Since 1979, we have helped people grappling with the toughest hardships survive – and then thrive. That’s the heart of our approach: We help communities turn crisis into opportunity. Throughout our history, Mercy Corps has demonstrated innovation, timeliness and the ability to adapt quickly to changing realities.
- Experience 3 years
- Location Abuja
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps Nigeria implements a variety of programs with the vision of a Nigeria in which all people are empowered, engaged, resilient and secure. The organization’s programs are implemented in twelve states, mainly in northern Nigeria. Our work covers the following sectors: economic development, livelihoods/food security, adolescent girls & boys empowerment, financial resilience, conflict mitigation and humanitarian response. Common themes include community engagement, inclusive development, gender, and working in partnership with local government, the private sector and civil society actors.
To serve the work of these programs and improve decision making and access, Mercy Corps is committed to the goal of better understanding the contexts where it works to deliver better impact for the people and communities we serve. Only by understanding, in real time, not only what has happened but the political, social and economic dynamics underlying conflict and displacement can we hope to optimize impact and influence. In addition to Nigeria, the Analytics teams support our programming in Syria, Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Venezuela, and other countries. The teams directly contribute to data-driven decision making by layering information from primary sources, open sources and responders’ programmatic data, where it is analysed by subject matter experts and data scientists. This analysis is ultimately grounded in Mercy Corps’ status as an operational NGO, keeping products constructive and relevant.
General Position Summary
The Nigeria Analytics Team (NAT) Lead is responsible for managing and driving the vision and strategy for the analytics team through the development and delivery of complex analytical products and information that will inform stronger and more strategic programs from the humanitarian/nexus community in Nigeria. The NAT Lead has responsibility for the effective functioning of the team as a support function to the country programme and is responsible for day to day management of workflows, alignment of products & services with country programme priorities, quality control of products, and developing a process of continuous improvement within the team.
She/he will produce clear, concise and timely analytical reports that can inform Mercy Corps’ and the wider humanitarian community’s program, security and operational decision-making, as well as be fed into policy development and advocacy as appropriate at local, federal and international levels. In addition to frequent and regular context reports, the Team Lead will coordinate more in-depth occasional thematic or situation reports, act as a focal point on humanitarian issues with Mercy Corps’ global Research and Learning and Policy and Advocacy teams, and provide regular briefings to programs and operations key staff and teams as directed and appropriate. The Team Lead will also provide briefings to key stakeholders in external agencies and members of the donor community as needed. Typical products and services range from informal briefings to weekly products, contributions to risk assessments, in-depth assessment of the political economy of a defined geography, deep-dives on specific thematics, etc., ranging in themes from conflict to market systems to governance, in line with programmatic needs.
Importantly, the Team Lead will have the ultimate responsibility for growing and managing a team in terms of pursuing and supporting new funding opportunities, increasing the geographic coverage of the team, and recruiting and developing new team members. The Team Lead provides an advisory role to senior leadership, and leads external representation (for peer organisations, donors, partners, etc.) of the team’s findings. The Team Lead will be expected to cultivate appropriate networks to improve data collection and impactful dissemination.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Analysis and Reporting
- Lead the production of time-sensitive, data-driven analytical products to support programmatic decision making in Nigeria.
- Develop and maintain an in-depth understanding of Mercy Corps’ programming and the humanitarian situation in general in areas of focus and for populations of particular interest (e.g. youth).
- Cultivate targeted audiences both internally and externally for high quality contextual analysis.
- Establish and maintain a process for consultative feedback and responsive analytics with the humanitarian community
- Develop and grow a network of field contacts to serve as sources in shaping and developing a rich understanding of the political, social and economic environment in areas of focus.
- Maintain a constant scan of traditional and social media in order to inform analysis of the humanitarian situation.
- Consolidate and digest diverse data to produce regular broad-based context reports, flash reports in response to fast moving events and occasional thematic or situation reports (illuminating specific issues or locations in greater depth) as directed by the Country Director (Nigeria) and the Senior Director for Humanitarian Analysis (global).
