Fresh Jobs at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

The Program Quality, Evidence & Learning Director position is proposed in anticipation of potential funding from UNOCHA to support life-saving humanitarian programming in Northeast Nigeria, particularly in Borno State. This role will be critical in strengthening systems and ensuring high standards of program quality, community accountability, learning, and strategic communication across the portfolio.

He/she will oversee the PaQ unit in Nigeria, ensuring the establishment and implementation of organization-wide systems that promote consistent standards, processes, and best practices in program management. The position will play a central role in fostering evidence-based programming and adaptive management, while building a strong culture of training, coaching, and technical rigor to improve program effectiveness and efficiency.

A key expectation of the role is to institutionalize strong Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems, including robust Community Accountability and Response Mechanisms (CARM). The PaQ Director will ensure that program data, research, assessments, and field learning are systematically captured, analyzed, and integrated into ongoing and future program design.

In addition, the position holder will be responsible for producing high-quality learning documents, reflection briefs, case studies, and best-practice notes. These outputs will be strategically communicated to donors, state stakeholders, and partners to showcase Mercy Corps’ approaches, achievements, innovations, and impact in humanitarian response. The PaQ Director will strengthen program visibility and external positioning by translating field-level results into clear, evidence-driven narratives that support donor engagement and future resource mobilization.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING

• Provide strategic leadership to ensure clearly defined roles, accountability structures, and alignment with life-saving humanitarian priorities in Borno State.
• Lead the integration of program data, context analysis, and evidence into country and sector strategies to ensure evidence-based, adaptive programming.
• Establish and institutionalize systems that strengthen program quality, monitoring, learning, reporting, and community accountability mechanisms across the portfolio.
• Develop processes that ensure cross-program learning is systematically captured and integrated into program adaptation and future design.
• In collaboration with other departments, strengthen cross-team coordination to ensure coherence, technical rigor, and operational efficiency across all sectors.

PROGRAM QUALITY, PERFORMANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY

• Lead the design and oversight of robust MEL, research, reporting, and Community Accountability and Response Mechanisms (CARM) systems aligned with humanitarian standards and donor expectations.
• Ensure technical excellence and quality assurance across all sectors (WASH, Nutrition, Food Security, Cash, Protection, Shelter, etc.), including participation in start-up reviews, quality audits, field spot checks, and program close-outs.
• Promote adaptive management by ensuring real-time data informs operational decisions in rapidly evolving humanitarian contexts.
• Ensure efficient and transparent data capture systems that support evidence-based decision-making and timely internal and external reporting.
• Support proposal development processes by integrating lessons learned, sector evidence, and strong accountability frameworks into program design.

LEARNING, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

• Lead the production of high-quality learning products, including evaluation briefs, lessons learned reports, case studies, reflection notes, and best-practice documentation.
• Translate field-level evidence and results into clear, compelling narratives that showcase Mercy Corps’ approaches, innovations, and impact to donors, government stakeholders, and coordination platforms.
• Ensure timely, high-quality internal and external reporting that demonstrates accountability, results, and value for money.
• Institutionalize mechanisms for capturing impact stories, evidence, and operational insights to strengthen donor engagement and future resource mobilization.
• Ensure high-quality evaluations and internal data quality assessments to demonstrate measurable outcomes and accountability.

GENDER, SOCIAL INCLUSION & COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY

• Strengthen and institutionalize Community Accountability and Response Mechanisms (CARM), ensuring communities can safely and effectively provide feedback.
• Ensure compliance with Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) standards, including SADD data minimum requirements and protection mainstreaming.
• Promote inclusive, gender-sensitive, and protection-aware programming across all life-saving interventions.
• Support the integration of Do No Harm and safeguarding principles throughout the program lifecycle.

LEADERSHIP & TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Build and lead a high-performing PaQ team with a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Provide supervision, coaching, and performance management to ensure technical excellence and alignment with strategic objectives.
• Ensure effective internal communication and coordination between field offices, sectors, and support departments.
• Recruit, orient, and develop team members to strengthen mission-wide program quality and learning capacity.

