Deputy Chief of Party at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary

• Working with a diverse funding base that includes the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UK Department for International Development (DFID), United Nations (UN), European Commission (EC), and several foundations, Mercy Corps empowers people to recover from crisis, build better lives and transform their communities for good. In 2019, Mercy Corps was awarded a five-year, $30 million USAID-funded Rural Resilience Activity in Nigeria’s northeastern states.
• The purpose of the Rural Resilience Activity is to sustainably move people out of chronic vulnerability and poverty. The Rural Resilience activity will enable individuals and communities to engage in strong and sustainable market systems rather than continuing to rely on humanitarian assistance and faltering with each new shock.
• The Rural Resilience Activity is a five-year, $49 million USAID-funded Program in Nigeria’s northeast. The purpose of the Rural Resilience Activity is to sustainably move people out of chronic vulnerability and poverty.
• The Rural Resilience Activity will enable individuals and communities to engage in strong and sustainable market systems rather than continuing to rely on humanitarian assistance and faltering with each new shock. To achieve this purpose, the Activity will have four components and four cross-cutting elements:
  • Component 1: Provide up-to-date evidence for selecting market systems, livelihoods and employment opportunities that contribute to inclusive and resilient growth and improved nutrition.
  • Component 2: Stimulate market systems growth and diverse economic opportunities (Pull activities).
  • Component 3: Build capacity to take advantage of market systems opportunities (Push activities).
  • Component 4: Sequencing, layering, integrating (SLI), and collaborative learning to improve activity effectiveness, sustainability, and scale.
  • Component 5: Supporting Market Resilience to COVID-19 Shocks.

General Position Summary

• The Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) will support the Chief of Party (COP) in managing and leading the Rural Resilience Activity. The DCOP will assist the COP in program oversight and directly manage the technical, administrative, operational and logistical aspects of the program.
• The DCOP will work closely with the various Thematic Teams and support functions to ensure effective program coordination and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, quality assurance, and accountability.
• The DCOP will also work directly with partner agencies, both national and international, to achieve the objectives of the program.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy And Vision:

• Provide technical leadership and strategic vision to the technical components of the program including work plan development, market analysis, partnership selection and management, and overall sector strategy.
• Monitor adherence to grant agreement, Mercy Corps policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations.
• Oversee the performance of consortium partners and sub-grantees.
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Assist the Chief of Party with developing close-out plans.
• Contribute to program and country team-building efforts and communications support for field teams.

Program Management:

• Lead the development of detailed close-out plans flowing from annual strategic work plans, and ensure the delivery.
• Lead the socialization of the program with Government of Nigeria Stakeholders, ensuring necessary approvals and collaboration required.
• Ensure technical learning briefs are well documented and shared.
• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.
• Provide managerial and programmatic oversight to Partners and Sub-grantee(s).
• Document processes and achievements to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated. This will include the continual re-evaluation of program activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments in keeping with new insights.
• Produce written reports on program activities, capturing the impacts of the activities.
• Oversee efforts to design effective M&E systems for the program, and linkages with internal M&E systems.
• Create and follow effective stakeholder management plans, ensuring sound and proactive communications with Mercy Corps Nigeria, partner organizations, Mercy Corps Headquarters, USAID, Government of Nigeria authorities, and colleague agencies.
• Conduct frequent field visits to all project sites – spend up to 50% of the time in the field.

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 Participant & Stakeholders:

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work.
• We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• National and International team members working on the program and partnerships with international and national program partners. Direct reports include members of the Implementation Team. Indirect reports include those who report to the Chief of Party.

Works Directly with:

• Technical Advisory Team, Technical Managers,EIF Manager,Program teams, HR, Finance, Operations teams, HQ Regional Program Team, HQ Technical Support Unit, and Partner Organizations.

Knowledge and Experience

• Master's Degree or higher Degree in Economics, or Business Administration.
• Demonstrated expertise and a minimum of three (3) years of Deputy Chief of Party experience in managing large to medium (preferably $10 million and above) livelihood, agricultural development activities with knowledge of resilience programming and the African context preferred.
• At least three (3) years of field-based work in a conflict-prone and/or active insurgency environment.
• Strong technical experience in Market Systems Approach to development.
• Demonstrated ability to be collaborative across activities utilizing strong communication and interpersonal skills, with evidence of the ability to productively interact with a wide range and levels of organizations (government, private sector, other activities, NGOs).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills (proficiency in English).

Success Factors:

• A successful candidate will have demonstrated the ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem-solving.
• S/he will have a proven ability to learn quickly, multi-task, prioritize, take the initiative, and be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, problem-solving, work within a complex and sensitive setting and to follow laws and security protocols.
• The most successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments, and prioritize effective written and verbal communication in all situations.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion:

• Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges.
• We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

• Mercy Corps is an equal-opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have a sustained global impact.
• We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, colour, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics:

• Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity.
• We are committed to the core principles regarding the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members.
• As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and adhere to the Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.