Project Intern - Job Creation 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 Intern - Job Creation will support in the development and implementation of activities that transition girls in school or in informal education into economic activities including paid employment positions. These include into existing value chains of Nigerian-based companies and market driven employment and entrepreneurship activities; and apprenticeship/internship opportunities.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Program Management
• Support in developing draft MOUs that will be agreed with the potential business owners and employers.
• Maintain a database of participating business owners and employers.
• Support in facilitating quarterly review meetings with participating business owners and employers to identify emerging challenge
• In collaboration with the Monitoring Evaluation and Learning team, implement relevant surveys, need assessments (including Matching Interest to Work (MIW)), data and information collection for on-going monitoring in project states of implementation.
• Support in organizing site-visits to the projects sites; and host visitors and consultants, as needed.
• Security
• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies
• Work closely with Mercy Corps Nigeria country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that ensure the safety and security of the team in all aspects of its implementation process.

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

• Degree in Arts, humanities, social sciences or relevant field
• At least one-year experience in implementation job creation programmes.
• Experience supporting program activities as part of a donor-funded project within an emerging market.
• Experience in working with stakeholders to facilitate job opportunities for project beneficiaries.
• Experience working in Northern Nigeria strongly preferred.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English required, including report development and writing
• 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.