Director of Research - Peace and Governance - US or Any Mercy Corps Location

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.

The Program / Department / Team
Mercy Corps is committed to generating and using evidence to understand the contexts where we work, improve our effectiveness, and to enhance the humanitarian and development community’s ability to address the world’s most complex challenges. The Research and Learning team advances Mercy Corps’ commitment to produce and use evidence to improve our impact, scale what works, and influence others. We know that our external influence and internal learning are most effective when underpinned by substantive research and analysis on issues where we have expertise and a credible voice.

Mercy Corps 10-year strategy– the Pathway to Possibility–focuses our efforts on addressing the conflict and climate change as drivers of fragility, and partnering with communities, local NGOs, governments, and the private sector to move from crisis to opportunity. As a key part of achieving this, we have prioritized strengthening Peace and Good Governance as part of our vision for supporting communities as they work towards a more inclusive, resilient future.

Mercy Corps has recently developed a global evidence and learning agenda on Peace and Good Governance, which builds on our existing body of research in this area, and which outlines priority research themes and questions to support learning and influence under the Pathway to Possibility Strategy.

The Position
Mercy Corps requires a Director of Research for the organization’s research and evidence efforts on our Peace and Governance outcome. This priority includes a number of themes: community mobilization, civil society strengthening, social cohesion, preventing violent extremism, climate security, and gender, peace, and security. The Director of Research will lead and oversee Mercy Corps’ research and learning portfolio on these topics and will manage a team of researchers, along with a broader network of consultants and external research partners.

A key element of this role is mobilizing the organization’s internal expertise, analysis, and research to understand and improve program impact, identify scalable solutions, and influence external priorities and decisions. The position engages strategically across the organization and externally to develop and drive research that is responsive to the major policy debates and knowledge gaps around program theories and practice. To this end, the Research Director works closely with Mercy Corps’ Policy and Advocacy team, and collaborates with Mercy Corps’ Program and Technical Excellence Unit, Media and Communications, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, and Crisis Analytics teams. In addition, they work closely with program and country and regional teams to identify relevant questions, ensure that evidence is being used in improving program strategies, and that new programs are designed to generate evidence for further learning and influence.

The role will involve developing and managing original research products, in consultation with members from other teams. They will lead research and drafting of major research reports, shorter briefs and quick-turn around analytical pieces. The Director will contribute to new research grant opportunities and partnerships, to help expand the scope and impact of our research and influence around Peace and Governance.

The position serves as a public thought leader, engaging externally with government, think tank, academic and institutional partners, to advance our evidence and analysis on Peace and Governance issues. The Research Lead dedicates time to raising the profile of Mercy Corps’ research and evidence by giving high profile talks, participating in panels and research networks, and attending key external forums, as well as cultivating and deepening relationships with donors, policy makers, academics, and other evidence consumers. The position writes timely analysis, thought pieces, and other products, which maximize the impact of and learnings from Mercy Corps research.

Essential Responsibilities

Research and Learning Team Leadership and Management

Evidence generation

Partnership and resource development

Representation and promotion of evidence use

Supervisory Responsibility
Supervises two full time researchers. Additional consultants, research partners, researchers, research assistants, and interns as required.

Accountability
Reports Directly To: Senior Managing Director- Research, Evidence and Learning
Supervises: Senior Researcher, Peace and Conflict, Researcher- Peace, Conflict, and Governance

Works Directly With: Relevant Program and Technical Excellence team members, Other Research and Learning Team members, Policy and Advocacy team, Regional and Country Teams, Media and Communications Team, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Crisis Analytics 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 programs and research.

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills
The ideal candidate will possess many, though perhaps not all, of the following qualifications and characteristics:

Success Factors
The Director must have strong leadership, teamwork, and communication skills, be familiar with a range of research methods, and have strong networks with academic and policy audiences in peace, conflict, and governance . The successful candidate will be a self-starter, demonstrating leadership in leading setting and managing strategy, partnership development, team management, and external communications. They will show passion for the role that INGOs can play in using evidence to influence policy and practice. They will demonstrate flexibility in a non-hierarchical environment and an outstanding ability to communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles, to follow procedures, and to meet deadlines. They will have experience in influencing different stakeholders and building solid working relationships with other teams, departments and at all levels of an organization. They are multi-tasker with the proven ability to organize and prioritize competing priorities and demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving. They have the proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, be accountable for results and understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details. The individual must have high proficiency for working in varied cultural, political, and religious environments, and must be able to travel and work successfully in austere environments and maintain poise in stressful situations.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position can be based in any Mercy Corps HQ or regional office, or remotely from their home base. The role requires up to 30% travel to support research planning, production, and communication. Mercy Corps team members represent the organization both during and outside work hours when deployed in a country office or on a visit/TDY to a country office.. 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.

Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

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.

As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential US-Based employees. This is done following the conclusion of recruitment and prior to assuming full employment.

Our screening process is designed to be transparent and completed in partnership with new Team Members. You will have the opportunity to disclose any prior convictions at the conclusion of the recruitment process before the check is initiated. We ask that you do not disclose any prior convictions in your application materials or during the recruitment process.

Covid-19 Vaccine Policy for US-Based Employees
Mercy Corps has determined that, in an effort to protect the health, safety, and well-being of all Mercy Corps employees working in the United States, all U.S.-based employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, regardless of prior COVID-19 infection status. This policy is necessary to ensure not only the safety of our workforce, but the ongoing functionality of the organization.

This policy will be revised as needed to comply with federal, state, and local requirements, and to respond to changing guidance from public health authorities.

For new employees this requirement goes into effect within 10 business days of employment. Team members that travel are expected to comply with host-country requirements, including vaccinations. Failure to comply may impact your employment. Proof of vaccination or exemption must be provided.