Mercy Corps

Background Mercy Corps is an international development organization that helps people around the world survive and thrive during crisis and natural disasters. Mercy Corps works in more than 40 countries to alleviate suffering and poverty by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has been helping people in the world’s toughest places to turn crises into opportunities to thrive.  Interest-based Negotiation and Mediation (IBNM) has long been a cornerstone of Mercy Corps’ and other practitioners’ peacebuilding efforts. Since 2004, when Mercy Corps merged with the Conflict Management Group and its team of experts from the Harvard Program on Negotiation, we have supported leaders to become more effective negotiators and mediators in countries as diverse as Iraq, Myanmar, Kenya, Jordan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Colombia, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger, Uganda, and Mali. Combined with other approaches to build social cohesion and tackle the underlying structural drivers of conflict, mediation training, and support have helped communities prevent conflict from escalating into violence and sustain peace structures that can manage conflict peacefully in the long term. To continue to address the interrelated challenges cited above, Mercy Corps is implementing the Advancing Inclusive Mediation (AIM) program, which seeks to increase local communities, Mercy Corps, and the broader peacebuilding community’s skills and knowledge in inclusive mediation, which will ultimately reduce violent conflict.   Purpose / Project Description: The Technical Resources and Quality (TRaQ) Unit of Mercy Corps, specifically the Peace and Conflict Team, is in search of a consultant proficient in graphic design and illustration. The consultant will be responsible for coherently consolidating the revised Interest-Based Mediation Training curriculum (140-165 pages), accompanying PowerPoint Presentation (130-150 slides), and Participant Guide (80-100 cards). The graphic designer and illustrator consultant will help to conceptualize and produce graphic art and visual materials to effectively communicate information in the curriculum and accompanying tools. The consultant will develop an appropriate template for the curriculum and tools and create illustrations to represent information through images.  Consultant Activities & Deliverables: Specific responsibilities include:  <ul style="margin-top: 0.0px;"><li>Consult with the client to establish the overall look, graphic elements, and content of communications materials in order to meet the specific training needs</li><li>Liaise and consult with the client to determine the nature and content of illustrations for the training curriculum, PowerPoint presentation, and participant guide. Also, the medium is best suited to produce the desired visual effect. </li><li>Collaborate with the client to synchronize the curriculum Word document and PowerPoint thoroughly to create a user-friendly design that enables users to easily comprehend how to navigate between the PowerPoint presentation and the supporting sessions within the curriculum.</li><li>Develop and produce realistic or representational sketches and final illustrations, by hand or using computer-assisted design (CAD) software, for the training curriculum and its accompanying tools.</li><li>Develop the graphic elements for the training curriculum and tools that meet the training objectives.</li><li>Prepare sketches, layouts, and graphic elements of the subjects to be rendered using traditional tools, multimedia software, and image processing, layout, and design software.</li><li>Use existing photo and illustration libraries (where available) to produce images that meet clients' communication and training needs. May adapt existing illustrations.</li><li>The following copy-editing tasks will also be required for the curriculum and accompanying tools; correcting spelling and grammar, checking text for style and readability, reviewing content for accuracy, and arranging page layouts.</li><li>Within the consultant’s quotation there should be an estimate of the time and cost to complete the curriculum’s graphic design and illustrations with an expected completion time of no more than 1.5 months from the contract award.</li></ul>Timeline: 1.5 months The Consultant will report to: Advisor – Peace and Conflict TSU Required Experience & Skills: <ul style="margin-top: 0.0px;"><li>5-10 years of experience in a technically relevant field.</li><li>The consultant should also possess a track record of client testimonials, and case studies which can demonstrate their effectiveness in similar projects.</li><li>The consultant should be able to demonstrate other works that align with Mercy Corps culture and communication style.</li><li>The consultant should be able to offer a wider range of services, recommendations, and additional support that can help strengthen the final products.</li><li>The consultant should be able to demonstrate a commitment to innovation and adaptability that can offer a competitive edge.</li><li>The consultant's reputation in the development sector and sensitivity to required nuances will be an important consideration.</li><li>Any financial proposal or quote should be transparent about pricing structures and potential additional costs. </li></ul>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 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 team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging 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.