The Climate Change Specialist will serve as an in-country technical and pre-positioning resource on climate change for Mercy Corps Pakistan, supporting both live and forthcoming opportunities in the funding pipeline- Duration: 06 months (extendable subject to funding) 

Essential Job Responsibilities

Working closely with the Country Director and relevant country, regional, and global teams, the incumbent will support Mercy Corps to:

•  Deepen MC understanding of and positioning in Climate Change in Pakistan. This includes a focus on adaptation and mitigation plus building resilience and preparedness for extreme events resulting from climate change effects.
•  Act as the technical focal point, documenting issues related to climate resilience, public and private stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities, policy and governance issues in adaptation and mitigation, innovations in climate change programming and governance and the water-food-climate nexus.
•  Develop and/or deepen relationships with priority donors, government counterparts, implementing partners, private sector actors, and other stakeholders;
•  Gather practical information on donor priorities, forthcoming procurements, government priorities, partner positioning, and the competitive landscape;
•  represent or accompany Mercy Corps CD in relevant in-person meetings and consultations;
•  prepare the Country Director and other Mercy Corps representatives for strategic external engagements;
•  undertake targeted stakeholder consultations and technical discussions to inform opportunity positioning and proposal design; and
•  translate insights from these engagements into concrete actions for Mercy Corps' positioning, partnerships, and technical approaches.

The incumbent's primary added value will be in-person engagement and Pakistan-specific technical insight, rather than functions that can readily be performed remotely by regional or global technical teams. The Country Director will prioritize activities according to the evolving funding pipeline, with a particular emphasis on activities where physical presence, local networks, face-to-face consultation, or Pakistan-specific technical knowledge provides clear added value over remote support.

Activities:

1. Donor and Stakeholder Engagement

The incumbent will, as directed by the Country Director:

•  Participate in or facilitate in-person meetings with donors, government counterparts, prospective partners, private sector actors, and other stakeholders.
•  Support relationship-building with priority institutions relevant to Mercy Corps' funding pipeline.
•  Identify opportunities for Mercy Corps leadership and technical staff to engage with key decision-makers and influencers.
•  Attend relevant donor briefings, consultations, sector meetings, networking events, and other forums where in-person participation would strengthen Mercy Corps' positioning.
•  Develop concise meeting notes and recommendations identifying implications and follow-up actions for Mercy Corps.

1. Pre-Positioning for Forthcoming Opportunities

For priority opportunities in the pipeline, the incumbent will:

•  Conduct targeted consultations to better understand donor and government priorities, likely programme parameters, implementation expectations, and relevant technical issues.
•  Map relevant stakeholders, prospective consortium partners, government counterparts, private sector actors, research institutions, and other potential collaborators.
•  Gather information on the competitive landscape and likely positioning of other implementing organizations.
•  Identify technical, geographic, partnership, or institutional niches where Mercy Corps could offer differentiated value.
•  Support early development of opportunity-specific win themes, technical positioning, partnership strategies, and value propositions.
•  Identify information gaps that should be addressed before an opportunity is formally released.

1. Support to Proposal/Concepts Development

During active proposal development, the incumbent will provide targeted in-country support including:

•  Conducting interviews and consultations with government, donors, private sector actors, communities, technical experts, potential partners, and other relevant stakeholders.
•  Developing questionnaires, key informant interview guides, discussion guides, and other consultation tools in collaboration with proposal and technical teams.
•  Testing assumptions underlying proposed programme approaches through discussions with relevant actors.
•  Providing Pakistan-specific technical and contextual analysis to proposal teams.
•  Supporting prospective partner engagement, due diligence discussions, and clarification of potential consortium roles.
•  Participating in proposal design workshops and technical discussions where an in-country perspective is important.
•  Writing programme concepts and proposals and/or reviewing emerging programme concepts for feasibility and alignment with local market, institutional, and implementation realities.

1. Meeting Preparation and Follow-Up

The incumbent will support the Country Director and other Mercy Corps representatives by:

•  Developing briefing notes ahead of priority donor, government, and partner meetings.
•  Preparing suggested questions and discussion points tailored to specific opportunities.
•  Researching the interests, programmes, priorities, and institutional roles of meeting participants.
•  Preparing questionnaires or structured discussion guides where meetings are intended to generate information for programme design.
•  Documenting key findings, commitments, and follow-up actions.
•  Ensuring relevant information is communicated promptly to country, regional, and proposal teams.

Illustrative Deliverables

Because the work assignment will support multiple opportunities, deliverables should be agreed periodically with the Country Director and may include:

•  Technical and contextual briefs on climate adaptation and mitigation and building climate resilience.
•  Stakeholder and partner mapping for priority opportunities.
•  Donor/government/partner meeting briefs and talking points.
•  Participation in and facilitation of priority in-person meetings.
•  Meeting notes, reports, and recommended follow-up actions.
•  Opportunity-specific questionnaires, interview guides, and consultation plans.
•  Findings from stakeholder interviews and consultations.
•  Partner assessments and recommendations on potential partner and consortium configurations.
•  Opportunity positioning notes, including potential win themes and Mercy Corps' comparative advantage.
•  Technical inputs to concept notes, proposal designs, theories of change, intervention strategies, and implementation approaches.
•  Periodic summary of key pipeline information and recommended pre-positioning actions.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
•  Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.