Mercy Corps Hiring for Consultancy – Analyst, Crisis Analysis at Amman, Jordan Full Time

                                                                                                                                                                                        Timeframe / Schedule: 

Start Date: July 2022

Timeframe: 2 months

Deliverables Schedule: To be determined in consultation with Global Crisis Analytics and the ISRY Program team.                                                                                                                                                                

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organisation 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.

Mercy Corps’ Crisis Analytics teams aggregate and analyze data to improve decision making and access in complex crises. The teams support our programming in Syria, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and other locations. The teams directly contribute to data-driven decision making by layering information from primary sources, open sources and responders’ programmatic data, where it is analyzed by subject matter experts and data scientists. This analysis is grounded in Mercy Corps’ status as an operational NGO, keeping products constructive and relevant.

Typical products and services range from informal briefings to weekly products, contributions to risk assessments, in-depth assessment of the political economy of a defined geography, deep dives on specific thematic, etc., ranging in themes from conflict to market systems to governance, in line with programmatic needs.

Working in Jordan since 2003, Mercy Corps implements a variety of programs focused on economic development, agriculture, water conservation, community strengthening, local governance, education and individual relief and development. Mercy Corps Jordan focuses on building a future in which all people feel secure, believe in the goodness of communities and institutions around them, and are on a sustainable path toward economic self-reliance. The country office operates with an experienced team of 175 staff working across a dozen grants and programs from a wide range of governmental, UN, private sector, individual and foundational donors. Programming is currently implemented in all 12 of the country’s governorates.

Purpose / Project Description:

Mercy Corps has partnered with Axiom International to deliver a two-year Inclusive Security and Resilient Youth (ISRY) Project in Jordan with funding from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).

As a critical part of the project’s implementation phase, Mercy Corps will harness its internal analysis capabilities to begin issue-based mapping and analysis that will complete the final program design. In particular, the team will develop conflict analysis that incorporates youth perspectives and the mapping/analysis of barriers to more productive engagement between youth, women, and the security sector. Analysis will be generated through the team’s position at the nexus of different information sources and perspectives, with experience working in the shifting dynamics of a conflict-affected context, providing comprehensive analysis to inform conflict-sensitive programming.

The Crisis Analytics component will identify and detail conflict actors and drivers, synthesizing contextual knowledge from a local network of field researchers with existing datasets to provide a high-level overview of formal and informal conflict dynamics. A map of conflict actors and stakeholders will be analyzed and categorized by function and involvement (primary, secondary, tertiary etc.) and line up key informant interviews from a wide spectrum of the population, including diversity of gender and socio-economic background, with particular emphasis on engaging youth perspectives. The interviews will inform the analysis of the root causes and drivers of violence and draw on the knowledge and beliefs of the environment, extracting, prioritizing and analyzing them.

The team will build on its existing relationships with key contacts in the security sector and with women and youth in local communities secured by Mercy Corps established operational presence in Jordan. Maintaining active conversations with a diverse network facilitates analysts’ ability to gain multiple insights into the challenges and opportunities existing in the current interactions between the state security and tribal justice systems.

The team will leverage ‘big data’ insights into trends and patterns of the interplay between formal and tribal justice systems. The team will integrate data from third party data streams relevant to the crisis – from social media trends to established humanitarian indicators – to track the intersections between different dynamics and inform program decisions through the production of analytical products. 

Consultant Objectives :

The consultant will undertake timely and comprehensive research of the conflict dynamics in Jordan, with particular emphasis on youth and women engagement with the formal and tribal security sector. He/She/They will leverage their existing understanding and network, as well as their experience in conflict and stakeholder mapping, to undertake research, develop and contribute to the project’s conflict analysis and conflict actor/stakeholder mapping.

The consultant will work with the Crisis Analytics team, Jordan Country Team, ISRY program managers and Axiom International to undertake research and analysis that feeds into the successful design and implementation of the ISRY program. The consultant will have a strong understanding of the security sectors in Jordan, as well as the development sector, and meaningfully engage with the ISRY program managers to identify relevant and valuable trends for the project.

