Senior Field Manager at Mercy Corps

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Position Status: Full time and Regular
Supervisory Responsibility: Deep Field Office Field Managers
Reports Directly To: Humanitarian And Sustainable Solutions Director
Works Directly With: Programs, Operation And Finance

Program / Department Summary

• Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on humanitarian assistance, economic development, and conflict mitigation. With the ongoing insurgency in Northeast Nigeria causing the displacement of millions of individuals, Mercy Corps started its humanitarian response in 2014 to address the rising humanitarian needs.
• As the crisis has persisted, Mercy Corps’ strategy has also expanded to address the root causes of the conflict and seek to build the long term resilience of communities with integrated programs focusing on governance, the recovery of markets and livelihoods, social cohesion and social protection, youth empowerment, and local conflict management.

General Position Summary

• Mercy Corps is looking for a Senior Field Manager to support internal and external coordination of the humanitarian and early recovery programs.
• Under the direction of the Humanitarian and Sustainable Solutions Director (HSSD), the Senior Field Manager is responsible for liaising on MC’s behalf with various governmental ministries, departments, agencies (MDA), traditional leaders, tax, immigration authorities, security apparatus in the Northeast (Borno, Adamawa, Yobe state) with potential expansion to new areas in line with Mercy Corps humanitarian and sustainable solutions portfolio where required tofacilitate smooth implementation of MC’s programming, including timely approvals of Memoranda of Understanding and other permissions as needed and according to operating context.
• Additionally, the Senior Field Manager supervises the Field Managers based in Mercy Corps Deep Field Offices (Bama, Biu, Gwoza, Ngala, Dikwa, and Damboa - with potential expansion to new locations in line with Mercy Corps humanitarian and durable solutions portfolio), ensuring that the operational and representational needs of those offices and teams are met.
• Overall, the Senior Field Manager will support the strategic design, implementation and refinement of strong and durable systems for the improved operational, financial and compliance management of Mercy Corps’ operations in northern Nigeria.

Essential Job Functions

External Representation:
In coordination with the Humanitarian and Sustainable Solutions Director, the Senior FM will:

• Establish and implement a stakeholder engagement strategy designed to develop, maintain, and strengthen Mercy Corps’ organizational relationships with relevant stakeholders
• Build and maintain relationships with key technical managers, commissioners and decision-makers in the government,different ministries and among local/traditional authorities. Act as a key focal point.
• Promote MC’s work and raise MC image externally at relevant humanitarian fora
• Proactively coordinate and advocate on MC’s behalf with State, LGA and as well as traditional leaders to ensure that the desired outcomes for MC’s activities are achieved.
• Organize meetings and accompany HSSD, DoP, Country Director and other senior staff to meetings with government officials and facilitate conversations for smooth representation of MC in those meetings.
• Coordinate with Finance, Ethics, and compliance to facilitate timely reporting of compliance-related issues such as EFCC/SCUML, submission of TAX report/ clearance, expat monthly report to NIS, etc.
• Facilitate the timely signature of MOUs and any other relevant agreements between MC and the government and respond to queries from authorities in a timely manner.
• Familiarize and keep up with all new government requirements applicable to MC’s work in the Northeast and potential expansion to new locations based on Mercy Corps’ humanitarian and sustainable solutions portfolio to support programs, field management and grants team to ensure compliance.Develop guidelines including all requirements, procedures and processes.
• Ensure senior MC staff are aware of and understand any concerns of government officials regarding MC’s operations, and that such concerns are factored into MC’s communication strategy and programming.
• Ensure all correspondence with the government is in line with MC policies and records are retained in an organized
• Where relevant, participate in grants meetings to understand the concept of the respective program.
• Organize stakeholders meetings to allow the program team and senior staff to keep them abreast of progress, updates, challenges and seek support for smooth implementation.
• Support the field managers in addressing / managing LGA level relationships and addressing any issues at that level.

Field Manager Coordination:

• Responsible for the effective supervision of deep field site Field Managers, including their effective recruitment, onboarding, mentorship and performance management.
• Support the strategic design, implementation and refinement of strong and durable systems for the improved management of Mercy Corps’ field operations in northern Nigeria.
• Provide leadership to the deep field office Field Management team, ensuring clarity over organizational priorities and associated support to deliver on priorities, effective cross-office learning, building a culture of teamwork and inclusiveness.
• Represent Field Management needs and priorities relevant forums including NE Coordination meetings, all-staff meetings, etc.
• Responsible for supporting Field Managers in maintaining operational security in field sites, elevating any security concerns to the Security Team, providing inputs to the location-specific security plans, and ensuring smooth and effective communications between deep field sites and the security team.
• Act as a liaison between Field Managers and Operations team, ensuring that operations systems are smoothly functional in field sites and representing field perspectives in the development and/or review of relevant operations plans/guidelines, etc.
• Regularly travel to Deep Field Locations to ensure strong operational understanding and connection to Deep Field team needs.
• In coordination with the HSSD, support regular coordination meetings for the humanitarian and early recovery portfolio, encouraging cross-team learning and efficiency.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in related fields such as Public Administration, Humanities, Social Sciences, etc.
• At least 7 years of field experience in humanitarian and/or development programs, including experience working with the government at a senior level
• Strong field leadership skills and proven experience in managing diverse and multicultural teams that cooperate and deliver results.
• Extensive knowledge of the NE states system of government and administration
• Familiarity with at least some sectoral work common in Mercy Corps’ activities, including e-vouchers, cash transfers, food security, livelihoods, crisis analytics, shelter, etc.
• Excellent written and spoken English language, knowledge of Hausa and Kanuri a plus
• Self-driven, independent and motivated.
• Diplomatic nature, excellent negotiation skills plus negotiation experience;
• Strong communication, organization and interpersonal skills.
• Willingness to travel at least 40% of the time to different states, LGAs as required.
• Excellent written and spoken English and local languages
• Good computer skills, including confident use of Microsoft Office applications.

Success Factors:

• The successful candidate will provide effective leadership to the Mercy Corps team in the Northeast, representing our humanitarian and early recovery portfolio.
• S/he will be capable of multi-tasking, rapid decision-making, have initiative, drive and high energy.
• S/he will have excellent communication skills, is able to adapt messages to different audiences, strong listening skills as well as verbal and written presentation skills.
• S/he will have high emotional intelligence, constructive mentoring skills and proven experience with capacity building.
• S/he will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions:

• The position is based in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria and it requires frequent travel to field locations in and around northern Nigeria.

Security:

• Security in the field locations requires additional vigilance and accessibility will be reassessed continuously.
• Access to good medical services in the northeast is limited.
• Phone communication, internet, electricity and water is available but might be erratic.
• Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all locations.

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 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.