Economic Development Advisor – Financial Services (217645-927)

This position is based in either Portland, OR or Washington, DC, or another Mercy Corps HQ office

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

The Economic/Market Development Advisor-Financial Services is a part of the Economic and Market Development Technical Support Unit (TSU). The EMD TSU: a) supports income poverty reduction initiatives with a focus on enterprise development and job creation, b) works collaboratively on nexus points between economic development and conflict mitigation, governance; sustainable resource management and food security c) drives the integration of market-based solutions and private-sector partnerships into multi-sector programming and d) builds agency capacity to design, implement, measure and document market driven interventions.

Mercy Corps recognizes access to financial services and financial literacy as critical components to economic and market development and seeks to increase our expertise in; value chain financing; credit and savings associations; micro-insurance; out-grower schemes; remittances; financial institution linkages; loan fund, reserve funds and guarantees; and investment capital. Under the lead of the Social innovations Department, we support mobile banking and the use of mobile technology in economic and market development interventions. This position does not include financial services related to microfinance institutional development or investment.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The EDM Financial Services Advisor, along with all team members in the EDM TSU, plays a key role in the areas of; economic and market development strategy, program and business plan design and development; technical support to interventions and measurement; and organizational learning.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Strategic Vision and Leadership:

Critical to this role is adherence to the principles of a pro-poor market development framework, Mercy Corps Vision for Change and Strategic Framework. The Financial Services Advisor will:

Provide technical leadership, guidance and development of policy and good practice of Mercy Corps’ interventions related to access to financial services

Participate in strategy discussions, standards development, branding materials and organization learning documents related to Mercy Corps’ ‘market-driven’ strategy

Identify, document, and communicate the financial services ideas, trends, and emerging capacities that fall in the intersection of Mercy Corps’ vision and the interests of partners

Collaboratively design and execute a brand strategy to position Mercy Corps as a leader in financial services in fragile and transitional contexts

Lead Mercy Corps’ institutional development on access to financial services, including expanding field teams’ understanding of the range of financial services opportunities

Explore and technically support access to financial services in non-traditional applications; i.e. inventory credit/warehouse financing, loan guarantees, savings facilities, micro-insurance, agricultural loan products and others as identified

Lead the effort to document, define, and systematize our approach to informal group savings and loan programs (VSLA) and build field capacity to implement according to current best practice

Coordinate with the Institutional Financial Services team on areas that overlap with their mandate of supporting Mercy Corps’ microfinance institutions and other institutional relationships and of structuring microfinance investments

Coordinate with the Social Innovations team on use of technology in financial services that enable access to underserved communities in countries in transition

Program and Business Plan Development & Support:

Provide support in program design and development both in the field and remotely. Lead proposal writing efforts as agreed upon

Provide support in business modeling and business plan development

Participate in internal Mercy Corps efforts to set and improve program development standards

Ensure best practice principles are incorporated into program design and implementation

Technically support on-going programming as requested

Build and maintain a community of practice of MC financial services practitioners

M&E and Impact Measurement

Ensure monitoring and evaluation efforts in access to financial services reflect best practice

Work in tandem with the M&E team to ensure indicators are relevant and accessible to programs, tools are created to effectively measure indicators and that staff capacity is built

Support activities to assess and document the impact of our financial services interventions

Representation & Partnership Development

Track strategies, interventions and best practices in the field of access to financial services

Collaboratively identify and nurture strategic partnerships with appropriate private sector actors and foundations to further achievement of Mercy Corps financial services’ goals

Participate in relevant fora including SEEP, CGAP, Microlinks, M4P Hub, and others as identified

Represent Mercy Corps’ financial services initiatives and actively engage in external and internal relationship building, providing intervention and relationship updates at meetings, academic events, conferences, media forums and other events as requested

Training & Mentoring

Provide technical assistance, training, and mentoring of field-based financial services teams

Assist with development of content and deliver training during field visits, regional meetings and other opportunities.

Organizational Learning

As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are invited to spend 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None.

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Economic and Market Development Director

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: TSUs, Program Operations, Resource Development, Institutional Financial Services and Social Innovations teams.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• Masters degree or experiential equivalent in relevant field
• 10+ years experience in access to financial services, pro-poor market-based approaches and/or economic recovery
• Preferred 5+ years management experience in field-based projects
• Demonstrated successful track record on proposal development and donor cultivation
• Demonstrated successful track record on private sector partnerships
• Proven excellence in leadership, self-motivation and effective interpersonal skills.
• Proven success working on matrixed teams and in non-hierarchical settings
• Proven success working with teams of diverse backgrounds
• Strong organizational and communication skills.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

• Self-starter, demonstrating leadership
• Flexibility in a non-hierarchical environment.
• Multi-tasker with the proven ability to organize and prioritize competing priorities
• Demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles, follow procedures, and meet deadlines
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving
• Ability to communicate and work with a variety of actors including corporations, high-net worth individuals, and private foundations.
• Proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and be accountable for results
• Ability to understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details
• Demonstrate a strong understanding for cultural, political and religious environments and be able to live and work successfully in those environments.
• Maintaining a sense of humor in stressful situations.

LOCATION/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

This position is based in either Portland, OR or Washington, DC, or another Mercy Corps HQ office. The position requires 30-40% travel within the US and internationally. Travel destinations may be insecure and/or with limited access to amenities.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps policies, procedures and values at all times.

Please apply directly at:

http://mercycorps.silkroad.com/epostings/submit.cfm?fuseaction=app.dspjo....

Mercy Corps is an AA/EOE.