REPRESENTATION & EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT

• Represent Mercy Corps in donor engagements, coordination forums, and technical working groups related to program quality, learning, and accountability.
• Share best practices and contribute to sector-wide learning at state, and national levels.
• Engage with regional and global PaQ team to ensure Nigeria contributes to and benefits from organizational learning and innovation.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

• Actively learns safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility:

MEL Manager, CARM Coordinator, and Senior Learning and Communication Officer

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Programs Director - OCHA

Works Directly With: Senior Programs Manager, Sector Program managers, Finance Department, Human Resources Department, Operations Department, and the Regional and Global team, and TSU teams.

Knowledge And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree in Humanitarian Studies, International Development, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum 12 years of progressive experience in humanitarian or development programming, including 4 years of leadership and coordination in complex, high-risk contexts (Africa experience preferred).
• Strong expertise in Program Quality, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL), including remote monitoring, mobile data collection, evaluations, and data quality assurance.
• Strong knowledge of statistical packages and software
• Demonstrated ability to institutionalize systems for program quality, community accountability, adaptive management, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Proven experience in producing high-quality reports, learning documents, and donor-facing communications that showcase program impact and best practices.
• Strong analytical, facilitation, and capacity-building skills, with the ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to field locations, including insecure environments.
• Fluent written and spoken English required.

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General Position Summary

The Director of Operations is a critical member of the country’s senior management team with supervisory and managerial responsibility. Reporting to the Country Director, the Director of Operations will be primarily responsible for enabling excellence in all operations functions of all offices in Nigeria, including procurement, logistics, assets, fleet, and warehousing. S/he will be required to strengthen the operational performance and efficiency of the organization by developing the capacity of staff and establishing the right systems. S/he will also ensure that managerial processes, resources, and the necessary infrastructure are all in place. The Operations Director provides support and leadership through capacity building and the development of systems. This is an exciting opportunity to influence key outcomes and make a lasting difference in the lives of Nigerians. This position requires traveling to all field offices.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Set direction of program support department by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to countrywide strategy development.
• Work with the Country Director and senior management team to support the growth of the program portfolio, formulate strategies and plans.
• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.

Influence & Representation

• Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments, and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall program targets and donor obligations are met.
• Communicate with our partners to verify their systems and that they understand and follow all appropriate procedures and archiving.
• Establish a high level of credibility and manage strong working relationships with external stakeholders.

Operational

• Ensure integration of program support systems and processes in all Mercy Corps Nigeria offices.
• Ensure all offices have capacity (human and technical) to support smooth program operations.
• Ensure internal and donor procedures, policies, and guidelines are followed.
• Establish and maintain a pipeline of supplies, overseeing the logistical aspects of the operation; oversee NFI, commodity storage, and movements as needed.
• Ensure unified and cost-effective fleet management, including tracking of maintenance, fuel usage, and vehicle scheduling.
• Oversee set-up and development of Mercy Corps offices, including drafting and reviewing contracts for office and housing space, and leasehold improvements.
• Develop and periodically review country or field office-specific policies and communicate them to teams.
• Oversee database and file management for administration, procurement and logistics documents.
• Oversee facility management, including housing and office leases; ensure that security standards are maintained at all premises.
• Ensure that Mercy Corps contracts and business transactions/relationships are transparent and in compliance with Nigeria law and Mercy Corps/donor policies.

Team Management

• Lead and develop program support teams in the main office and field offices.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem-solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Take ultimate responsibility of performance of program support functions.

Finance & Compliance Management

• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations.
• Draft and review scope of work to hire and manage any technical consultants, including review for technical efficacy and contract budget.

Security

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.

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.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

• Actively learns safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

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

Directly: Operations Manager, and Senior Safety and Security Officer

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Country Director

Works Directly With: HQ Regional Finance Officers, HQ Global Supply Chain (GSC), HQ Global Procurement, Internal Auditors, Finance Director, Human Resources, and Programs Managers/Directors.

Knowledge And Experience

• BA/BS degree in a relevant field.
• A minimum of 7 years’ experience setting up and managing administration, procurement, logistics, and human resource systems with NGOs or a business with supervisory responsibilities.
• Demonstrated understanding of supporting complex operations in challenging environments.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, following procedures, meeting deadlines, and working and problem-solving independently and cooperatively.
• Knowledge of Mercy Corps systems and procedures (esp. procurement systems) desirable; knowledge of USAID and other donor regulations will be helpful.
• Excellent negotiation and representation skills.
• Effective verbal and written communication, organizational, prioritization, and Microsoft Office applications.
• Excellent oral and written English skills required.
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive

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General Position Summary

The Emergency Response Start-up Manager will provide leadership and coordination for humanitarian program implementation in Borno & Yobe States. The position holder will ensure rapid start-up of activities, establishment of operational systems, and effective coordination across program, operations, finance, and MEL teams.

