Program Manager (Internal Only) at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

This position offers overall support to the Associate Director on tracking granular day-to-day program deliverables and team leadership functions on the Mercy Corps tasks under THRIVE. The Senior Program Manager - THRIVE is a multi-sectoral program manager and leader who will support the Associate Director by taking responsibility for the successful delivery of Mercy Corps’ responsibilities within the THRIVE consortium. The role will be taking the lead in the agriculture activities. This role will also support in coordinating program operations within Mercy Corps teams, the THRIVE consortium members, the Borno State Government and Jere LGA.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Throughout the life of the award, the success of the Program Manager-THRIVE will be evaluated based on the following scope:

DEFINING STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS

You will develop your strategy for success based on your diagnosis, highlighting what the THRIVE program should expect to celebrate the team. You will prioritize your “low-hanging fruits” and speak to various stakeholders about your vision for success.

MANAGE CROSS-SECTORAL DELIVERY

You will support in driving a team delivering interventions across ten sectors. You will deploy effective skills in driving a successful delivery of an integrated package of multi-sectoral interventions to participants, ensuring the various components and teams do not operate in siloes but rather work together to great effect.

LEARNING AND ADAPTATION

You will work with THRIVE Associate Director, Mercy Corps Program Performance and Quality, Crisis Analytics, Strategic Learning Manager and MEL Teams to identify, build and deliver your learning agenda. You will ensure documentation of learning throughout the implementation period, including how that is influencing your execution decisions and style, in accordance with PM@MC 2.0 and Mercy Corps Nigeria’s learning agenda. You will work with the THRIVE team to encourage a culture of learning and adaptation, and with the broader Mercy Corps Nigeria country team to put in place strong knowledge management systems to ensure such learning is not lost in the future

PLANNING, PROGRAM AND TEAM MANAGEMENT

In your Strategy for Success, you will be expected to define how you will work with program sector leads to manage all the moving pieces of Mercy Corps deliverables within THRIVE in coordination with the Associate director.
You will be required to support the downstream delivery of activities by Mercy Corps’ local partner, WINN, in the realm of Protection.

PEER-TO-PEER COLLABORATION

THRIVE is a consortium led by CRS, who have the overall responsibility over the activity. However, as one of the five partners, Mercy Corps will only be effective and succeed by working harmoniously with all THRIVE partners. Further, Mercy Corps will be implementing a separate sister project (ADAPT II) to THRIVE from Maiduguri albeit in different and distinct LGAs. You collaborate and plan with Finance, Operations, Security, MEL, Program Reporting and Security Managers within Mercy Corps based in Maiduguri. Your peers will need to see you as a reliable team player

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Mercy Corps holds in high esteem a culture of respectful workplace. You will demonstrate tolerance, and promote increasing spaces for women, youth and individuals abled differently to equally contribute to THRIVE goals and the process of getting there, both at the office and in participant communities.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities they serve we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves. 

Accountability to Beneficiaries.

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field project.

Supervisory Responsibility: State Coordinator.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Associate Director for THRIVE

Works Directly With: ADAPT II Program Director, CARM Manager, Grants & Reporting Manager, Strategic Learning Manager, PaQ Manager, Finance Manager, Operations Manager, Security Advisor, Senior Field Manager, Deep Field Managers

Knowledge and Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in humanitarian and/or early recovery responses in a managerial-level role.
• Strong experience in managing agricultural programs and livelihood programs for a minimum of 5 years.
• A compelling reputation for effective people management and admirable interpersonal relations skills. You are that supervisor whose direct reports feel are sad to see you leave.
• Qualified competencies and experience managing or coordinating an integrated multisector portfolio or program.
• Familiarity with USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) Programming. Previous experience with management of an activity under what was formerly USAID OFDA and FFP is welcome.
• Familiarity with and understanding of the humanitarian context in Borno State (primary), or similar contexts around the globe (secondary).
• Mid- to Senior-level management experience within a consortium of actors.
• Demonstrable analytical and presentation skills. You can do an effective pitch before a board, senior government officials, humanitarian coordination platforms and other equivalents.
• Illustrated deep interactions with at least six of the ten sectors mentioned above for execution under THRIVE. These sectors define the core of THRIVE’s outcomes.
• At this level, we expect you to be convincingly articulate in your writing, communication, presentation and organization