Regional Technical, Evidence and Learning Director (TEQ)- Africa

The Regional Technical, Evidence and Learning Director (TEQ) is a key leadership role within the Africa Regional Program Team, responsible for strengthening technical excellence, evidence use, learning, innovation and program quality across Mercy Corps' portfolio in Africa. The Technical Director works closely with country teams, regional leadership, technical advisors and global programs and support teams to ensure country programs have access to the expertise, resources and systems needed to design, implement and adapt high-quality programs that achieve meaningful and sustainable impact.

• Support the development and implementation of an ambitious and compelling regional technical and evidence strategy for the consolidated Africa region, in alignment with the P2P framework, in close collaboration with regional and country teams across the region.
• Support Country Teams across Africa in the successful development and implementation of their country strategies and annual implementation plans.
• Work as a key partner to the Regional Programs Director to drive and implement an impactful regional strategy across the consolidated region.
• Work closely with the Business Development Senior Advisors to ensure compelling proposals are submitted with high-quality technical input and designs that draw on Mercy Corps' evidence base.
• Promote collaboration and close coordination between Technical, Evidence and Quality TEQ teams to ensure technical inputs feed into the Global and/or Regional Evidence and Learning Agenda, program strategies, program models and country learning priorities across the region.
• Supervise the Regional Technical Advisors — including the Market Systems Development Advisor, GESI Advisor and MEL Advisors x2 — and create a collaborative, accountable, high-performing regional technical team that delivers timely and quality support to programs.
• Develop efficient systems to identify support needs of country teams and ensure that programs access quality, relevant and timely support from Global and Regional Program Support teams.
• Line manage and support select Regional Programs to support high quality program start-up and delivery, consistent donor engagement and compliance, strategic business development and growth, and evidence generation and dissemination.
• Foster strong collaboration between country teams, regional technical resources and Global Programs & Support teams.
• Support succession planning and professional development for regional technical talent.
• Fill in as needed for either Regional Programs Director, Program Leadership, and field leadership during leave and/or leadership gaps as necessary.
• Ensure country teams have access to technical support and resources to deliver quality-based and technically sound programs across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
• Ensure all programs adhere to minimum program management standards, technical standards and best practices, and disseminate and promote new tools and guidance developed by global teams.
• Promote consistent quality assurance processes and technical review mechanisms throughout the program lifecycle.
• Lead capacity strengthening and learning initiatives across Africa to ensure country teams continue expanding their technical knowledge and expertise over time, in close coordination with TEQ teams.
• Identify opportunities to scale promising practices, innovative approaches and proven models across country programs.
• Support country teams to strengthen program design, implementation, adaptation and scale through technically sound and evidence-based approaches.

• Detailed understanding of the finance, operations and administration mechanisms that support a grant/project implementation life cycle.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, and to solve complex problems at an organizational level.
• Confident communication skills applicable to donor relations, prepositioning, and inter-agency coordination.
• Ability to handle multiple issues at one time, especially in emergency situations, and to organize and prioritize accordingly.
• BA/BS or equivalent in international development, political or social science, public administration, business management required; MA preferred.
• At least 7 years' field experience in senior management related to technical support and advisory, and/or direct program development and implementation.
• Direct experience managing and supervising large, geographically dispersed teams, as well as mentoring and development.
• Demonstrated technical and/or evidence generation experience in one of Mercy Corps' outcome or sub-outcome/distinctive areas of P2P.
• Demonstrated proficiency and experience with US, UK, EU, UN and other public and private donors, government grant and financial management requirements.
• Demonstrated experience in business development and donor prepositioning, including representation in donor-facing settings and contribution to competitive proposal processes.
• Demonstrated understanding of the critical humanitarian and development issues facing Africa, and significant experience with the challenges of operating in these contexts.
• An internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.
• Knowledge of Sphere standards and other training in humanitarian response preferred.
• Fluency in written and spoken English required; proficiency in French or another language spoken in the region is an asset.