Intervention Officer at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary

• Mercy Corps Nigeria was established in 2012 to respond primarily to growing humanitarian needs in the Northeast. With a strong and growing team of over 200 staff, Mercy Corps is currently serving over 600,000 beneficiaries across the country with programming in Lagos in the South; Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau in the Middle Belt; Kano, Yobe and Borno in the North.
• Programs include girls’ education and financial inclusion, community peacebuilding, market based livelihoods and a multi-sector humanitarian response that has a strong emphasis on WASH, Shelter, Cash and Protection. With the vision of a Nigeria in which all people are empowered, engaged, resilient and secure, Mercy Corps Nigeria focuses on the root causes of conflict, governance, humanitarian response, and market systems development. 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, $45 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 selection of 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 Intervention Officer will be responsible for implementing all aspects of the market systems development and livelihoods interventions of the Rural Resilience activity.
• This position holder will be required to apply a wide variety of market development tools and approaches in order to catalyze innovative services, facilitate and manage relevant market linkages between market actors in areas targeted by the project.
• S/he will provide field and office based support to the team. The position will support the training of staff, the provision of technical assistance; and ensuring that common strategies and approaches are applied consistently in all communities. S/he will coordinate closely with the M&E team to ensure that systems are in place to track, analyze and report results.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Research:

• Conduct research into relevant market systems and trends to identify opportunities for interventions.
• Assist in stakeholder analysis of selected commodity chains and identify and establish contact with potential firms and other market actors.
• Liaise with the Results Measurement (MRM TEAM) team on the development of appropriately tailored research tools and methods for the collection and collation of relevant intervention information from the field.
• Assist to update and supervise MRM TEAM aspects of the intervention activities, including establishing baselines, indicators, and results.
• Support the conduct and/or update of market assessments, involving direct stakeholders as well as public and private sector actors working within the target value chains and market systems.
• Assist in collecting baseline data related to interventions targeted for study or implementation by the project.

Intervention Management:

• Support the implementation of teamwork plans and the successful implementation of livelihoods and market systems development activities, ensuring timely implementation of work plan activities and identification of target groups within the approved budget, and the achievement of program deliverables for desired impact.
• Support the provision of technical guidance on livelihoods and market systems development and ensure that interventions are responsive to stakeholders and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan.
• Formulate strategies to develop markets in the selected commodity chains and seek opportunities to work as per the RRA sector strategy. Develop intervention strategies and implementation procedures in a participatory manner with key stakeholders.
• Ensure the appropriate communication of clear intervention guidelines, expected outcomes, timeframe and workplan to all relevant parties.
• Assist the Intervention Team Leader in the development of relevant grant agreements, MoUs, ToRs and any other administrative requirement for the interventions.
• Conduct regular field visits to ensure proper implementation of activities.
• Remain well aware of developments in the relevant sectors/markets/commodity chains
• Work with the MRM team to design appropriate tools for monitoring the progress of interventions within the various market sectors. Also liaise with the MRM team on the conduct of impact assessments for ongoing program interventions
• Refine and adapt the intervention strategies in light of participant and stakeholder requests and changing needs and opportunities, within the overall program of RRA.
• Help identify market failures and pressure points for addressing these; help identify ways to render a given market more functional and efficient, in a manner that will benefit the program targets.
• Refine and adapt the selected intervention strategies in light of participant and stakeholder requests and changing needs, within the overall program.
• Identify priority areas for interventions that will change as opportunities pass or are realized and new ones emerge.
• Collaborate closely with and support the technical advisory and implementation team to manage the Grant Facility aspect of the program to catalyze new investment in viable economic opportunities (market systems, livelihoods, agribusiness, and employment) through grants that stimulate, rather than distort market development and avoid exacerbating conflict dynamics.

Stakeholder Management:

• Represent the program in selected markets, displaying courtesy, tact, consideration and discretion in all interactions with partners, other members of the program, and with public.
• Understand how the political economy impacts rural markets, and how changes in the functioning of markets may impact the political economy.
• Maintain contacts with key stakeholders to increase synergies.
• Take part in facilitating and managing the work of partners/co-facilitators/service providers of program and ensure “value for money” for the tasks given.
• Supervise/facilitate the identification and development of networks among key stakeholders, identifying common interests between the networks and RRA.
• Assist in establishing contacts with national and regional institutions, stakeholders and participants that would contribute to the successful implementation of market activities.

Security:

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country and program leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its mission.

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.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• None, exact positions to be determined.

Accountability:

• Reports Directly To: Intervention Team Leader
• Works Directly With: Program Leadership, Technical Advisors, Finance and Operations teams, Partner Organizations

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, Economics, or Business Administration; Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of three (3) years of demonstrated experience with USG or other similar development projects focused on market systems and livelihood development, with solid understanding of context including gender and youth issues.
• Demonstrated ability to work and coordinate effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders, including government, community-based organizations, and the private sector.
• Technical experience in market system development approach to development
• Experience with supporting assessments, monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts required.
• Ability to work independently.
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills and report writing.
• Excellent oral, written and computer skills.
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is required.

Success Factors:

• The successful Intervention Officer will be familiar with supporting the management of facilitation-based interventions and the particular challenges of market systems development in Nigeria.
• The position requires an ability to think creatively about improving opportunities for inclusive market development to promote sustainable livelihoods. S/he will have the capacity to spark innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to programming and to inspire groups to collaborate closely to implement high-quality programs.
• S/he will be committed to long-Term Team program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level. 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.