Humanitarian Energy Advocacy Advisor - UK

About Mercy Corps 

Mercy Corps is a global team of humanitarians working together on the front lines of today’s biggest crises to create a future of possibility, where everyone can prosper. In more than 40+ countries around the world, over 5,400+ team members work side by side with people living through poverty, disaster, violent conflict, and the acute impacts of climate change. We’re committed to creating global change through local impact — 84% of our team members are from the countries where they work.

We bring a comprehensive approach to every challenge, addressing problems from multiple angles. And we go beyond emergency aid, partnering with local governments, forward-thinking corporations, social entrepreneurs, and people living in fragile communities to develop bold solutions that make lasting change possible.

About Programs at Mercy Corps

The Programs function at Mercy Corps supports its mission and works with program impact, innovation, and influence teams. The Program Function is composed of headquarters and regional departments which are guided by Mercy Corps global strategy: Pathway to Possibility and works in close partnership with all other agency departments to deliver the highest quality programming and impactful results. The Program Team aligns closely with the Pathway to Possibility, and works to deliver on increased accountability, alignment, and fair and transparent resource allocation, while acting with its Core Behaviors of collaboration, curiosity, inclusion, and integrity at the forefront. The Programs function is a key steward of Mercy Corps’ strategic commitments and the integration of these commitments into programming, inclusive of: Climate Smart, Locally Led, Evidence Driven, Innovative and Creative, and Safe, Diverse and Inclusive.

Our comprehensive Technical Resources and Quality (TRaQ) Team is an integral part of the Program Department that supports country-led work to deliver measurable impact, leads agency thinking in key technical and program management areas, and ensures quality programing while maintaining agency visibility with key audiences. TRaQ’s goal is to equip our global programs with the most effective technical solutions and quality program management tools to tackle the world’s toughest challenges, while simultaneously building our global reputation and resources.

The TRaQ team has nine technical and cross-cutting thematic teams, Climate and Water Security, Economic Opportunity, Food Security, Peace and Governance, Global Resilience, Social Inclusion, Cash, Infrastructure, Training and Program Standards. This position will be part of the Energy Access team. Each team has established goals and strategies that will guide the Advisor’s work. The Advisor will be embedded in the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access (THEA) program, which will deliver transformative action on clean energy access in humanitarian settings, working with the FCDO’s Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform to mainstream energy access in humanitarian settings and provide expert advice on the energy needs of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) for UK and international energy access partners. The programme aims to build and share evidence of existing best practices for replication and scaling, support new refugee-inclusive policies and partnerships, outline key barriers to scaling energy access in refugee settings, test innovations, and helps raise additional funding/finance for delivery of sustainable energy solutions in humanitarian contexts. The action-oriented research will be used to advocate with key donors, UN humanitarian and development agencies to remove barriers for quicker deployment of sustainable humanitarian energy solutions. Targeted research is planned to enable more inclusive financing, policies and partnerships, working directly with refugees and displaced communities to meet community energy needs through localized business and delivery models. THEA is delivered by Mercy Corps, in partnership with Refugee Led Organizations, Ashden and the Coordination Unit of the Global Platform for Action (GPA CU) on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings (hosted at UNITAR).

The Position

Reporting to the THEA Program manager and coordinating with the Global Platform for Action (GPA) Coordination Unit team management, the Humanitarian Energy Advocacy Advisor will advise the THEA consortium on influencing the uptake of alternative business models for inclusive energy access in situations of displacement. The Advisor will engage with key stakeholders across the humanitarian and energy spaces, highlighting entry points and bridging opportunities. The aim is to drive systematic change in how energy access is delivered in displacement settings and how operations are powered within the UN system and among other humanitarian partners, through strong collaboration with private sector stakeholders. The Advisor will work closely with the GPA Coordination Unit hosted at UNITAR, which is recognized as the humanitarian energy convening body to advance SDG 7 – access to sustainable energy for all – in forced displacement contexts. Under this close collaboration, the Advisor will ensure that all data-driven research and consequent advocacy are aligned to strengthen and maximize impact.

