Results, Learning & Research Director

TL;DR

No role will place you closer to the heart of the learning agenda on the future of work in Africa.

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a global humanitarian organization working in over 40 countries at the front lines of today’s biggest crises. Mercy Corps has built a reputation for innovative economic development programming, particularly working with start-ups, and hosts a venture capital arm called Mercy Corps Ventures.

The Program / Department / Team

Mercy Corps has worked with jobtech for over a decade - investing, supporting product innovation, and conducting research on the opportunities for the sector. In late 2021, Mercy Corps launched the Jobtech Alliance, an ecosystem-building initiative around inclusive jobtech in Africa. We’ve just secured our first dedicated funding for the Jobtech Alliance, and are  recruiting a team to expand the Jobtech Alliance as the innovation and learning hub for inclusive jobtech in Africa. The three workstreams include: (1) An early-stage inclusive jobtech accelerator managed by our partners, BFA Global, under their Catalyst Fund brand; (2) An innovation-lab managed by Mercy Corps, where we partner with jobtech start-ups across 10 African markets to support strategy, product and operational innovations which make their services more viable and scalable, more inclusive and/or more impactful for the users they serve. The program will deploy a range of supports to start-ups including technical assistance, project delivery support and grant capital; and (3) A learning, research and community-building component.

The Position

The Results, Learning & Research Director is responsible for driving the learning agenda of the Jobtech Alliance, steering a learning community of actors interested in jobtech, and evaluating the results of the initiative itself. You will have a key role in driving the overall strategy of the Jobtech Alliance. Expect us to move fast, make mistakes, learn a lot, and re-start a few times. You’ll be traveling 20% of the time across different African markets.

Key Responsibilities

LEARNING STRATEGY AND AGENDA

• Develop an overarching learning strategy for the Jobtech Alliance covering the learning agenda and key questions, process for learning generation and dissemination, and engagement of both start-ups and other research actors in the process
• Continue to evolve both learning agenda and strategy for knowledge generation based on emerging experiences with the Jobtech Alliance

RESULTS STRATEGY AND MEASUREMENT

• Develop strategy and tools for data collection and measuring impact of the Jobtech Alliance at the level of jobseeker, business and ecosystem (to satisfy both above learning agenda and donor requirements)
• Oversee implementation of the results measurement system, including direct management of MEL Officer
• Lead development of evaluation reports for the Jobtech Alliance community and donors

MANAGING LEARNING PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY

• Develop relationships with existing research collaborators in the jobtech space (including the ILO) and new ones
• Host a network of jobtech researchers and learning stakeholders to share, collaborate and advance learning of the sector

LEARNING & RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Manage research projects responding to key learning themes. This could involve contracting other research partners and contributing technically, or managing research teams directly.

Supervisory Responsibility

MEL Officer

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director / Jobtech Alliance

Works Directly With: Start-ups, External partners, Venture Building Managers, Finance/Contracts Manager, Mercy Corps country teams, Mercy Corps Youth Employment Technical Support Unit

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 Qualification & Transferable Skills

• A minimum of 10 years experience across the economic development and start-up spaces. This could involve roles in consultancy, research, impact evaluation or adjacent functions. We welcome diversity of experience.
• Proven track record of setting up Monitoring & Evaluation systems to assess impact achieved by private sector partners.
• Visionary thinker, with capacity to see key themes in an emerging sector and set a trendworthy learning agenda.
• Demonstrated capacity to manage relationships and partnerships with other researchers or research organizations.
• Outstanding analytical capacity, with capacity to bring clarity for others and make quick decisions.
• Experience working in or with jobtech platforms is a strong plus.
• Competence in French is a strong plus

 Success Factors

You are a visionary thought leader, who has an acute attention to detail. You can see emerging themes coming out of start-ups sectors and always crave more data to answer the sector’s most pressing questions. You work well with others, both in your team, and with other organizations - you fundamentally believe in the benefit of collaboration in learning. You love getting your hands dirty.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

This role is for people with right to work in Nairobi, Kenya.

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.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

Mercy Corps does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process.