About Mercy Corps:

Mercy Corps is a leading global humanitarian agency saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places. With a network of experienced professionals in more than 40 countries, we partner with local communities to put bold ideas into action to help people recover, overcome hardship, and build better lives now and for the future. In these places, Mercy Corps listen to local voices to prioritize people’s most urgent need, taking a long-term view and promoting innovative solutions that drive true change. Mercy Corps Liberia has worked in Liberia since 2002, focusing on youth, agriculture, livelihoods, conflict resolution, and emergency response.

Background:

Mercy Corps launched a three-year County Strategy (FY24-FY27) in Buchanan on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, with a vision to partner with Liberian to emerge from decades of shocks to build a more sustainable and resilient pathway to the future for the country’s growing youthful population. The Country Strategy (FY24-FY27) has four economic outcomes: economic opportunity, food security, peace and good governance, and water security, with commitments to innovation and creativity, climate-smart approaches and practices, and being locally-led. The pathways through which Mercy Corps seeks to achieve its outcomes include programming, partnerships, and influence. Over the next three years, Mercy Corps aims to roll out this strategy and seeks a consultant to facilitate the development of an operational plan for implementation.

Objectives:

Mercy Corps seeks the services of an experienced Consultant to facilitate the development of an operational plan that enables the implementation of the Country Strategy. The consultant will lead a review and reflection section with staff, draw actions to improve systems and processes, work with the team to unpack outcomes while aligning MC commitments and pathways to change, and facilitate financial planning and costing of action areas and sub-outcomes/thematic areas.

Approach:

The Consultant will work with an internal committee to develop activities for an intensive three-day workshop-style working session with a select of Mercy Corps staff. The workshop will strategically focus on the animation of deep thinking and planning in groups to drive outcomes of different activities. The consultant will ensure the objective of each activity is met. Notes and outputs from activities will be used to develop a draft operational plan for review, input, and validation.

Consultant Task:

The Consultant will work with MC to develop activities for the Country Strategy Operational Plan facilitation and development, animate an intensive three-day workshop, and develop the operational plan. The tasks are detailed below:

1. Content Development and Planning – Facilitate developing a detailed agenda with clear objectives and approach to achieve the desire outcome. Finalize activity plan and inputs required to implement the activity. The consultant will develop a zero draft/guideline as for the final Country Strategy Operational plan as part of the inception deliverables.

1. Intensive Operational Plan Development Workshop – Facilitate an intensive workshop-styled operational plan design/development plan session to draw from the expertise of the MC country team in line with the Country Strategy. The consultant will lead/animate series of session to meet the objectives set in the agenda and develop a draft report/plan based on the guideline approved in milestone one.

1. Finalizing MC Country Strategy Operational Plan – Draft report (including the MC country Strategy Operational Plan will be shared with MC for inputs, with inputs integrated and finalized; the Consultant will submit a final report and operational plan for validation.

Consultant Activities:

• Work with MC to develop detailed workshop agenda and activities, set approach and objective for each activity, finalize activity schedule and inputs required
• Submit the inception report focused on zero draft/guidelines of the operation plan
• Facilitate intensive workshop-style operational planning sessions and submit a draft report (including the operational plan for input).
• Finalize MC Country Strategy Operational Plan (integrating all inputs and validation).

Consultant Deliverables:

The consultant will deliver:

• • An approved agenda (with activities aligned to their objectives and approaches, tools, tables, and matrices to be used for working sessions), work schedule, and inputs needed.
  • An approved inception report (with zero draft/guidelines for operational plan)

• Draft Operational Plan

• Final Operation Plan.

Required Experience:

A competent individual(s) with proven experience in strategic plan and strategy operational plan facilitation and development is needed to implement this assignment.

Requirements for Consultant

• Excellent understanding of facilitative approaches to strategy and strategy operational plan development within international organizations (non-profit and corporate)
• At least six years of strategic management experience in international organizations (INGO preferred)
• Graduate degree or its equivalent in Development, Economics, Business Administration, or Social Science
• Experience leading an organization strategy development or strategy operationalization planning –with a list of references and a sample(s) of previous work.

The Consultant will report to:

Focal Point: MSD Manager

Country Director

The Consultant will work closely with:

1. Country Leadership Team
2. Country Strategy Operationalization Committee

Timeframe / Schedule:

The entire consultancy is expected to last for a maximum of 15 working days, from November 13 – December 1, 2023, and as such, the expression of interest to be submitted should reflect such a timeline.

NOTE: Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Mercy Corps reserves the right to contract as many Consultants as necessary to implement this assignment or none at all.

Document Submission:

All interested firms should kindly submit the following documents and attached annexes via email in one Portable Document Format, PDF, and with the subject line “Country Strategy Operationalization Consultant” to lr-tenders@merycorps.org only, before 4:30 pm Local time on November 10, 2023:

• Expression of Interest outlining capacities and experience with availability and fees
• Detailed (proposed) work plan that includes timeline and budget
• Curriculum Vitae (with copies of certificates/qualifications)
• One sample of previous work
• Reference List

Evaluation and Awarding of Contract:

Evaluation of the expression of interest will take the below approach in determining the best fit for this assignment.

Criteria

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