Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.
In 2022 Mercy Corps launched a new global strategy, articulating how we will respond to communities impacted by conflict and climate change. While we continue to respond to humanitarian crises around the world, we also work to build communities’ resilience to shocks from conflict and climate change, increasing their ability to cope, adapt and thrive. We work in four key areas - peace and governance, food security, water security and climate resilience, and economic opportunity. The strategy also reconfirms our commitments to localisation and to gender, diversity and inclusion. These themes are central to all our work, including our ambitions to increase our profile, influencing and funding in Europe.
The Strategic Partnerships (SP) team in Europe works in close collaboration with the European Regional Programmes Team (RPT), RDs/CDs, New Initiatives (NI), Technical Support Unit (TSU), and the Europe-based Policy and Advocacy team to provide comprehensive European donor expertise to Mercy Corps teams. The SP team manages the HQ based relationship between specific donors/ funding mechanisms and Mercy Corps, to increase global agency knowledge of key European donors, funding streams and requirements to increase the quality of proposals, better position ourselves for unsolicited funding opportunities and implement high quality programmes.
The Global New Initiatives (NI) team takes a leading role supporting and enhancing Programme Development throughout the Mercy Corps world. The NI team: 1) leads the development of grant submissions to institutional donors and 2) carries out initiatives that enhance agency competitiveness. Team members lead and support strategic, high-priority proposals by: assisting country teams with pre-proposal positioning activities; assembling proposal teams; leading the proposal planning and development process; conducting on-site participatory assessment and design work; writing and editing technical proposals; working closely with the HQ and field finance team in the development of the proposal budget/cost application; reviewing proposals to assess clarity and competitiveness; and more.
The NI team enhances agency competitiveness through the development of tools and processes to improve proposal quality across the agency. With all of its activities, New Initiatives works in a highly collaborative manner with the agency as a whole.
The Programme Development Manager (PDM) will be a key member of the European SP team and work closely with and as part of the Global New Initiatives team. He/she will support programme development efforts by: 1) supporting prepositioning efforts; 2) Act as lead writer on medium to large proposal efforts to European institutional donors 3) Working with other members of the NI team, TSU, and wider programme team (to include field teams and HQ desk officers) to lead or support proposal development processes; and 4) Provide targeted reviews and editing support to field teams as needed. He/she will help enhance agency competitiveness by working with NI team members and other stakeholders to develop/improve tools and guidance on the proposal process and facilitate related training.
Programme and Proposal Development (approximately 85% time)
Responsible for leading and supporting all aspects of the development of strategic proposals - supported by the New Initiatives team. Special emphasis is on supporting proposal development for 1) medium/large proposal efforts for European Institutional donors and/or 2) complex or multi-country efforts. Extended travel to strategic countries to assist with program development efforts key to Mercy Corps growth targets. Strategic Pre-Positioning: Will lead and support efforts that help Mercy Corps Country Offices pro-actively influence donor planning and access funding.CONTRIBUTE TO ACTIVITIES THAT RAISE OVERALL AGENCY STATE OF PRACTICE (APPROXIMATELY 10%)
As a member of the NI team, the PDM will spend a small portion of his/her time supporting agency-wide initiatives that enable Mercy Corps to more efficiently produce competitive submissions. (e.g. developing improved reference materials for proposal writers, contributing to efforts that capture learnings and results from our programs, and/or assisting with networking activities). Participate in regular SP and European team meetings and workshops, contributing to the overall objectives as outlined in the European Strategic Plan. Keep up to date on relevant donor strategies being developed or applied by significant governmental, academic, and non-profit groups. Work with Mercy Corps to determine how the agency can best work with and/or influence such materials.Reports Directly To:
Senior Programme Development Manager
Works Directly With:
SP, RPT, NI, all other TSU teams, HQ, and field teams
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.
The PDM will demonstrate a winning track record in programme development, and bring flexibility, creativity, and enthusiasm to every project they undertake. The individual must have exceptional writing skills and the ability to multi-task, set priorities, pay attention to detail, and work under tight deadlines within complex team environments. The PDM will have a love of writing, strong interpersonal skills, and a healthy competitive spirit, and have the drive and initiative to contribute to internal team efforts. Being aware and sensitive to international development issues and diverse cultures is critical. The PDM will also be willing and able to travel for extended periods to work with country teams on programme development strategies and proposal efforts for a wide variety of donors.
This position can be located in either Edinburgh, Scotland, London, UK, or The Hague, Netherlands. The position requires travel approximately 35% time to the field where living conditions may be exceptionally rugged or be in volatile environments where security protocols will need to be followed. Team members must be ready to deploy to field environments on short notice in response to any emergency or crisis. When in the field the team member must able to work in remote settings, over weekends and/or evening as required by the schedule, and in settings with limited infrastructure, food options, and living conditions.
Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/temporary assignment to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws and customs, and adhere to Mercy Corps’ policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
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.