Essential Job Responsibilities

INFLUENCE & advocacy

●        Identify and nurture strategic partnerships with other organizations and institutions around inclusive humanitarian energy, and advocate to mainstream humanitarian contexts into the wider FCDO-funded Transforming Energy Access (TEA) programme.

●        Identify key stakeholders among the humanitarian and energy access sectors that could become allies to influence the uptake of innovative and inclusive humanitarian energy access models.

●        Support the mapping on entry points to influence systemic change on inclusive humanitarian energy models.

●        Support the data-driven design of research on inclusive humanitarian energy to positively impact related advocacy.

●        Represent the GPA and THEA at high-level events, conferences, media forums, and other events.

●        Contribute to thought leadership and lead on research deliverables under the THEA programme.

PROGRAM design AND PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

●        Research, analyze, and assess data to determine program needs, priorities, and Mercy Corps’ advantages for funding.

●        Maintain knowledge of development strategies by governmental, academic, and non-profit groups.

●        Advocate and support development of new humanitarian energy programming based in THEA focus countries (Uganda, Ethiopia and Bangladesh), based on best practices and evidence delivered through THEA research outputs.

●        Collaborate with program, country, regional, and TRaQ teams on prepositioning and strategy development, and support designing, writing and reviewing grant proposals and concept notes for donors including foundations, corporations, and government agencies.

PROGRAM QUALITY

●        Provide technical support to THEA and support effective interventions through integrated approaches and systems thinking.

●        Maintain standards of program delivery through application of agency approaches and compliance with relevant regulations and requirements.

RESEARCH, LEARNING AND IMPACT

●        Lead the development of a strong community of practice and advocacy group across Mercy Corps and THEA partners on inclusive humanitarian energy advocacy.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: THEA Program Manager

Works Directly With: Global Platform for Action (GPA) Coordination Unit (hosted at UNITAR), GPA Steering Group members, TRaQ Energy Team, all other TRaQ teams, Program teams, Regional Teams, other HQ support teams, other THEA partners.

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

●        Proven expertise in advocacy vis-à-vis UN and INGOs is required.

●        Previous experience working with UN and INGOs in procurement, energy or humanitarian teams is highly recommended.

●        6+ years required providing technical support in the field of humanitarian response and/or sustainable energy access that includes:

• Grant writing, research, and proposal development.
• Writing and publishing articles and blogs.
• Stakeholder engagement and influencing.
• Combining strong theoretical and applied knowledge of the field of expertise.
• Monitoring, evaluation and learning.
• Familiarity with integrated approaches and applying systems thinking.

●        Bachelor’s degree required. A Master’s degree or equivalent in a field related to humanitarian response, international development, sustainable development, energy access, and/or energy or environmental engineering is preferred.

●        Practical field experience required that may include:

• A temporary duration field assignment, longer-term field assignments, or living in a field location to work in a country or field office.
• An emergency response assignment or other crisis response work that demonstrates the ability to successfully adapt support and assistance methodologies to real-world complexities.
• Delivering monitoring, research and learning knowledge products to learn from past programming.
• Advocacy and donor or UN stakeholder relationships and coordination.

●        Familiarity with major donors such as USAID, DFID, the EC and relevant foundations and corporations required.

●        Fluency in English is required; fluency in another language preferred.

Success Factors

The Advisor will demonstrate a winning track record in advocacy, bringing adaptability, creativity, and enthusiasm to each project. They must have exceptional writing skills and the ability to multi-task, manage priorities, pay attention to detail, and work under tight deadlines within complex team environments. Experience working in or interfacing with UN agencies, INGOs, donors and the private sector (e.g. off-grid energy access companies) is a strong advantage. The Advisor must take an active role in building and maintaining external relationships and demonstrate the drive and initiative to contribute to internal team efforts across multiple program partners.

At Mercy Corps, we value team members who embrace curiosity, act with integrity, and foster an environment of inclusion and collaboration. Our successful team members work effectively in evolving and dynamic environments, prioritize clear communication, and build collaborative relationships across departments. They interact with all global team members with an inclusive approach and excel at multitasking, meeting deadlines, and processing information to support our changing program activities.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in the United Kingdom and it requires up to 20% travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.

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.