Location: Kathmandu with frequent travel to program field offices 

Position Status:  Full-time, Regular 

Salary Level:  M1

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has launched a new program to enhance food and nutrition security, reduce future humanitarian caseload and improve the resilience of communities to recurrent shocks in the Karnali Province in Nepal. The program will be a Multi-Year Emergency Food Security Activity funded by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs, and implemented in 6 districts (Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, Surkhet, Achham, and Dailekh, with cluster hubs in Surkhet and Jumla) in the Karnali River Basin area. The new program, called “Building Hope Along the Karnali River Basin (Bhakari)”, builds upon many of the successes of the Nepal team’s previous Food for Peace program which ended in January 2020, the PAHAL program, but with some new districts and a much heavier emphasis on emergency response. It includes program components of agriculture and market systems, disaster risk reduction, water for productive use, natural resources management, and a large emphasis on a gender and social inclusion approach, all with a highly integrated multi-sectoral approach. Other programs included in the Mercy Corps Nepal portfolio are mainly operating in the Far Western areas of Nepal. 

General Position Summary 

The Communications will mainly support the USAID-funded Bhakari program, but will also have approximately 20% of time dedicated to Mercy Corps Nepal country-wide communications needs, working closely with communications focal points in other programs, as well as regionally and at HQ. 

The Communications Specialist will assist in planning, implementing, disseminating and assessing the MC Nepal overall, and Bhakari program communications strategy. The goal of the communication strategy is to increase the visibility of the Program’s goal, approaches, and progress in order to enhance the Program’s credibility and brand. This work also supports the overall country office’s reputation nationally and globally, and support positioning for external collaborations. The Communications Specialist will work under the direct supervision of the M&E Manager to craft the outward image of Bhakari and work directly with the Country Director, Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, and other program staff to develop policies, practices, templates, learning forums and specific communications activities. They will be responsible to ensure that respectful and professional communications practices are understood and embraced by all members of the Mercy Corps Nepal team, as well as with program partners. 

Bhakari adopts a GESI first approach, and it is a key priority for the entire Mercy Corps Nepal country office. As gender and social inclusion (GESI), safeguarding, governance and environmental sensitivity are cross-cutting and core components of the all MC programs, the Communications Specialist is required to own these components and ensure these components are integrated into their work area.

Essential Job Responsibilities 

The specific duties and responsibilities of the Communications Specialist include, but are not limited to, the following:

Strategy & vision

• Prepare a communication plan for both the country office, and also Bhakari program, and lead to implement the plan at different levels. Review and provide feedback on other programs’ communications plans. 
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.
• Identify and share creative, efficient, and effective ways to share ideas and information, engage audiences, and facilitate collaboration

Program communications support: internal

• Design and implement effective communication tools and mechanism in collaboration with other team members, such as report and publication templates, photo guidance, success story guidance and templates, social media guidance and samples. 
• Develop and implement effective communications policies, such a social media policies and personal representation guidance. 
• Serve as technical lead on matters related to communication; coordinate closely with Knowledge Management and Learning Specialist
• Harvest and share stories, lessons learned, and best practices for products, events, and other public opportunities. 
• Ensure communications activities and content are clear, transparent, and done with full integrity
• Manage internal database of quality photographs; ensure consent forms are completed and inventoried for every photo. Provide regular guidance to staff on best practices for photos. (NOTE: Mercy Corps communications team globally already has many of these tools and will also provide support)
• Serve as the key owner of the Bhakari Marking and Branding Plan, liaising with USAID/Nepal’s communication officer as appropriate. 
• Ensure Bhakari communications outreach and visibility materials are in-line with the Mercy Corps Nepal and USAID Bhakari Marking and Branding guidelines; ensure all Mercy Corps Nepal staff are aware of and comply with Mercy Corps branding guidelines
• Work closely with Knowledge Management and Learning Specialist to develop an appropriate information learning and sharing platform to share technical publications and resources externally. 
• Review and revise as needed, the MCN and Bhakari communications strategy that is coordinated across all consortium members and includes printed resources, social media, and online content.
• Assist Bhakari staff in strategically planning, managing, and producing materials for documentation, dissemination in the field, and public relations in line with the communications strategy. Facilitate the posting and management of other program teams’ materials. 
• Develop engaging and informative communication materials (i.e. success stories, program summaries, thought leadership pieces, newsletters, etc.). Assist the consortium staff to do likewise to write and document lessons learned and success stories from the field.
• Assist staff staff in developing appropriate public information programs, presentations, speeches and other documentation, ensuring presentations and messaging are in line with the communications strategy. 
• Support the capacity building of relevant country office, program and consortium staff in communication skills through the design and delivery of formal trainings and ongoing support/mentoring.

