Description
Background:
Mercy Corps is a global team working together on the front lines of crisis, disaster, poverty, and climate change to create a world where everyone can prosper. Beyond delivering aid to meet urgent needs, we develop long-term solutions to make lasting change possible. Our mission: to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities.
Purpose / Project Description:
In response to significant shifts in the global funding landscape, Mercy Corps is undertaking a โFuture Stateโ planning initiative to transform its financial and operating structure. A key element of this strategy is a portfolio model that blends traditional grant-funded programs and private philanthropy with innovative, market-oriented initiatives. This model is designed to attract and engage a more diverse set of funders, including impact investors, corporate partners, and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). Achieving this will require rethinking not only how we finance our work, but also how we design, structure, and deliver it for greater scalability and investment-readiness
While Mercy Corps has a long history of impactful projects in areas like climate resilience, market systems development, and economic opportunity, our internal expertise has primarily focused on securing and managing institutional grants. Given Mercy Corpsโ experience implementing a wide range of innovative programming (including through a social impact investment fund of our own), we believe that this is the moment to explore how these initiatives can be expanded upon to evolve into a more significant portfolio that responds to the interests and demands of alternative (e.g. non-grants based) financing mechanisms.
Given this context, Mercy Corps seeks to hire a subject expert in development finance to help our organization take intentional and well-informed actions to move us toward a position of increased competitiveness over the coming years. Mercy Corps has already been doing preliminary work to pre-position in this area; therefore, the consultant will be expected to complement and align with these efforts.
Consultant Objectives:
The primary objective of this consultancy is to develop a framework and a set of practical tools for country, regional, and global teams that will enable Mercy Corps' leadership to effectively position and sell our programmatic work to a new audience of non-traditional funders. The consultant will provide an analysis of how the types of interventions DF donors/investors are looking for match Mercy Corpsโ existing and potential future portfolio. The consultant will also provide specific recommendations for what are the best modalities to pursue to successfully translate our impact into investable and scalable models, particularly in fragile contexts where MC has a comparative advantage. The ultimate goal is to provide a clear, actionable blueprint for engaging with new financial partners.
Consultant Activities:
The consultant will be expected to undertake the following activities:
Programmatic Analysis and Value Proposition: Conduct an analysis of Mercy Corpsโ offerings, such as Climate & Water, Economic Development, Energy, etc and map them against interventions that are most relevant to impact investors, corporate partners, DFIs and other target donors. This would lead to identification/validation of the approaches and results that are most aligned with the interests of impact investors, DFIs, and other private funders. The analysis will then articulate Mercy Corpsโ value proposition in a way that the organization can use with new target donors/investors. The analysis would also include the geographic areas in which these interventions would be most likely to yield results.
Develop a Set of Recommended Modalities: Based on the analysis, create a clear programmatic framework with recommended delivery modalities, inclusive of risks associated with each modality. This framework should outline how Mercy Corps can implement its work, for example:
As a technical assistance provider to a variety of stakeholders and the public and private sector spheres.
As a community facilitator and de-risking partner for investors.
As a manager of blended finance vehicles or impact bonds.
As an incubator for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This work would also include an in-depth analysis of the types of partnerships which may be available to us. For example, what are the contracting mechanisms; when is it better to be part of a deal with multiple stakeholders versus when are we able to drive the deal; what are the pros and cons and risks of these different types of partnerships; what kind of evidence is needed for success/scalability; what spaces should we be present in to more proactively engage with these partners; and what are resources and skillsets are needed to successfully manage these partnerships. Mercy Corps has already undertaken some work in this area, and the consultant is expected to deepen and complement this work.
Complement Donor Research: Mercy Corps is currently in the process of researching DFIs, MDBs and other key donors/investors in this space. The consultant will complement and deepen this research by helping us identify the potential market demand for Mercy Corpsโ value proposition and our potential fit with the target donors/investors. This will include information on how these donors have or have not worked with INGOs, how their priorities relate to our work, and an analysis of potential competitors in this space to increase our understanding of how best to position ourselves.
Investment-readiness assessment: Mercy Corps recognizes that work will be required to define what being โdevelopment investmentโ ready means internally. A summary document of how Mercy Corps could approach this is required, including recommendations around key domains which would help assess different dimensions of required internal capacity and readiness (e.g., risk appetite, leadership confidence).
Consultant Deliverables:
- Value Proposition and Recommended Modalities Presentation outlining diverse ways to package Mercy Corps' programmatic work for non-traditional funders.
- Complementary Donor Research information to be added to Mercy Corpsโ own donor research.
- Investment Readiness Assessment detailing key areas for consideration and key recommendations to ensure Mercy Corps is ready to successfully embark in this direction.
- A Strategic Written Report & Presentation to summarize the findings/analysis of Mercy Corps' value proposition, programmatic areas, detailed explanations of the proposed modalities, how best to sell them to new donors/investors, and investment/readiness assessment.
Possible Additional Deliverables
Mercy Corps also seeks to develop internal capacity to understand and engage in the development finance space. The consultant would design and deliver a series of at least three short, targeted workshops/ webinars with clear and aligned learning outcomes which will advance this work. This will include building knowledge of this space and speaking the language of development finance, how best to sell potential initiatives, and to socialize the key deliverables, and identify future learning needs and how they can be addressed and next steps. This workshop/webinar would target key leaders and relevant stakeholders such as, but not limited to, regional leadership, country leaders, the Institutional Donor Engagement team, and the MC Leadership Team.
Timeframe / Schedule:
Anticipated Start Date: Week of August 18, 2025
Duration: Approximately 9 weeks but negotiable.
Anticipated Delivery of Final Product: Week ending October 17, 2025
The Consultant will report to:
Chief Operating Officer and the Strategy Realization VP
The day-to-day administrative point of contact for scheduling and logistics will be the Senior Director, Operations Management.
The Consultant will work closely with:
Mercy Corps Leadership and Executive Leadership Teams
Regional Leadership, including Regional and Deputy Regional Directors
Institutional Donor Engagement team
Country Leadership
Required Experience & Skills:
Essential Experience:
Significant experience in structuring programs or investments for Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), impact investors, or similar entities.
Deep understanding of the development finance landscape, including blended finance, impact bonds, and venture philanthropy.
Proven ability to analyze complex programmatic work and translate it into clear, compelling investment propositions and partnership models.
Excellent communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to engage senior leaders and build capacity within teams.
Desired Experience:
Knowledge of INGOs is an advantage but not a prerequisite.
The ideal candidate will have a demonstrated record of accomplishment in the development finance and international development sectors.
Team Engagement and Effectiveness
Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.
We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.
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. 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.