Mercy Corps
Position Description
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Work Location: Kampala, Uganda
Position Status: Full-time
Salary: Position contingent on funding confirmation
Risk Level: ☐ Level 3 ☐Level 2 ☐Level 1
Level 3: Frequent contact with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability.
Level 2: Some contact with participants; unplanned non-direct contact with children.
Level 1: Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data)
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a global team of humanitarians working together on the front lines of today’s biggest crises to create a future of possibility, where everyone can prosper. In more than 40+ countries around the world, over 5,400+ team members work side by side with people living through poverty, disaster, violent conflict, and the acute impacts of climate change. We’re committed to creating global change through local impact — 84% of our team members are from the countries where they work.
We bring a comprehensive approach to every challenge, addressing problems from multiple angles. And we go beyond emergency aid, partnering with local governments, forward-thinking corporations, social entrepreneurs, and people living in fragile communities to develop bold solutions that make lasting change possible.
About Programs at Mercy Corps
In conflict-affected, displaced, and disaster-stricken areas, access to reliable and affordable energy is often a critical challenge. The Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings (hosted by UNOPS) and Mercy Corps are implementing the Energising Humanitarian Futures project to address this gap by focusing on clean energy as a key enabler to improve the lives of vulnerable populations, leading to enhanced food security/livelihoods, protection, WASH, shelter/settlements and coordination outcomes. The project seeks to transform energy access in humanitarian settings by empowering humanitarian actors, governments, and the private sector to deploy and finance sustainable energy solutions for long-term impact and reducing humanitarian aid. The project will support the development of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and strengthen the enabling environment to enable energy access at scale. It will support the development of country-level project pipelines and regional energy strategies for refugee/IDP hosting regions (in Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya), combining it with global level action on innovative financing, coalition building and knowledge sharing, with the goal of accelerating effective investment plans for humanitarian energy projects. Expected outcomes include the development of coordinated, localised energy plans and project pipeline development, mobilising financial and technical resources, learning from new delivery models and increased knowledge exchange around successful clean energy models in these contexts.
Building on its long-term presence and deep experience in humanitarian energy programming, within Energising Humanitarian Futures (EHF), Mercy Corps serves as the primary in-country partner for the project in Uganda and Ethiopia. Mercy Corps’ main role in the project is to lead and manage in-country activities, local partnerships, and capacity-building efforts to scale access to clean energy in humanitarian settings. Mercy Corps complements the GPA’s global role in strategic advocacy, systemic orchestration, effective knowledge generation and resource mobilisation by providing local operational presence and technical expertise for project pipeline development and implementation at the national and local levels, for both Mercy Corps and the wider partner environment.
The Position
Reporting to the Energizing Humanitarian Futures (EHF) Program Lead and in close coordination with the Global Platform for Action (GPA) Secretariat team management, the Project Coordinator will manage the implementation of the overall EHF project and lead Uganda-specific in-country activities for the EHF programme, including:
- Engage with key stakeholders across the humanitarian and energy spaces, highlighting entry points and bridging opportunities. Represent EHF at events, working groups, conferences and stakeholder meetings, providing direct support and advisory to key government ministries.
- Identify project opportunities and design and deliver energy programmes in collaboration with the wider stakeholder ecosystem (UN, INGOs, donors, financers, local and refugee led organisations, private sector companies and financial institutions, etc).
- Contribute to the design and lead the delivery of tailored public-private partnership development workshops to co-create sustainable, market-driven energy solutions, primarily focused on refugee hosting districts.
- Conduct technical assessments and scoping missions for development of new market-based energy access projects and programmes.
- Provide technical support on the design and implementation of these projects, including refining business models, risk mitigation, financing strategies, collaboration with stakeholders and alignment with donors, government, and investor requirements.
- Lead the delivery of donor-facing briefing notes based on the identified and supported projects, and advocate for their implementation.
- Generate and disseminate knowledge based on EHF programme outputs as well as wider MC and GPA evidence generation.
The primary goal is to collaboratively identify and develop opportunities for market-based energy programmes and projects in refugee hosting districts, promoting engagement of private sector actors.
The Project Coordinator will coordinate closely with the GPA Secretariat hosted at UNOPS, which is recognized as the humanitarian energy convening body to advance SDG 7 – access to sustainable energy for all – in forced displacement contexts, along with GPA Steering Group members to provide ecosystem support and identify project opportunities. Under this close collaboration, the Project Coordinator will ensure that all data-driven research and consequent advocacy are aligned to strengthen and maximize impact.
Essential Job Responsibilities
General
- Manages workplans, budget oversight, donor compliance, and reporting.
- Supports coordination with GPA Secretariat, GPA Steering Group members, and other global partners.
Uganda-specific
- Organizes workshops, scoping missions, and stakeholder consultations.
- Supports PPP incubation and project pipeline development in Uganda.
- Leads data collection and inputs.
- Manages relationships with government, private sector, INGOs and local NGOs, and leads in-country coordination, including sectoral networks.
- Ensures inclusion of refugee-led organizations and local actors.
- Leads on communications and MEL activities.
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.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Megan Taeuber, EHF Project Lead
Works Directly With: EHF team, MC Uganda team, Humenergi team, TEQ Energy team, Global Platform for Action (GPA) Secretariat (hosted at UNOPS), GPA Steering Group members, THEA partners, GoU partners including MEMD, OPM, and UECCC
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
- Proven expertise in advocacy vis-à-vis Government of Uganda, UN and INGOs is required.
- Previous experience working with UN and/or INGOs in energy or humanitarian teams is highly recommended.
- Previous experience of working in Uganda’s refugee response.
- 8+ years required providing technical support in sustainable energy access and/or climate resilience that includes:
- Grant writing, research, and proposal development.
- Technical advisory and advocacy.
- Stakeholder engagement, including working with local communities.
- Business development.
- Writing and publishing articles and blogs.
- Combining strong theoretical and applied knowledge of the field of expertise.
- Familiarity with integrated approaches and applying systems thinking.
- MEL, evidence generation and knowledge dissemination.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent preferred. M.A. or equivalent in a field related to humanitarian response, energy access, sustainable development, climate resilience, market systems development and/or energy or environmental engineering is advantageous.
- Familiarity with major donors such as USAID, FCDO, ECHO, and relevant foundations and corporations.
- Fluency in English is required; fluency in another language preferred.