The role will focus on:

• Ensuring immediate operational readiness and structured work planning
• Establishing program management tools including detail work plan, procurement plan and budget tracking tools
• Strengthening coordination, accountability, and quality during rapid scale-up
• Supporting field-level leadership to deliver high-impact life-saving programming

The position reports directly to the Humanitarian Programs Director and works closely with sector leads, operations, finance, and MEL teams.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY & START-UP MANAGEMENT

• Lead rapid start-up of humanitarian interventions in line with donor requirements and Mercy Corps standards.
• Develop and operationalize detailed implementation workplans, sector timelines, and start-up checklists.
• Establish practical program management tools including budget trackers, activity trackers, and field monitoring dashboards.
• Ensure clear role delineation and coordination mechanisms across program and support teams.
• Support early identification of implementation risks and mitigation strategies.

PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION & QUALITY

• Oversee field implementation to ensure activities are delivered on time, on target, and on budget.
• Ensure adherence to Mercy Corps technical standards, Sphere standards, protection mainstreaming, and Do No Harm principles.
• Support program managers in troubleshooting operational bottlenecks and maintaining implementation momentum.
• Ensure strong coordination between program, supply chain, finance, and MEL teams to enable smooth delivery.
• Promote adaptive management by ensuring field feedback and monitoring data inform real-time adjustments.

FINANCE, BUDGET & COMPLIANCE OVERSIGHT

• Establish and monitor budget tracking tools to ensure timely burn rates and prevent under and overspending.
• Conduct regular BvA reviews with program and finance teams during the start-up phase.
• Ensure compliance with donor regulations and Mercy Corps financial procedures.
• Support accurate and timely reporting aligned with donor expectations.

COORDINATION & REPRESENTATION

• Represent Mercy Corps in coordination forums as delegated by the Humanitarian Programs Director.
• Strengthen relationships with local authorities, partners, and coordination bodies.
• Ensure alignment with OCHA coordination structures and humanitarian architecture in Borno State.

TEAM LEADERSHIP & CAPACITY SUPPORT

• Provide mentoring and structured support to sector leads and program managers.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, and high performance across the emergency team.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and orientation of surge staff where necessary.
• Foster a culture of teamwork, urgency, and professionalism during rapid response operations.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

• Actively learns safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTICIPANTS

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to program participants, community partners, and other stakeholders, and to international humanitarian standards guiding relief and development work. The Emergency Response Team Leader will ensure that community accountability mechanisms are functional and integrated from program inception.

Supervisory Responsibility

Program Managers (WASH Program Manager, Nutrition Program Manager)

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Humanitarian Program Director

Works Directly With: Senior Programs Manager, Sector Program managers, Finance Department, Human Resources Department, Operations Department, and PaQ Director

Accountability to Participants and 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.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree in humanitarian studies, international development, or related field preferred.
• Minimum 7–10 years of humanitarian programming experience, including leadership in emergency response contexts.
• Demonstrated experience in rapid program start-up and large-scale humanitarian implementation.
• Strong knowledge of donor compliance requirements (e.g., OCHA, BHA, ECHO, etc.).
• Proven ability to establish program management systems including workplans, budget trackers, and monitoring tools.
• Experience working in insecure and conflict-affected environments required.
• Strong leadership, coordination, and problem-solving skills.
• Fluent written and spoken English required.

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The Position:

The Programs Director - OCHA provides strategic leadership and oversight of Mercy Corps Nigeria’s humanitarian programming portfolio. The role is responsible for driving the expansion and quality of humanitarian interventions across the country, ensuring timely, effective, and principled response to crises affecting vulnerable populations.

Working closely with the Country Director and senior leadership team, the Programs Director will guide strategic positioning for humanitarian funding opportunities, strengthen donor engagement with key humanitarian donors, and ensure Mercy Corps maintains a strong reputation for delivering high-impact humanitarian programs.

