Consultant - Crisis Analysis Business Development - Remote

Description

Background:

Crisis Analysis - Syria (CA-SYR) supports MC Syria’s programming in four key areas: programs, strategy, advocacy, and security. CA-SYR’s analytical unit monitors social media, communicates with partners, validates data through primary sources, and interfaces with relevant international organizations in order to gather and collate relevant conflict, access, and stakeholder information. CA-SYR focuses on humanitarian and security strategic analysis, both individual incidents and trends, present and forecasted, and then links this with its respective impact on the local population. CA-SYR, therefore, analyzes social, political, economic and security issues, including underlying factors that trigger conflict and displacement such as governance and service provision, war economy dynamics, past displacement patterns, local, regional, and international politics, social identity and inter-communal relationships, and Syrian modern history. CA-SYR also serves as a real-time information hub; screens potential partners; assesses programmatic, partner, and operational risk; identifies and maps stakeholders; and maintains a mapped database displaying program locations, the locations of commodities and their values, and disaggregates this data by donor and risk threshold.

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, and in more than 40 countries worldwide, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Purpose / Project Description:

The CA-SYR Business Development Consultant will help guide CA-SYR senior management in navigating the ever-shifting donor landscape and identify potential opportunities - both institutional and non-institutional - for fundraising. S/he will work closely with the CA-SYR team to pre-position Mercy Corps Syria with donors and prepare for funding opportunities, and develop and disseminate internal and external communications products. The consultant will support in creating promotional materials, mapping potential donors and associated entry points, and creating a system for scanning and scoping potential funding opportunities. The consultancy involves strategic thinking, vision, and dedication to establishing/refining internal and external communications strategies, and strategies for visualizing/conveying information to various internal and external audiences, within Syria, the region, and globally. The Crisis Analysis Business Development Consultant will report to the CA-SYR Director while working closely with unit managers and other senior staff within Mercy Corps Syria.

Consultant Objectives:

• Encourage more systematic fundraising and external engagement
• Provide guidance and direction for CA-SYR program development
• Provide thorough and in-depth donor mapping and fundraising strategy in anticipation of handover to appropriate CA-SYR staff for continuity

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

• Interact, interview, and collaborate with CA-SYR and other direct stakeholders (MC Syria staff, regional, etc)
• Provide coherence, strategy, and organization to CA-SYR’s external engagement
• Draft materials based on CA-SYR core competencies/capacities, value-add, and overall purpose/objective
• Undertake extensive desk research on donor priorities, funding capacities, current projects/programs, and potential entry points
• Ad-hoc proposal writing support, for either live opportunities and to create ‘off-the-shelf’ materials

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will deliver:

• Compose promotional materials (prospectus, capacity statement, standardized pitch decks with talking points, etc) for internal and external communications purposes, including CA-SYR website content.
• At the conclusion of the consultancy, a presentation to CA-SYR and Mercy Corps Syria senior staff to outline the best use of materials developed as well as a prognosis of future opportunities for Crisis Analysis
• If and when possible, support proposal writing for potential funding opportunities and/or standardized text (e.g., concept notes, either generic or specific to thematic/topical priority areas) for use in future proposals.
• Create a system to better plan, track, and prioritize external engagement
• Undertake and document extensive donor mapping of institutional and non-institutional/traditional donors that currently or may potentially fund crisis analysis in Syria to include generating a pipeline for potential opportunities (identifying and engaging with points of contact, planning/coordinating engagements, etc)

Timeframe / Schedule:

Timeframe: Two to three months, part-time as necessary. Total of 45 days total.

• Deliverable 2: 15 days
• Deliverable 5: 5 days
• Deliverable 1: 10 days
• Deliverable 4: 10 days
• Deliverable 3: 5 days

The Consultant will report to:

CA-SYR Director

The Consultant will work closely with:

CA-SYR unit managers, managing editor

Required Experience & Skills:

• Ability to conduct oneself with sensitivity and respect toward others.
• Understanding of donor landscape related to disaster assistance, humanitarian, early recovery, stabilization, and/or development.
• Ability to work autonomously and in an organized, coherent, and strategic manner
• Demonstrated experience in business development for research, assessment, and analysis-focused funding
• Strong, persuasive English-language communication skills - particularly written.
• At least 5 years of experience in proposal writing, programme development, donor relations management, or other related experience.
• Ability to work and interact with a diverse staff from different ethnicities and backgrounds.
• Demonstrated experience in external engagement strategies and donor mapping.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

A chieving 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 w ork of their lives.

W e 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

W e 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 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 at all times and in all in-country venues.