Leave Cover-Temporary Senior Researcher- Western Hemisphere, MC locations

Location:

Flexible Western Hemisphere, MC locations:
North, South, Central America or the Caribbean.

Position Status:
Full-time, Temporar y

Fixed Duration:
October 15, 2026 – April 2027

Salary: US and Puerto-Rico: hiring range $76,800 - $91,200 - other countries pending local scale benchmark

Risk Level: Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.

In disaster, in hardship, in more than 30 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions

into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Now, and for the future.

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 Prosperity (P2P) and works in close partnership with all other departments to deliver the highest quality programming and impactful results.

The TEQ Unit sits within Programs and supports program impact at scale through three areas of work:
1) Program Support, including support for proposals, program design and implementation, and learning and capacity building;
2) Program Strategy, by stewarding the technical and sectoral approaches utilized by the organization and managing programmatic enterprise systems; and,
3) Influence, through technical analysis, evidence, and engagement with internal and external stakeholders.

The Evidence Use Team, within the TEQ unit, builds and strengthens the capabilities, systems, and tools that make evidence accessible, sharable, and usable across the organization.

Sitting within the Evidence Use Team, the Senior Researcher provides research leadership and support to the research components of programs, as well as to standalone research proposals and awards. This Maternity Cover for the Senior Researcher provides research support with primary responsibility for managing the Remittances for Resilience HQMA, covering all aspects of award delivery, while the incumbent Senior Researcher is on leave.

In consultation with the Senior Director of the EUT, the cover Senior Researcher will also prioritize a limited set of broader requests, based on fit with skills and expertise and alignment with team and organizational priorities.

• Lead delivery of the Remittances for Resilience:
  Mobilising Household Transfers for Climate Adaptation HQMA, ensuring the program stays on time, on scope, on budget, and on quality.
• Support the continuation of the research and study design for the pilots in Guatemala and Colombia.
• Support work on baseline data collection and analysis, ensuring that the data collected can be used for a longitudinal study.
• Manage donor relationships associated with the award, maintaining organizational credibility.
• Stakeholder and risk management, financial management, and reporting.
• Manage and coordinate staff, external researchers, co-authors, data analysts, and consultants supporting the award.
• Coordinate with the Award Management Team (AMT) on award administration.

• As capacity allows, provide design and methodological support to programs with research components (e.g., study design, methodology, data analysis, research partner selection), in consultation with the Senior Director.

• Contribute to Evidence Use Team strategy and work planning through participation in recurring team meetings (approximately monthly).
• Collaborate proactively with colleagues across the organization in support of a culture of curiosity and learning.
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervises the budget of the headquarters-managed award (HQMA) Remittances for Resilience:
Mobilising Household Transfers for Climate Adaptation for the duration of the cover period. May supervise the budgets of other HQMAs or research projects as needed.

Actively learns about…