The position will also lead efforts to capture and showcase Mercy Corps’ learning, innovation and impact in humanitarian programming, strengthening evidence generation and thought leadership within the humanitarian sector.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND PLANNING

• Provide strategic leadership for Mercy Corps Nigeria’s humanitarian programming portfolio across emergency response, early recovery and resilience programming.
• Identify emerging humanitarian needs, crisis trends and funding opportunities to expand Mercy Corps’ humanitarian footprint in Nigeria.
• Lead the development of humanitarian response strategies, operational plans and program priorities in alignment with Mercy Corps’ global and country strategies.
• Work closely with the Country Director and senior leadership team to ensure strong integration between humanitarian response and long-term development programming.
• Promote adaptive management and evidence-based decision making to ensure humanitarian programs remain responsive to changing contexts.

HUMANITARIAN DONOR ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCE MOBILIZATION

• Lead strategic engagement with key humanitarian donors, including OCHA, ECHO, UN agencies, Foundations, and bilateral donors.
• Strengthen Mercy Corps Nigeria’s positioning for humanitarian funding opportunities through proactive donor engagement and relationship building.
• Provide strategic leadership in the development of high-quality humanitarian proposals, concept notes and program design initiatives.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with national and international NGOs, UN agencies, government actors and private sector partners to expand Mercy Corps’ humanitarian programming.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT & QUALITY

• Provide overall leadership to ensure humanitarian programs are implemented effectively, on time and on budget while meeting Mercy Corps program quality standards.
• Ensure programs adhere to humanitarian principles and standards including Sphere Standards, Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), and Mercy Corps program quality frameworks.
• Oversee program performance monitoring, learning and adaptive management processes to ensure programs achieve intended impact.
• Strengthening coordination and integration across humanitarian programs implemented in multiple sectors and geographic areas.

Finance & Compliance Management

• Ensure effective and transparent management of humanitarian program resources in full compliance with Mercy Corps policies, donor regulations, and applicable government requirements.
• Work closely with Finance and Operations teams to ensure strong budget planning, forecasting, and financial oversight across the humanitarian portfolio.
• Monitor program spending and financial performance to ensure efficient use of resources and alignment with approved budgets.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements and reporting standards for humanitarian funding streams (e.g., OCHA, DoS, ECHO, UN agencies, and foundations).
• Support program teams to understand and adhere to donor compliance requirements, including procurement, sub-award management, and financial reporting.
• Ensure timely and accurate financial and narrative reporting in collaboration with finance, grants, and program teams.
• Promote strong coordination between program, finance, and operations teams to ensure effective program implementation and compliance with Mercy Corps standards.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

• Lead the systematic capture, documentation and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices from Mercy Corps humanitarian programming.
• Promote evidence generation and learning to strengthen Mercy Corps’ thought leadership in humanitarian response and resilience programming.
• Work closely with the communications and program quality teams to develop learning briefs, case studies, impact stories and knowledge products showcasing Mercy Corps’ humanitarian work.

REPRESENTATION & COORDINATION

• Represent Mercy Corps in key humanitarian coordination platforms including clusters, inter-agency working groups and donor coordination forums.
• Build strong relationships with humanitarian actors, government stakeholders and development partners to strengthen collaboration and coordination.
• Promote Mercy Corps’ leadership and visibility within the humanitarian community in Nigeria.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Provide leadership, mentorship and technical support to senior program staff and field teams implementing humanitarian programs.
• Strengthen the capacity of national staff and partners to design and deliver high-quality humanitarian programming.
• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, learning and professional development across the humanitarian program team.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

• Actively learns safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

Senior Program Manager, Emergency Response start-up manager, PaQ Director, WASH Technical Advisor.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Country Director

Works Directly With: Senior Management Team, Human Resources Department, Operations, Finance, Regional Technical Advisors, Global Humanitarian Teams, and External Partners.

Accountability to Participants and 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.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Master’s degree in international development, humanitarian studies, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in humanitarian programming, including senior leadership roles in complex and insecure environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing large-scale humanitarian programs funded by donors such as DoS, ECHO, OCHA, or UN agencies.
• Proven track record in humanitarian proposal development and donor engagement.
• Strong understanding of humanitarian coordination systems and standards (Sphere, CHS, humanitarian clusters).
• Excellent leadership, strategic planning, and team management skills.