Jobs at Mercy Corps

General Position Summary

The Technical Manager will assist the COP in oversight of IFDC’s (consortium partner’s) technical work, and directly manage the technical aspects of IFDC’s, providing technical oversight of RRA climate-smart interventions/climate-resilient model. The technical Manager will assist the COP in oversight of agricultural-facing interventions in RRA.

Essential Job Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

The Technical Manager will provide strategic guidance and management for program studies, intervention development, and planning.  S/he must establish and manage relationships with potential partners and stakeholders.  The Technical Manager will be a key member of the technical advisory team.  This role will also work with the MRM and Program teams, developing and implementing a marketing and communications strategy across various reactive and strategically planned opportunities in print, media, events, and online.

S/he will liaise with the CoP, DCoP, Communications Manager, and MRM Manager to identify and design key communications materials and disseminate them to identified audiences. studies and develop strategies for coming up with Intervention plans and implementing them. S/he will be responsible for ensuring strong linkages between the Activity interventions and the Results Measurement team of the program. This position is based in Gombe, but requires frequent travel to the Northeast. The RRA staff work as an integrated team. The Technical Manager will be expected to contribute to other aspects of the program.

Specific Responsibilities 

The Technical Manager will be responsible for the following:-

Providing technical input to the Markets Group team

• Guide all cross-cutting market assessments and studies, ensuring that Terms of References (TORs) and expected outputs/deliverables are well defined, guide the technical approach to the assessments/studies, comments and provide input to improve quality of such studies and advise RRA on the overall quality.
• Plan the marketing and communications strategies for specific areas of RRA’s work and for different audiences. Work with the communication, program and RRA management team to implement the strategy.
• Design and develop creative communication and marketing products – presentations, briefings, etc. that will maximize RRA’s message, support program objectives, and contribute to the research sector.
• Support (Senior) Intervention Officers to undertake market-specific studies, providing inputs into the development of TORs, review and input weekly and quarterly reports, comment and provide guidance to Implementation Team and partnership managers on the quality of reports and help identify potential use for the outputs of such specific studies.
• Provide support to Implementation in designing identified interventions.  This will entail supporting the clarification of the pitch, elaboration of the results chain logic and the measurement plans, development of the interventions plans and, where necessary, supporting the rollout and close out of interventions.
• Support scoping of new ideas and new partners. This will entail identifying potential markets/areas/engagement partners, presenting a pitch for such ideas to the technical team, once approved, and supporting the relevant Implementation Teams in designing and implementing the intervention.
• Advise RRA on the Strategic and Technical fit of any agreed intervention, study and partnership as requested.

Leadership

• Contribute to the overall leadership of the program as part of the senior management team.
• As tasked by the CoP, represent RRA to industry stakeholders, development partners, government representatives, and other parties.
• Support the CoP and DCoP in providing technical team leadership, guidance, and mentoring.
• Provide strategic leadership and direction on the Program’s strategy to improve private sector development.
• Develop products and campaigns to promote private sector-led investments in the RLP interventions.
• Conduct research into relevant private sector-facing opportunities and trends to identify opportunities for interventions that grow the private sector in the livestock value chain.
• Assist in stakeholder analysis of selected businesses in the livestock value chains and identify and establish contact with potential firms or other market actors.
• Liaise with the Results Measurement (RM) team on developing appropriately tailored research tools and methods for the collection and collation of relevant intervention information from the field.
• Assist in updating and supervising RM aspects of the intervention activities, including establishing baselines, indicators, and results.
• Assist in collecting baseline data related to interventions targeted for study or implementation by the project.

Closeout Management

• Develop intervention strategies and sustainability mechanisms 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 implementation and results measurement teams in developing relevant grant agreements, MoUs, ToRs and any other administrative requirements for the interventions.
• Remain well aware of developments in the relevant sectors/markets/commodity and value chains
• Work with the Results Measurement (RM) to design appropriate tools for monitoring the progress of interventions within the various market sectors. Also liaise with the RM on the conduct of impact assessments for ongoing program interventions
• Help identify private sector 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.

