Job Opportunity at Mercy Corps

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Program Manager, Northeast will provide leadership and strategic vision for Mercy Corps’ portfolio of stabilization, countering violent extremism and conflict mitigation programs in Northeast Nigeria. S/he will work with the Director of Conflict Management Programs to ensure program implementation, staff management, identify new programming opportunities and will serve as a liaison to external bodies, represent Mercy Corps in Borno State with government, donors and other organizations. S/he will lead the implementation of conflict programming and provide overall management and supervisory guidance for current and future conflict programming in Borno State and the Northeast. S/he will ensure effective coordination and information management across Mercy Corps programing in Borno/Northeast and will work to integrate best practices in conflict sensitivity across the Northeast. 

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

New Initiatives

• In coordination with the Director of Conflict Management Program and other relevant personnel and counterparts, identify new initiatives that foster and/ or improve the strategic objectives of the country office in the Northeast, whether utilizing existing resources or requiring program/ project development.
• Lead development of identified new initiatives in the Northeast.
• Actively pursue applications of Mercy Corps program models to emerging opportunities in the Northeast and integrate conflict programming into other Mercy Corps initiatives.
• Develop and implement donor engagement strategies to strategically position Mercy Corps Nigeria to expand activities in the Northeast and with new donors.   
  

Communication and Representation

• Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO and other relevant events in the Northeast, in close coordination with the Director of Conflict Management.
• Serve as leader in coordination groups across conflict management programs in the country and provide thought leadership external to Mercy Corps.
• Coordinate activities with consortium partners, sub-grantees, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.

• Promote MCN conflict management programs within the agency, through communication about program successes with Headquarters and other country offices.
  

Technical Leadership and Strategy

• Improve quality of conflict management programs through innovation, active pursuit of lessons learned, adaptability to changing dynamics, and integration of related programming for increased impact.
• As a strategic leader, actively participate in management meetings and country-wide strategy sessions.
• Design and pursue research initiatives designed to increase the evidence base around Mercy Corps conflict programming, integrated peacebuilding and development, countering violent extremism, and other related areas.
• Liaise with other entities conducting related research to ensure coordination of efforts. 
• Provide technical assistance in the areas of conflict sensitivity and Do No Harm to other MCN programs.
• Strengthen linkages with other internal agency units to drive forward quality and innovation of MCN conflict management programming.

Program Management

• Provide leadership and strategic vision in all aspects of program implementation, development and management.
• Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and partners, and aligned with Mercy Corps principles, values and strategic plan.
• Monitor adherence to grant agreement, Mercy Corps policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations.
• Oversee performance of relevant consortium partners and sub-grantees.
• Conduct frequent field visits to all project sites and ensure quality program implementation.

Staff Management, Professional Development and Team building:

• Create a work atmosphere conducive to professional growth and development of excellent personnel at all levels.
• Implement, and ensure all staff are effectively using, the performance planning and management system, establishing performance expectations and regularly providing constructive feedback. 
• Promote accountability by conducting staff annual performance reviews with direct supervisees, and ensuring that supervisory staff do the same.  
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

Organizational Learning: As part of Mercy Corps' agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

Accountability to Beneficiaries:

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our participants 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:. Team of 5 staff members

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO:  Director of Conflict Management Programs, Nigeria

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Mercy Corps Operations and Finance teams, other Program Managers/Directors, Regional Director, and counterparts in neighboring MC country offices. The Director works directly with relevant Mercy Corps headquarters units as necessary, including Mercy Corps’ global Conflict Management and Governance teams, Economic and Market Development team and various administrative/financial units.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• MA/S or equivalent in social science, management, international development or other relevant field.
• Four+ years of international development experience including at least three years in a management position.
• At least three years of experience living and working in developing countries, particularly in conflict-affected areas.
• Strong understanding of various donor compliance issues.
• Experience in proposal development and identification of new initiatives.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English, including report development, writing, editing, and presentations.
• Strong management skills and experience managing multiple personnel, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues.
• Experience managing programs in conflict management and peacebuilding, with additional experience in governance and/or economic development programs preferred. Kindly note this is not a humanitarian but conflict management program.
• Experience in designing and/or implementing stabilization and countering violent extremism activities strongly preferred
• Experience with program development with DFID, USAID and major foundations preferred
• Understanding of the current political, economic, cultural and historical context of Nigeria, or West Africa.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful Director of Conflict Management Programs will combine experience in maintaining donor and partner relationships and exceptional management skills. S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage innovative programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the region. S/he will also have proven experience with cross-cultural team and capacity building, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

LIVING /ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

This position will be based in Maiduguri, Borno State with limited travel depending on the security situation, primarily to program locations within Northeast, where security is at times high-risk. Housing, health care, water, electricity and consumer goods are all reasonably accessible and there are good international and domestic travel options from Abuja Airport.

This position is unaccompanied and eligible for hardship and R&R.  

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to 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 in-country venues.