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.
Department Summary
The Strategic Institutional Partnerships (SIP) Team in Europe leads on the development and delivery of donor engagement strategies and plans, focusing on priority donors across Europe. France has been a key partner of Mercy Corps since 2012. Under our new global strategy and the European Strategic Plan, we are looking to deepen and expand our relationship with France as a donor and policy maker.
The Position
The Senior Strategic Partnerships Officer (FRANCE) is a key member of our Strategic Partnerships team, responsible for providing comprehensive support to growing our portfolio of funding with French institutional donors. The role will ensure Mercy Corps’ teams have the accurate and up-to-date information on AFD Group and CDCS guidelines and standards for programmes, and will support proposal development efforts, working closely with country and regional teams to develop successful applications for French donors funding.
Essential Responsibilities
DONORS INTELLIGENCE:
Monitor and analyse relevant trends and developments related to French funding policies and provide advice to Regional Programme Teams (RPT) and Country Offices on opportunities that align with Mercy Corps’ programmatic priorities.
Coordinate with the RPT to participate in AFD / CDCS briefings in Paris and country offices.
Monitor funding calls (AFD), share information, and call briefs with the relevant teams.
PROJECT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Develop protocols for effective information sharing and communication on CDCS, AFD, PROPARCO and Expertise France funding opportunities across the organisation.Update and maintain guidelines for proposal development for French donors funding instruments. Provide support and expertise to country and regional offices on partnerships with French donors, programme standards and guidelines. Liaise with programmes and country teams as needed to support proposal development or/and preposition for funding opportunities from French donors. Collaborate with the RPT, country teams and Technical Support Unit (TSU) to contribute to the development of strategic and high quality proposals, ensuring alignment with donor priorities and guidelines. Support could include reviewing compliance to the guidelines, advice on technical resources / themes, visibility, etc. Coordinate internal selection processes for global CDCS or AFD calls. Maintain French programmes pipeline/portfolio overview.REPRESENTATION AND COORDINATION:
Represents Mercy Corps in relevant forums, events and meetings in Paris essentially and other European capital cities when needed. Represent MC in dialogues with CDCS, AFD on regulatory frameworks, programme and open opportunities briefings, and partnership development. Participate in coordination mechanisms with peer organisations and networks, such as Coordination Sud Members. Maintain collaborative relationships with existing partner organisations and explore innovative and adapted partnership opportunities as appropriate in coordination with country offices where relevant. Support country teams and regional teams in establishing and building relationships with the French donors in our programme countries, remotely or via field visits. Build new and maintain existing visual material in coordination with country teams for visits, presentations and meetings with French donors. Planning, organising and hosting visits/visitors - coordinating with other RPT, SIP, P&A, scheduling meetings, briefing notes, prep meetings with the teams, accompanying visitors to the meetings.LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT:
Contribute to the development of capacity building and knowledge sharing initiatives to strengthen the skills and knowledge of project teams.
Develop or maintain/update tools, platforms, and internal workflows for efficient donor compliance. This includes maintaining donor pages, updating and publishing internal guidance tools.
Contribute to the documentation of lessons learned, best practices, and success stories from AFD-CDCS funded projects.
PORTFOLIO SUPPORT
Identify any concerns with programme implementation, highlight those to senior management, and ensure any common challenges across the portfolio are addressed through the efficient use of resources.
Organise regular lessons’ learning sessions across countries and regions to maximize the potential impact of the whole portfolio.
Support country leadership and programmes teams to engage with french donors when addressing programmatic challenges to ensure a best practice approach across all countries and regions.
Establish a portfolio oversight function to ensure that current french funded programmes have adequate technical support in line with the donor’s expectations and programme design, with a specific focus on market systems/economic/rural development, and environment/climate.
GENERAL
Take responsibility for own administration, devise and implement appropriate processes and procedures to achieve agreed targets.
Take initiative to engage with programmes, regional and country team to champion French donors funding opportunities.
Undertake additional work as required and respond to organisational priorities.
Contribute to the development of SIP team strategy.
Supervisory Responsibility: None.
Reports Directly To: Senior Representative for France and Switzerland.
Works Directly With: SIP team, RPT, P&A team, Technical Support Units (TSU), Compliance Team.
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 or Master's degree in international development, humanitarian assistance, or a related field.
Experience and success in engaging with European donors, AFD, CDCS, Expertise France.
Strong understanding of French donors structures, funding priorities, and regulatory frameworks.
Proven ability to build and nurture partnerships, with excellent networking and relationship-building skills.
Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to convey complex issues effectively.
Experience working in an international, multicultural environment, with field experience from humanitarian operations as a plus.
Prior experience in an INGO, UN agency or a European donor, AFD, CDCS is advantageous.
Strong skills for networking, external facing, and negotiation.
Ability to work effectively with others in a team including remotely
Superior verbal and written communications skills in English and French with ability to analyse and synthesize complex issues.
Excellent computer skills, including office Excel, Power Point, Word, shared documents applications and effective document design and internet research.
Ability to work under pressure and adapt to changing circumstances.
Success Factors
The successful candidate will have superlative interpersonal and communication skills and bring flexibility, creativity to every project undertaken. The individual will have solid writing skills in both French and English and the ability to multi-task, pay attention to detail, and work under tight deadlines within complex team