- Oversee use of technology platforms to interpret and map humanitarian and conflict data.
- Translate analysis and insights into program materials as directed and appropriate.
- Liaise as appropriate with country, regional and global Mercy Corps staff engaged in advocacy and influence work.
- Represent Nigeria Analytics Team to key external stakeholders and core internal programming/operational focal points as a reliable, up-to-date and timely source of insights in the northeast.
Country Strategy
- Manage the growth and strategy of the Nigeria Analytics Team in close collaboration with the New Initiatives team, building systems and processes to sustain impactful and consistent analysis.
- Stay abreast of Mercy Corps program assessments and new business activities. Support these teams and special projects with analysis and insight where appropriate, ensuring insights from NAT team feed into program design
- As directed by the Country Director, participate in Senior Management Team discussions to provide analytic insights and risk assessments where necessary.
- Develop and maintain an awareness of Mercy Corps’ culture and values as well as humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law.
- In collaboration with country leadership, set and maintain a mandate for the Analytics team, and accompanying strategy for delivery.
Programming and Operations
- Ensure that communication of analysis and insights to internal and external stakeholders is appropriate and regular. Liaise with programs and operations staff as needed and directed to develop a solid understanding of program approaches, content and implementation modalities.
- As directed by the Country Director, collaborate with the security team to advise on access issues pertinent to security situations and any resulting humanitarian needs.
- Ensure effective communication within analysis team and ensure the accuracy, brevity and clarity of analysis updates, briefings and incident reports to internal and external stakeholders in a timely manner
Training and Outreach
- Supervise, provide guidance to, and support the professional growth of the Nigeria Analysis Team staff to ensure consistent quality of outputs and a high functioning, collaborative team.
- Assist in promoting good contextual understand across Mercy Corps staff in Nigeria
- Coach colleagues and improve their skills in risk and vulnerability assessments to include political, social and economic context analysis.
- As needed and directed, participate in Mercy Corps regional and global events, gatherings and networks to represent Nigeria’s humanitarian analysis capacity.
- Represent the Nigeria Analysis Team in Mercy Corps Nigeria committees or ad hoc task force activities.
Security
- Ensure own compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country
- Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
- 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.
Supervisory Responsibility:
Nigeria Analytics Team: Research Coordinator, Analyst, Field Researchers
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Humanitarian Response and Sustainable Solutions Director (Maiduguri)
Works Directly With: Country Director; Director of Programs; Program Management; Partnerships and New Initiatives Manager; Security Manager; Senior Director – Crisis Analytics (global); Senior Advisor – Crisis Analytics (global); Regional Humanitarian Advisor and Regional Security Advisor.
Knowledge and Experience
Required
- Masters degree in a social sciences or investigative journalism; or equivalent work experience
- Understanding of humanitarian principles and the humanitarian system at national and international levels
- 3 years field-based experience in complex and insecure settings and preferably a conflict environment
- Experience in liaising with civilian authorities, as well as with regional, national and international institutions
- Ability to build and maintain networks of information sources across different sectors, groups and locations
- Experience with information collation and analysis, mapping and use of infographics to frame analysis
- Proven excellent writing skills, displaying an ability to convey complex information concisely
- Highly developed interpersonal communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching
- Experience developing proposals and negotiating funding with donors and other stakeholders
- Willingness to work and travel in often difficult and insecure environments
- Competency in Internet and Microsoft Office systems including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and other database/mapping systems
- Strong fluency in English (written and spoken) is required
Preferred
- Knowledge and understanding of the context in Nigeria, specifically of northern Nigeria
- Knowledge of Hausa, Kanuri, or other Nigerian languages
- Skills in data visualization software such as Power BI or Tableau
- Experience in GIS
- Familiarity with STATA, SPSS, R, or other statistical analysis software
Method of Application
Interested and qualified? Go to Mercy Corps on jobs.jobvite.com to apply