Job Vacancies at Mercy Corps

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. 

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).

go to method of application »

General Position Summary

The Water Engineer will organize activities related to the implementation of water infrastructure, from design to implementation, including logistics and monitoring. Responsible for the identification, design, implementation, monitoring and reporting of all WASH program activities and associated administrative tasks. Supervises all water and sanitation engineering contractors in order to effectively implement planned projects. Manages all administration and security of MC engineering activities in the assigned district. S/he will have to show full adherence to MC security protocols.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Program Management

• Develop and maintain good relationships and lines of communication with relevant local authorities and communities, explaining MC’s role as an NGO and liaising with them during all phases of the project.
• Guarantee community involvement at all phases of the project (identification, design, implementation, and monitoring) to ensure the development of community ownership for the projects.
• Develop plans for the implementation of the water and sanitation engineering projects in the assigned district. This should include planned delegation of responsibility to appropriate staff, plans and rationale for projects (including technical designs), plans for material and cash needs over the course of the project, and work schedules (timelines) for the various phases of the project.
• Prior to the commencement of project implementation, complete a standard Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with community representatives and local authorities for each community identified for project activities. Ensure that all elements of the MoU are adhered to. Report any problems relating to the MoUs.
• Implement projects as planned according to developed technical standards, schedules, and timelines. Ensure correct surface engineering around the well to allow for the correct drainage of excess water using soak-away pits and aprons.
• Keep detailed technical records for every site.
• Report any variations or problems with the implementation of projects (in regard to staffing, costs, schedules, and technical matters). Where necessary, regularly update project implementation plans with associated timelines.
• Ensure full adherence to the MC security plans and protocols conscientiously respecting the declared ‘go and no-go’ zones ensuring that staff respects them.
• Supervise the procurement of any materials needed through a competitive and transparent bidding process following the MC policies design for this purpose.
• Organize competitive bidding processes to select the most qualified and cost-effective contractors and manage the contracts, certifying the quality of the works performed.
• Coordinate with local authorities to obtain all licenses needed.
• Provide feedback to the Monitoring and Evaluation system in order to assess the effectiveness of the projects and impact and propose recommendations for improvements.
• Provide regular written and verbal reports to the Chief of Party and Project Manager on infrastructure development activity.
• Organize site visits to the project sites and hostess missions/consultants.

 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.

 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.
• 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.

Accountability

• Reports Directly To: Senior Infrastructure Manager
• Works Directly With: Small Town WASH COP, DCOP, Director of Finance and Administration, Country Director, Finance, and Operations teams, M&E Officer, and other Small Town WASH staff. Coordinates with HQ Program Performance team and the Technical Support

Knowledge and Experience

• A BSc or Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Management, Water Treatment Technologies or a related field.
• 5-10 years of management of development programs including infrastructure rehabilitation and supervision projects.
• Knowledge of the issues and challenges of the water and sanitation sector in Nigeria
• Experience in preparing and reviewing water utility infrastructure tender documents including design specifications, technical drawings, and Bill of Quantities (BOQs)
• Ability to conduct investigations of complex issues involving water utility systems and practices
• Good knowledge of water utility Asset Maintenance Management Systems
• Experience in preparing persuasive technical reports and making verbal presentations, explaining issues in a clear and concise manner
• Ability to innovate and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a utility
• Experience working with computer software such as Microsoft Office, AutoCAD, design packages, and other applications relevant to the sector