Program Officer - Business Development at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary

• Mercy Corps Nigeria is one of the sub-partners in a CRS-led consortium planning to deliver a 38 million USD, 24-month humanitarian and early-recovery activity in Borno State titled Transitioning Households to Recovery from Vulnerability (THRIVE).
• THRIVE will provide context-specific multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance with the goal of saving lives and initiating early recovery in four wards in Borno State, Jere LGA: Mairi, Mashamari, Dusuman, and Maimusari.
• Across the 24- month period, THRIVE will reach over 300,000 unique participants with a humanitarian and recovery intervention covering ten sectors: Food Assistance, Health, Multi-purpose Cash Assistance, Shelter & Settlement, Nutrition, WASH, Protection, Agriculture & Econ.
• Recovery and Market Systems (ERMS). Other partners in the THRIVE consortium are WINN, Salient Humanitarian Organization, Justice Development & Peace Commission (Maiduguri) and Herwa Community Development Initiative (HECDI), Maiduguri.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategy & Program Management:

• Originate ideas for self and others and test those ideas.
• Share information and work with colleagues to create innovations in the team’s work.
• Facilitate effective communication of information to various audiences using a variety of techniques, ensuring the information is tailored to the audience.
• Following up on new business opportunities and leading where necessary community meetings, and business partner meetings for THRIVE program.
• Identifying synergies between third parties and linking them to forge productive new relationships.
• Support market actors in assessing relevant information about market potential and opportunities to improve their businesses.
• Facilitating market linkages that provide vulnerable groups access to useful secondary services that markets provide when functioning well.
• Support mother unit and smallholder poultry farmers to develop a clear business plan that will accommodate innovative and/or new business approaches.
• Facilitate access to the required knowledge and skills, so that mother unit and SHPF businesses have the confidence to adopt new practices and have the ability to do so successfully.
• Facilitate linkages between mother units and financial institutions.
• Support the establishment and strengthening of groups of smallholder poultry farmers to form market-oriented enterprises that enable them to engage more effectively in an emerging market system; train the group on VSLA/SILC methodology and other business and financial management.
• Contribute to effective program reporting, monitoring and evaluation systems for both internal and external use in coordination with the other program staff.
• Adherence to all MC policies and procedures as outlined in MC policies and procedure manuals.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its humanitarian mission in the country of operation.
• Other duties as assigned.

Finance & Compliance Management:

• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to programming.
• Responsible for expenditure tracking of activities carried out in the field.

Influence and Representation:

• Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with the community, government, private sector, and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets are met.

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.

Supervisory Responsibility:
Business Development Assistant:

• Reports Directly To: SPO Business Development
• Works Directly With: Finance, Program, MEL, Operations, and support team

Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience

• BA / BSc in relevant field required.
• 3-4 years of experience working in the private sector, development sector, and general program management experience required.
• Experience in business plan development and financial model development is required.
• Previous experience working with savings groups and/or cooperatives is desired.
• Ability to gather evidence (quantitative and qualitative data), evaluate it, theorize trends, and develop insights.
• Ability to prioritize and plan activities based on achieving long-term outcomes.
• Ability to make confident decisions quickly and shows good judgment in ambiguous situations
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders to identify smallholder poultry farmers according to the criteria required.
• Experience with conducting assessments, monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts required.
• Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media, and the public.
• Commitment to renewing and maintaining knowledge of best practices.
• Demonstrated training and facilitation experience.
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is required.

Success Factors:

• Strong Work Ethic, having the ability to learn the most efficient way of learning the most efficient way to complete tasks and finding ways to save time while completing daily assignments.
• Dependability and Responsibility, having the ability to come to work on time, are there when they are supposed to be and are responsible for their actions and behaviour.
• Adaptability, being adaptable and maintaining flexibility in completing tasks in an ever-changing workplace.
• Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

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 based on 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 encounter 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.
• 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 Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times.
• Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.