Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Specialist

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Specialist- Based in Madhesh Province

ABOUT MERCY CORPS

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action – helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future. Mercy Corps has been operating in Nepal since 2005, implementing programs in food security, agriculture, market development, financial services, youth engagement, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. We take a systems-based approach in our programming, with the aim of improving the lives and potential of vulnerable individuals and communities across Nepal.

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY

The Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance- The Alliance is an alliance of nine organizations including international NGOs, private sector, and academic organizations, who have come together with the support of the Zurich Foundation to drive better policy and practice to reduce the negative impact of floods on peoples’ and communities’ ability to thrive.

The Alliance finished its first phase in 2018, second phase in Dec 2023 and third phase will run till Dec 2027. During this time, the Alliance will take a system approach and implement a combination of pilot programs, research, knowledge management and work to influence community donors, policy makers, and practitioners to invest in climate resilience through:

• Strengthened DRRM and CCA governance in Province and Local Level.
• Increased financing Government’s financing on DRRM and CCA at all levels of government.
• Enhanced Private Sector’s role in supporting DRRM and CCA efforts.Mercy Corps is leading the ‘influencing and advocacy’ work within the Alliance, as well as making substantial contributions to work streams on knowledge management, research, and piloting innovative field programming with communities, private sector, and government. In Nepal, the Alliance is comprised of Mercy Corps and Practical Action. The DRR and CCA Specialist will be part of a dynamic international team and play a central role in advancing Alliance work in Nepal and globally.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY

The DRR and CCA Specialist assume responsibility for providing technical support to the Province Coordinator and Influencing and Communication Specialist, lead MEL function, and support quality assurance of intervention CRC. The position will directly reports to Program Manager. S/He will ensure alignment of the project activities with project’s Theory of Change and provide technical standards, guidance relevant to project activities, and support in developing relevant knowledge products, ensuring GESI to facilitate influencing actions in the community, municipality and province.

S/he will collaborate with Mercy Corps field-teams, “the alliance” partners at the province and community level (Practical Action), and interact with government, UN, and private sector representatives at province level. S/he will also work closely with the Managing Risk through Economic Development (MRED) Nepal team in Sudurpaschim province, Strengthening Anticipatory Action in Nepal (SAAN), as the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance program is one of Mercy Corps’ flagship resilience portfolios.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

The specific duties and responsibilities of the DRR and CCA Specialist include, but are not limited to the following,

Strategy and Vision (5%)

• Guide partner to include relevant actions within the project contributing to achieving country Strategy paper of MCN (Pathways to Possibility).
• Identify opportunities at province level for replication and scale up of project activities within and beyond MCN project areas.
• Provide necessary information from the community and province to the Business Development Team for developing projects/programs related to Disaster Risk Management, Climate Adaptation and Emergency Response.
• Identify capacity building needs partners e.g., personal development, and organizational needs, essential for implementation of projects.
• Prepare and regularly update stakeholder mapping and their actions related to climate and flood resilience in provinces and working municipalities.

Program Management (50%)

• Provide technical inputs to partners to enhance effectiveness for program implementation and program cycle management. E.g.: quality planning, stakeholder engagement and implementation of the project activities.
• Provide direct support to facilitate workshops and consultation meetings during formulation of relevant policies, information management, and emergency operation centers.
• Develop resource manuals, documents, guidance to facilitate quality implementation of the project activities not limiting the localization of information management system, its use for policy and planning at local and province level.
• Support to ensure timely production and use of knowledge products for advocacy and influencing actions at local, provincial and federal levels.
• Constantly support partner’s project team to align project activities with project’s Theory of Change, work plan and SWC project agreement of Climate Resilience for Communities.
• Support Province Coordinator to ensure targets, work plans and schedules for partners and provincial activities are achieved.
• Provide technical and management support to the partner in absence of, or complimenting province coordinator.

Influence and Representation (15%)

• Suggest and support Influencing and Communication Specialist to develop appropriate influencing materials for effective implementation of influencing strategies.
• Support Influencing and Communication Specialist and Province Coordinator to communicate and make best use of available knowledge products for timely implementation of influencing strategies and grab emerging opportunities.
• Support to ideate and innovate influencing actions to achieve influencing objectives.
• Document impact of influence at local and province level.
• Collaborate with Province Coordinator for impactful presence and regular coordination with key government, non-governmental, donor, private sector and stakeholders related to the climate and flood resilience agenda at provincial level.
• Collaborate with Province Coordinator to strengthen network in the province to establish and maintain strategic relations with relevant local and international stakeholders, to continually inform, challenge, and improve Mercy Corps’ advocacy, strategy, and program development.
• Coordinate with Province Coordinator to provide representation, at the discretion of the Program Manager and, or Director of Program, with relevant local and international governmental and non-governmental actors in the province.
• Provide strategic inputs for Mercy Corps Nepal’s policy and advocacy related to flood resilience, DRR and climate change adaptation at the provincial, and lead province level influencing and communications work in close collaboration with the global team.
• Present Mercy Corps’ and Zurich work with relevant INGO and government networks to display thought leadership and influence policies and programs related to flood resilience, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation at province level.
• Extend necessary technical support to province coordinator to cover their role for influencing and representation as and when necessary.

Knowledge Management & Monitoring and Evaluation (30%)

• Lead to maintain Mercy Corps’ minimum MEL standard for the project.
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of advocacy and communication work at province level.
• Support Influencing and communication specialist to implement knowledge management plan.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Extend support to province coordinators to cover their role of finance and compliance management when needed.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Provide direct technical support to the partner staff in coordination with the province coordinator and partner PCs on project’s key technical areas.
• Support Province Coordinators to build capacity for partner staff.

OTHERS

• Conduct himself/herself professionally and personally to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Mercy Corps as a humanitarian agency is expected to respond as and when a crisis and humanitarian situation engulfs. As an MC employee, all staff are expected to be part of humanitarian and emergency response in addition to their regular roles and responsibilities in such situations.
• Other duties as assigned by the direct Supervisor and or the Country Director.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

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 to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.
Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values always and in all in-country venues.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

N/A

ACCOUNTABILITY

• Reports Directly to: Program Manager
• Works Directly with: CRC team members, and partners in Sudurpaschim and Madhesh,

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. Master’s degree is preferred.
• 3-5 years of experience successfully managing projects, understanding of climate and flood resilience.
• Good knowledge of Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, and Resilience in community and all tier of government.
• Experience of partnership management, project management, community mobilization.
• Good coordination and communication skills.
• Experience of providing capacity building training and orientations to diverse teams.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to effectively handle multiple tasks, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
• Understanding system change, influencing, research, monitoring and evaluation and knowledge management is an added advantage.
• Team players can coordinate and facilitate tasks for program outcomes both internally and externally, with stakeholders including Alliance partners, national/sub-national/local governments, community groups, INGOs, NGOs, donors, UN, and others.
• English and Nepali proficiency (quality writing skills a plus).
• Demonstrated proficiency with the MS Office software (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is required.
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.

SUCCESS FACTORS

A successful DRR and CCA Specialist will develop appropriate resource materials and provide direct management and mobilize project resources for effective and efficient implementation of the project activities at local and province level to achieve the results. S/he will be able to coordinate and strongly influence community and provincial stakeholders to amplify projects’ influencing agenda. S/he should have the ability to travel frequently to remote areas and the capacity to develop and deliver training packages and tools as required in the project districts.

The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).