significant socio-cultural factors in the context of pastoralist and agro-pastoralist programming preferred.  
• Experience working with local government officials to identify and test alternative extension and public service approaches to better serve marginalized community members and market actors is preferred. 
• Demonstrated capacity to lead the collection, analysis, and utilization of information from a broad range of sources.  

Additional Skills and Capacities -Required 

• Experience working with major donors, SDC, AFD, SIDA, EU, World Bank or USAID. 
• Ability and willingness to travel freely throughout rural Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. 
• Demonstrated ability to foster commitment and build capacity among activity staff and in-country stakeholders.  
• Excellent written and persuasive oral communication skills in English required. 

Additional Skills and Capacities 

• Ability to self-manage and succeed in an integrated management model, with demonstrated proactive and flexible nature in resolving problems and finding innovative solutions.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members. Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with groups to produce high quality results. 
• Cultural sensitivity, patience, flexibility and ability to work well in a multi-sectoral and multi-cultural team and to work closely, understand and support private sector, government and civil society. 
• Ability to work in a fluid and sometimes-stressful environment with unexpected challenges. 
• Skills in participatory learning and action and facilitating collaborative problem solving.