 Stakeholder Management

• Represent the program in selected markets, displaying courtesy, tact, consideration and discretion in all interactions with partners, other private sector members, and with public.
• Understand how the political economy impacts rural private sector and markets and how changes in the functioning of markets may impact the political economy.
• Maintain contacts with key stakeholders to increase synergies.
• stakeholders, identifying common interests between the networks and RLP.
• Assist in establishing contacts with national and states’ institutions, stakeholders, and participants that would contribute to successfully implementing market activities.

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 towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in designing, monitoring, and evaluating our field projects.

Knowledge and Experience

•  A Master’s degree in Business, Economics or Agriculture, Development Studies or another related field with over 5 years relevant experience or BS degree in Business, Economics or Agriculture, Development Studies, Finance and Agribusiness or another related field with 8 years relevant experience.
•  Experience in implementing M4P, Value chain Development or Private sector development programs or investment promotion programs.
•  Experience using marketing tools and techniques to increase the visibility, profile and reputation of an organization
•  Relevant work experience should include activities related to agricultural commodities and rural development or with experience working with the private sector.  Critical will be to know the institutions, companies and organizations that provide services to the agricultural sector in Nigeria.
•  Experience writing reports; ability to influence a range of people including client organizations, government agencies and other key stakeholders by building constructive relationships through clear communication and generating effective discussion and mutual support for plans and ideas.
•  Strong project management expertise and exposure to guide technical teams in implementing projects and the ability to bring together sector stakeholders would be advantageous.

Key Competencies Required:

• The ability to work within a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Excellent communication skills.
• A passion for the international development sector.
• Exceptional analytical and writing skills.
• A strategic and creative thinker with proven experience in working on diverse and wide-ranging communication strategies, including all forms of media.

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General Position Summary

This position offers overall coordination of deliverables and team leadership functions on the Mercy Corps tasks under THRIVE Consortium. The Senior Program Manager is a cross-functional manager and leader who takes full responsibility for the successful delivery of Mercy Corps’ responsibilities within the THRIVE consortium. This role coordinates heavily with Mercy Corps teams, the THRIVE consortium members, the Borno State Government and Jere LGA Desk. Succeeding in this role will require an agile personality, great emotional intelligence, and a solutions thinker with a desire to define your success around improvement in the quality of human lives. The Senior Program Manager has a clear understanding of at least five of the sectors above and how they work well together.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Throughout the life of the award, the success of the Senior Program Manager-THRIVE will be evaluated based on the following scope:

DEFINING STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS

You will be a self-starter with the acumen to appreciate the dynamics of setting up a new project. You will develop your strategy for success based on your diagnosis, highlighting what the THRIVE consortium should expect to celebrate from your team. You will prioritize your “low-hanging fruits” and speak to various stakeholders about your vision for success. You will also define at the beginning of THRIVE and refine during implementation what sustainability and exit look like, adhering to all start-up requirements (kick-off meeting, recruitments, establishment of systems) in accordance with project management best practice and Mercy Corps internal Project Management @ Mercy Corps 2.0 (PM@MC 2.0) minimum standards.

MANAGE CROSS-SECTORAL DELIVERY

You will lead a team delivering interventions across ten sectors. You are expected to appraise yourself of this technical and people diversity. You will deploy effective skills in managing and coordinating a successful delivery of an integrated package of multi-sectoral interventions to participants, ensuring the various components and teams do not operate in siloes but are rather working together to great effect.

STRENGTHEN POSITION IN CONSORTIUM

Mercy Corps is a key partner in the THRIVE consortium with a myriad of celebrated successes in the humanitarian assistance context in Northeast Nigeria, across all eight sectors. You will secure our key partnership position in THRIVE and build long-term and productive relationships with all THRIVE consortium members. You will be Mercy Corps’ primary point of representation in THRIVE and associated consortia members.

