Technical Advisor II – Market Systems Development

The Homes and Communities Strategic Change Platform

We are in an unprecedented era of global displacement, with more people displaced than ever before due to climate change, conflict, and natural disasters. Direct humanitarian aid alone cannot address these mounting challenges—most disaster-affected households recover through a combination of government support and local market systems. Through its Vision2030 strategy, CRS aims to scale up proven practices and innovations, extending the agency's indirect impact to help more people than would be possible through direct implementation. 

 

To achieve this ambition, CRS has established six Strategic Change Platforms (SCPs), including the SCP2 Homes and Communities (H&C). Embedded within the Shelter and Settlements team, the H&C team seeks systems-level change by working together with peer agencies, local responders, governments, and private sector actors for improved efficiencies in government, market and humanitarian systems, identifying opportunities to leverage direct shelter construction programming carried out by CRS country programs into systems-level change to collectively benefit 10 million people.

 

Over the last five years, the SCP2/H&C platform has invested in a portfolio of 14 country programs in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. Market Systems Development provides a strategic pathway for CRS to achieve its goals in these countries. An inclusive and efficient housing market system can deliver safe, dignified housing at scale for vulnerable and disaster-prone families. 

 

Job Summary:  

As part of the global SCP2/H&C Core team, you will provide technical advice, guidance, and support on program design, implementation and adaptive management to SCP2/H&C Country Program teams in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards and industry best practices to regional and Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your technical knowledge, advice and guidance will contribute to the effectiveness, adaptability and innovation of CRS’ market systems programming. 

 

You will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of H&C’s market systems development work; ensuring harmonization and consistency; developing technical guidance and tools; documenting learning; building capacity of country and regional teams and providing technical accompaniment to country programs as they conduct market systems analysis, strategy design, intervention start-up, negotiation and management of partnerships, and measure results and learning in line with the SCP2/H&C Adaptive Management Framework. 

 

Note: This is a global remote position; CRS considers candidates who are based in countries where we have existing offices. CRS does not sponsor visas for remote employees.

 

Roles and Key Responsibilities: 

• Contribute to CRS’ thinking and practice of working systemically across the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus, to achieve impact at scale.
• Contribute to agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices for market systems development—focusing on shelter, housing and potentially other sectors.
• Support CP teams with market systems analysis, strategy design, partnership development, and adaptive management, adjusting frameworks and approaches to the local context.
• Contribute to the SCP2/H&C Adaptive Management and Learning Framework through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating key questions, assisting with measuring program impact, capturing and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and conducting research.
• Be a sounding board and mentor to CP teams on technical areas relating to housing market systems, including but not limited to housing finance, materials, sanitation and construction skills.
• Support CP teams in integrating climate change, gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction considerations in programming.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening initiatives in market systems development for staff and partners through trainings, workshops and accompaniment.
• Establish and maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, private sector, research partners and other institutions. 
• Participate in forums in the areas of housing and market systems development to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.
• Collaborate with other teams at CRS on systemic approaches, tools and learning. 

 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities  

• Excellent re