Chief of Party (CoP), Food Basket Activity at Mercy Corps

The Position

• Mercy Corps is seeking a Chief of Party (COP) to lead the implementation of the anticipated five-year USAID/Feed the Future-funded Food Basket Activity. The Food Basket Activity will increase the productivity and competitiveness of selected value chains (rice, maize, and horticulture) and market systems in targeted areas of Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Plateau states of Nigeria.
• The COP will provide overall leadership, management, and strategic vision for the implementation of the anticipated activity, ensuring that the program meets its targets and deliverables on time and within budget. The COP will supervise all program staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and all donor rules and regulations. The COP will be the primary representative for the program with donors including USAID, government entities, and other partners and stakeholders.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND PLANNING

• Provide overall technical and administrative leadership and expertise. Responsible for administering and managing the implementation of the Activity with the overall responsibility for assuring that all assistance provided is technically sound and appropriate to meet activity objectives.
• Lead the development of a vision and strategy for the program shared with the program team, partners, and key stakeholders.
• Integrate and embrace all voices into shared strategies and foster an inclusive culture of systems thinking, collaboration, learning, and adaptation.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Oversee program management and administration of the activity. Ensure implementation is on time, target, and budget, using effective M&E systems to assess and reflect on progress and understand impact.
• Develop partnership frameworks, partner agreements, Memorandum of Understandings, and capacity strengthening for partners.
• Integrate cross-cutting approaches including locally driven, shock-responsive, climate-adaptive, social and gender inclusion, youth empowerment, and nutrition sensitivity.
• Ensure interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, program participant accountability standards, and program management minimum standards.
• Ensure program strategies and activities are evidence-driven and represent global good practice in livelihood, climate-resilient agricultural development, market systems development, resilience, and food security and nutrition programming.
• Coordinate with procurement, logistics, security, administration, and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities.

EVIDENCE AND LEARNING

• Provide strategic oversight of MEL systems, ensuring they are responsive to the program’s technical strategy and learning needs.
• Facilitate collaborations with partners and programs to contribute to USAID and Mercy Corps’ evidence and learning priorities.
• Promote a team culture of evidence-based decision-making and regular use of diverse data sources for continual learning and adaptation.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Oversee recruitment and onboarding of the Activity staff and consultants.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect and learning where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Provide team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance, enhance technical and partnership management skills, and reach objectives.
• Promote staff accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one meetings and performance reviews.

REPRESENTATION

• Liaise with and represent the Activity to USAID.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships between the Activity and the Nigerian Government, ensuring implementation drives development gains in line with key policies.
• Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments, and other stakeholders.
• Ensure collaboration between the Activity and complementary activities, including other Mercy Corps programs, to scale influence, enhance learning, and drive collective impact.
• Represent Mercy Corps and the Activity at government, donor, NGO, and other relevant forums.
• Serve as an active contributor and collaborator with regional and global counterparts to promote best practices.

FINANCE AND COMPLIANCE

• Ensure compliance with USAID and Mercy Corps’ regulations.
• Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with program, donor, and Mercy Corps’ needs.
• Ensure sound financial management, including programmatic budgeting, spending projections, and monitoring of payments in compliance with USAID standards.

SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

• Collaborate with country leadership to support preparedness and response to major disruptive events.
• Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.
• Ensure that activities are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervise Activity Team. The number of direct and indirect reports will be determined at a later stage.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Mercy Corps Nigeria Director of Programs

Works Directly With: Mercy Corps Nigeria Country Director, the Activity Team, Program Performance and Quality Director, other COPs / Program Directors, HR, Finance and Operations teams, Regional Programs and Technical Teams, and HQ Technical Resources and Quality Unit

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Advanced degree in agriculture, economics, business administration, or related field.
• At least 10 years of international experience in management positions, including being a Chief of Party for large programs (preferably $20 million and above).
• Demonstrated experience in livelihood, agricultural development activities, market systems development, and/or food systems programming in the African context preferred.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, and a proven ability to network and maintain effective working relationships with diverse actors.
• Experience managing diverse teams in dispersed geographic locations including inspiring staff and developing a shared vision with staff and stakeholders.
• Knowledge of Nigeria’s governance and conflict dynamics preferred.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Familiarity with USAID rules and regulations required.