NFI Assistant at Mercy Corps

Location: Dikwa, Ngala, Borno State
Reports Directly to: NFI Officer
Works Directly with: Food Distribution/NFI, WASH, Finance, Program and Operation Teams.

Program / Department Summary

• With the insurgency affecting North East Nigeria and displacing millions of people, Mercy Corps is expanding its humanitarian programming to support the conflict-affected population in Borno.
• In response to the ongoing crisis, Mercy Corps is scaling-up food security, non-food items, nutrition, protection, livelihoods, and water sanitation hygiene (WASH) activities in Dikwa, Ngala, and Jere Local Government Areas in Borno State to address emergency needs.

General Position Summary

• The NFI Assistant is responsible in supporting the management of all NFI distribution and to support in conducting sectoral needs assessments in liaison with other relevant team members such as protection advisor, community relief committee and WaSH team.
• He/she would assist to develop technical components to NFI and preparation of BoQ and Estimates, Planning, Technical Details, improve development techniques for the acceptable and qualitativeNFIs.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Support in carrying out NFI needs assessments taking into account the current situation, projected population planning figures, the expected scale of returns and quantity of NFI to be distributed to each HH using SPHERE standard and NFI working group coordination.
• Support in the developments of NFI strategies which are framed by Mercy Corps’s Global Strategy for Settlement, Shelter transition kits and take into consideration the local context, age and gender, culture, climate, environmental protection and the availability of local resources, including materials, capacities and existing infrastructure.
• Support in providing clear guidance on standards for NFIs, including minimum emergency standards to meet basic and essential needs as well as guidance for utilization and improvement of NFIs conditions that will be necessary as the duration of the displacement prolongs.
• Compiling, analyzing and mapping available information on NFI options in country taking into account relevant policies adopted by the Government and CCCM/WASH/NFI cluster. When planning NFI works, ensuring that the technical component reflects Sphere minimum standards for the provision of emergency and other types of NFI assistance and is within the budgetary requirements. Due consideration should be given to standards in other relevant sectors such as water and sanitation.
• Ensuring that specifications, bills of quantities and technical specifications are produced in a technically sound and standardized manner. Establish monitoring and evaluation tools to ensure that works are implemented according to plans and completed within the designated timeframe.
• Ensure that local communities and the community relief community have been consulted on all activities so as not to create unnecessary tension between the displaced and host populations.
• Support in monitoring of all NFI and WASH infrastructure activities
• When identifying beneficiaries, ensure that the needs of the most vulnerable population of concern (POC) and host families are addressed. Mercy Corps’ vulnerability indicators should be applied in a participatory manner during the beneficiary selection.
• When planning NFI activities, ensure that the NFI component reflects Sphere minimum standards for the provision of emergency and other types of shelter assistance and is within the budgetary requirements. Standards for other sectors such as water, sanitation and hygiene should be taken into consideration also.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S or higher in health education, Sciences and science related fields or Civil Engineering.
• 2-3+ years in NFI and WASH sector
• Experience in NFIs in humanitarian context etc.
• Fluency in both verbal and written English highly preferred. Fluency in Kanuri is required
• Multi-tasking, coordination, organization, prioritization skills essential. Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing
• Highly-developed computers skills, with strong familiarity with MS Office, Power point, Outlook, Excel, Word.
• Ability to work independently and cooperatively with team members required. Ability to work under pressure
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills