Project Officer, Child Protection at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary

• The Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises (ENGINE) Programme is an initiative to improve learning outcomes and the economic status of marginalized adolescent girls aged 16-19 in the Northern Nigerian states of Kano and Kaduna, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the metropolis of Lagos, Nigeria.
• ENGINE through funding from the UK Department for International Development’s Girls Education Challenge, the Coca-Cola Company and other stakeholders supported over 18,000 marginalized girls to reduce education and financial barriers in its first implementation phase.
• In its second phase, ENGINE 2 will facilitate transition of these girls into functional literacy, numeracy and scale up their business opportunities and linkages.
• ENGINE 2 will further increase girls’ and young women’s access to (1) financial education and life skills; (2) peer to peer networks and mentoring; and (3) direct assets (materials and savings).
• Beneficiaries will be integrated into value chains as well as conduct other market-driven employment opportunities.
• ENGINE 2 will also work with girls in formal and informal education to increase their learning opportunities and outcomes to prepare them for future economic activities and work in the policy environment to provide an enabling environment for girls to flourish in their chosen pathways.

General Position Summary

• The Project Officer - Child Protection will be responsible for training staff and partners on child protection and reporting, track, report child protection issues, and ensure compliance of child protection by all consortium members at safe spaces.
• S/he will support field implementation of the ENGINE program including supporting administration, partners’ coordination, schools/community stakeholders’ engagement to ensure that the program meets performance-based targets on time and within budget, per DfID requirements.
• S/he will ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Program Support:

• Ensure Mercy Corps child protection policy is implemented and promoted
• Provide training to staff and partners on child protection and reporting mechanism
• Prioritize child protection issues and design prevention and response programs and initiatives
• Integrate do no harm principles in program implementation
• Develop monitoring and reporting mechanisms on a variety of levels eg formal data collection for advocacy, qualitative measures for program development, information for donor reports, etc.
• Track and report child protection issues to management and other relevant consortium members
• Ensure compliance with child protection by consortium members
• Support the coordination of all sub-grantee activities including programmatic implementation, budget & liquidation process and timely reporting of child protection issues.
• Implement and model Mercy Corps’ philosophy of social entrepreneurship and leverage Mercy Corps’ best practices.

Finance & Compliance Management:

• Ensure compliance of sub-grantee partners with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to field programming.

Security:

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.

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 projects.

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree or its equivalent in Education, Management, Social Sciences, International Development or other relevant field.
• A minimum of 3 years of progressive work in education, gender- focused or skills building program.
• Experience working on a large-scale education or school to work and especially targeting marginalized girls or young women programs required. Prefer expertise in at least one of the following areas: accelerated learning programs, Islamic and/or community-based education targeting community acceptance of girl’s education, increasing economic assets through savings clubs and links to financial institutions.
• Good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues in high security environment.  Experience working in a multi-organizational team (international and national partners) is a plus.
• Experience working in Northern Nigeria strongly preferred.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English required, including report development, writing and editing. Hausa language skills preferred
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.

Success Factors

• The successful candidate will combine exceptional leadership, management and technical skills with a focus on innovative interventions to engage adolescent girls in informal education and skills building linked with private sector entrepreneurship and employment opportunities in a culturally and religiously conservative environment. 
• S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage innovative and complex programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the region. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential.
• The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.
• Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours .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.