Consultant at Mercy Corps

Tender No: MCK/NBO/002/2019

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Correspondence Language(s): English

Background: Mercy Corps is a leading implementer of employment programmes in Kenya and across the globe supporting vulnerable beneficiaries, in particular youth, to access new or enhanced employment opportunities.

These programs aim to emphasize a market systems development (MSD) approach that considers how the entire labor market supports or constrains access and opportunity for job seekers- who are our key beneficiaries- in order to inform interventions that address constraints and strengthen labor markets.

Those interventions range from skills building for job seekers (addressing supply-side issues), to job creation through creation of formal wage employment opportunities and support to informal entrepreneurs (demand-side), to interventions focused on job-matching and linkages (intermediation).

We recognize that there are multiple opportunities/challenges to implementing these programs in Kenya, which include:

• Dynamic donor landscape focused on the youth employment challenge including interest from bilateral donors as well as corporate and foundation donors.
• Competitive environment with many NGOs and private sector actors with compelling strategies competing for donor resources.
• Multiple Mercy Corps initiatives including traditional donor-supported programs, social venture support to high-potential entrepreneurs, and innovative hybrid programs, some of which overlap on both partners and beneficiaries.
• Cross-cutting nature of youth employment programming, with virtually all of our livelihoods programs in the region including activities related to youth employment. These include agriculture programs that consider on- and off-farm jobs, programs that support last-mile product access that include developing distribution networks, or refugee integration programs that have context-specific skills building and employment activities.

Underlying all of this work is the growing importance and influence of technology in strengthening labor markets. We are seeing increasing opportunities to use technology to enable stronger labor markets (i.e. web-based job matching platforms), to drive new kinds of self-employment (informal gig work), and to support tech jobs (i.e. programming and freelancing). This exploding dynamic is especially impactful in Nairobi and other large cities and is disrupting traditional roles and functions within labor markets.

Given this context, we have identified the need for immediate support to respond and position Mercy Corps to take advantage of upcoming business development opportunities, and facilitate better regional positioning and coordination around programs that focus on or incorporate activities to promote youth employment.