The consultant will have the principal responsibility of the drafting of the deliverables. The consultant will ensure that all deliverables are at a high standard and be able to distil quantitative and qualitative research into operationally relevant and clear analytical outputs. This quality will come from an experience in analysis, data collection, local networks, and a collaborative and open-minded approach to problem solving.  The Analyst will adopt a flexible approach and a willingness to use non-traditional tools and information sources to generate insights within a dynamic environment. The consultant will be comfortable with employing both local, granular knowledge from local field research networks and using ‘big data’ tools, with AI-driven predictive modelling capabilities.

 

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

• Develop an understanding of the priorities of ISRY, using this to translate ISRY’s priorities into research requirements for the team and the approach of their analysis.
• Be a critical player in the production of time-sensitive, data-driven analytical products to support conflict-sensitive programmatic design and decision-making.
• Leverage a network of relationships across Jordan in order to leverage diverse perspectives and deepen insights.
• Develop and draft analytical products that meet the needs of the ISRY program.
• Collaborate throughout the analytical project with all colleagues in the team.
• Engage with any review processes of the deliverables.
• Ensure that outputs meet the unique needs of its target audiences and meet Mercy Corps’ minimum standards for Crisis Analytics work.
• Other activities related to data collection and analysis as directed.
• Participate in all team meetings as directed, to share knowledge, highlight any program-sensitive contextual developments and understand the needs of the ISRY program managers.
• Present findings to internal and external parties as required.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will be responsible for:

Analysis Phases:

1. Preparation and Design

Main Task: Identifying the purpose, scope and methodological approach of the conflict analysis exercise.

Main Deliverable: Submit the analysis (ToRs), and the analysis Action plan, collaboratively with ISRY team.

2. Data Collection and Analysis

Main Tasks:

• Undertaking research, analysis, and the drafting of a series of products that feed into and support the finalization of the program design.
• Participating in all meetings with the Crisis Analytics and ISRY program teams.

Main Deliverables:

• Submit the Stakeholder and Context Analysis
• Submit a conflict analysis, with particular emphasis on youth perspective to determine the localized drivers of violence and tensions.
• Submit mapping of the barriers Analysis to engagement between youth, women and the formal and informal security sectors. Mapping will include disaggregation of the function and involvement of stakeholders and actors.
• Submit all the associated Minutes of Meetings to MC relevant team.

3. Validation and Quality Assurance

Main Task: Engaging with all review processes of deliverables.

Main Deliverable: Reviewed Consultancy Completion Report (CCR).

4. Report writing and Information Sharing

Main Task: Submit the final consultancy Report upon the CCR.

Main Deliverables:

• Conduct Information Sharing Exercise with ISRY Team.
• Submit the final Report. (Conflict Analysis Reviewed version, Any Missing data and documents as agreed with MC team.)

The Consultant will report to:

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Senior Coordinator.

The Consultant will work closely with:

Global Crisis Analytics; Jordan Country Team; ISRY Program Managers; Data for Impact Advisor

Required Experience & Skills:

• Relevant academic qualifications, with 3+ years in conflict analysis, conflict-sensitive research, or other related fields.
• Able to demonstrate experience in a variety of formal and informal approaches to data collection and analysis.
• Demonstrated capacity for developing analysis that supports program design or decision making.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with a demonstrated high capacity for writing in English on technical subjects.
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment with high-levels of collaboration.
• Experience working within the development/humanitarian sector and understanding of humanitarian principles and the humanitarian system.

 

• Demonstrated understanding and ability to engage with networks of information sources across different sectors, groups and locations.
• Verbal and written fluency in English and Arabic.
• Competency in internet and Microsoft Office systems including Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Competency in social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp.
• Ability to work within a remote team.
• Good knowledge of Mercy Corps is an asset.

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

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 based on 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 team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging 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.