Program communications support: external

• Prepare or update a standard information package for project that can be shared with visitors and media as required.
• Collect, structure and document project related information for internal and external audiences, government and ensure publications are regularly posted and accessible.
• Link the program’s outreach and communication materials to donor, Government of Nepal, and relevant third-party platforms.
• Monitor external media; deep the CD, DoP, COP and DCOP informed on press and media relations. Serve as the key advisor and liaison to press and media relations in Nepal, and as appropriate, the region or globally for Nepal issues. 
• Develop and maintain strong relations with national, regional and district level media personnel and organizations and proactively engage and monitor to ensure proper representation of Mercy Corps Nepal
• Collect project related information for internal Mercy Corps global audiences, respond to requests from USAID and government, and ensure publications are regularly posted and accessible.
• Manage the design and content for Mercy Corps Nepal’s external website, and any social media accounts. 

Representation and coordination

• Backstop the Country Director and Chief of Party as necessary, as a representative of Mercy Corps and Bhakari at government, donor, NGO and other relevant events at the Kathmandu level.
• Mercy Corps as a humanitarian agency is expected to respond as and when crisis and humanitarian situation engulfs. As an MC employee, all staffs are expected to be part of humanitarian and emergency response in addition to their regular roles and responsibilities in such situations. The Communications Specialist will be the lead focal point on the MC Nepal emergency response roster for public communications, including support to the Country Director and global communications team, in times of emergency response. 

Accountability to program participants 

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging participating communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
• 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.

Others 

• Ensure proper integration of safeguarding and GESI aspects into communications, where appropriate
• Conduct themselves both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not to jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned by Supervisor and or Country Director.

Supervisory Responsibility: None 

Accountability 

Reports Directly to: Bhakari Chief of Party

Works Directly with: Country Director, Director of Programs, Bhakari MEL team, Technical Program Managers, Bhakari senior leadership team, regional and global communications team. 

Knowledge and Experience 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, Mass communication, Development Studies, Economics, or any other relevant fields. Master’s Degree preferred.
• Minimum 5 years’ relevant professional experience development programs.
• Familiarity with gender mainstreaming and education programs.
• Awareness on the particular needs and related program considerations- emergency response, disaster risk reduction, water, agriculture, gender and social inclusion, youth programming. 
• Communication and knowledge management design and implementation skill.
• Ability to search for different resources to develop innovative approaches.
• Willingness to travel frequently to remote areas in difficult conditions. 
• Strong communication and publication skills with demonstrated skills in preparing fact sheets, presentations, social media posts, success stories, and similar documentation.
• Demonstrated experience in quality facilitation and training skills.
• Strong team building and staff coordination and consensus-building skills.
• Must be able to work independently while being a strong team player.
• Excellent negotiation, representation, skills and the ability to work comfortably with an ethnically diverse staff in a very sensitive environment
• Good computer skills, including technology for publications, graphic design and social media
• Strong written and oral presentation and communication skills in both English and Nepali required, including report development, writing, and editing.

Success Factors 

The successful Communications Specialist will be conscientious, with an ability to make excellent judgment. They will display an entrepreneurial spirit that is both creative and flexible. They will combine strong communication skills, creativity, initiative, participatory leadership and tactful decisiveness to assist in the development and implementation of Bhakari communications strategy. They will have proven experience and confidence, and humility, to work effectively with a large variety of people who will be diverse culturally, economically and in social status. They must be sensitive to political and cultural nuance and able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast-changing situations. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

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. 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 e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

Shortlisting will be done on the basis of your answers while applying, please answer the questions carefully. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Telephone enquiries will not be entertained.