LEARNING AND ADAPTATION

You will work with THRIVE Consortium management structure, Mercy Corps Program Performance and Quality, Crisis Analytics, Strategic Learning Manager and MEL Teams to identify and deliver your learning agenda. You will ensure documentation of learning throughout the implementation period, including how that is influencing your execution decisions and style, in accordance with PM@MC 2.0 and Mercy Corps Nigeria’s learning agenda. You will work with the THRIVE team to encourage a culture of learning and adaptation, and with the broader Mercy Corps Nigeria country team to put in place strong knowledge management systems to ensure such learning is not lost in the future. 

PLANNING, PROGRAM AND TEAM MANAGEMENT

In your Strategy for Success, you will be expected to define how you will manage all the integrated sectors within the THRIVE consortium sector deliverables assigned to Mercy Corps. You will work with your team to draw your sectoral workplans and an integrated work plan, with robust work breakdown structures for each sector flagship intervention. You will lead meticulous planning processes within the consortium. Planning and Adaptive Management will be an inherent and core success factor. You will also appreciate the different strengths and areas of support for your team members, deploying a management style that allows for free thoughts, innovation and practical pathways for continuous improvements in individual and team performances. You will be expected to plough in positive energy to the team and optimize their individual and collective potential. Mercy Corps expects you to build a culture of trust within your team members.

PEER-TO-PEER COLLABORATION

As a key partner in THRIVE, Mercy Corps will only be effective and succeed by working harmoniously with all THRIVE partners. Further, Mercy Corps will be implementing two separate sister USAID/BHA assistance activities (BEGE Borno and NE-CORE) within similar contexts in Borno State. At Maiduguri level, all three activities will significantly share technical and support personnel. You will therefore have two peers within Mercy Corps with whom you will have to develop an effective collaboration mechanism. You will also negotiate your collaboration plan internally with Finance, Operations, Security, MEL, Program Reporting and Security Managers and externally with the CRS. The consortium Chief of Party from CRS and your peers from other partners will need to see you as a reliable team player.

BUDGET TRACKING AND MANAGEMENT

You will work with the finance team to track your budget expenses versus actuals (BVAs) and make decisions out of BVA reports each month. You will plan and manage your monthly and quarterly cash flows and oversee the timely and compliant expenditure by sector leads. Your agile planning will ensure timely procurements and delivery of activities. You will plan meticulously to ensure you avoid a No-Cost Extension and safeguard the timely and impactful delivery of all project components.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Mercy Corps holds in high esteem a culture of respectful workplace. You will demonstrate tolerance, promote increasing spaces for women, youth and individuals abled differently to equally contribute to THRIVE goals and the process of getting there, both at the office and in participant communities.

Knowledge and Experience

• Advanced degree in a program that places you at the position of interacting frequently with rural and peri-urban communities. It could be Project Management, Basket Weaving, Economics, M&E, Rural Development, etc. Just Illustrate how you’re gainfully utilizing the education and how it would be an asset for you in this role.
• At least two years of qualified experience and competencies in a position of managing an integrated multisector portfolio or program. We are looking for years consistently spent in mid to senior management of assistance or development programs.
• Familiarity with USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) Assistance Guidelines. Previous experience with management of activity under what was formerly USAID OFDA and FFP is welcome.
• A compelling reputation for effective people management and admirable interpersonal relations skills. You are that supervisor whose direct reports feel sad to see you leave.
• Familiarity with and understanding of the humanitarian context in Borno State (primary), or similar contexts around the globe (secondary).
• Mid to Senior level management experience within a consortium of actors.
• Illustratable analytical and presentation skills. You can do an effective pitch before a board, senior government officials, humanitarian coordination platforms and other equivalents.
• Demonstrated understanding of how to manage multi-year consortium budgets of at least US$8M.
• Illustrated deep interactions with at least five of the eight assistance sectors mentioned above. These sectors define the core of BEGE Borno intervention outcomes.
• At this level, we expect you to be convincingly articulate in your writing, communication, presentation, and personal organization.