Senior Program Officer Job Opportunities at Mercy Corps

Senior Program Officer Job Opportunities at Mercy Corps

Senior Program Officer

Mercy Corps

Location: Kigoma, Tanzania

Position Status: Full-time, Regular

Report to: Country Coordinator

Current team Member: New position

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible and the pathway for possibility. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within, now, and for the future. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have a long-term impact.

Mercy Corps implements a variety of programming throughout the Africa Region in response to the diverse humanitarian and long-term development needs of the region and is committed to delivering high-impact programming that reaches communities or individuals in need, wherever they are. Mercy Corps is duly registered in Tanzania under the NGO Act No. 24, 2002 since 9th June 2011 with certificate of registration No. 00NGO/00004646. For the past 13 years, Mercy Corps has been implementing programs across agriculture, livelihoods, and governance in Tanzania. Mercy Corps has built a robust and diverse portfolio in Tanzania that is working to address structural causes of poverty and injustice and to strengthen systems that enable men, women, and children to access opportunities, participate in and contribute to peaceful democratic processes, and thrive in the face of ecological and social change. To do this, we deliver integrated programming to strengthen market and governance systems, address the root causes of conflict, and equip vulnerable populations- in particular youth, women, adolescents, and marginalized communities- with the skills, opportunities, and resources they need to be healthy, productive and to drive the development of their communities. We work closely with the private sector, civil society, and governance structures at local and national levels to facilitate change and ensure that opportunities are inclusive for all Tanzanians.

Program / Department Summary

Girls Improving Resilience through Livelihoods and Health (GIRL-H) is a five-year, multi-country program being implemented in Uganda, South Sudan, Nigeria and now expanding to Tanzania. As a one-year pilot program in Tanzania, the program aims to improve the well-being of adolescent girls, boys, and young people with diverse identities, which makes them have unique and distinctive needs and capabilities, by increasing their access to skills and knowledge, health resources, formal education, and economic opportunities. GIRL-H also fosters an enabling environment by working with communities to transform unhealthy social norms and create opportunities for adolescent girls, boys, and young people to access education and economic opportunities through an integrated approach to programming. Key to GIRL-H is a robust learning and research agenda that reaches across four focal countries to contribute to the evidence-based on what works to secure access to opportunities for adolescent girls, boys, and young people within the most marginalized communities and to better understand their contribution to household resilience. This evidence and learning will be shared to elevate Mercy Corps’ influence in the program participant’s space and to bolster fundraising efforts to scale the model. In coordination with local implementing partners in Kigoma, the Senior Program Officer will support implementation of the GIRL-H program activities.

General Position Summary

The Senior Program Officer will manage the successful implementation of the GIRL project in Tanzania, ensuring positive impact for all participants and driving innovation and learning to refine replicable and evidence-based programming. As a result, the Program Officer is responsible for leading GIRL intervention, including program start up, implementation, adaptation and close out. In conjunction with GIRL-H Program Manager and Country Leadership, the Senior Program Officer will develop a clear vision and strategy for the program in Tanzania to ensure that the program activities are impactful and remain on budget and schedule.

Essential Responsibilities

Collaborate with program leadership in the development of a clear vision and strategy for the program in Tanzania and ensure it is shared with all relevant program team members and key stakeholders.
Collaborate with other related Mercy Corps programs to create synergies wherever possible
Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and partners and aligned with Mercy Corps’ principles and values.
Engage support services and risk management resources to enable the program team to execute their respective strategic priorities
Collaborate with relevant team members regarding the measurement and analysis of key program performance and quality indicators and metrics to inform strategic decision making

TEAM MANAGEMENT

Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development
Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives
Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews
Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence
Oversee program staff and partner performance and quality of program implementation and if security context allows, conduct frequent field visits to all program sites

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

Monitor adherence to the donor grant agreement as well as Mercy Corps’ and donor’s policies and procedures for procurement and compliance
Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with program, donor and Mercy Corps’ needs
Work closely with financial and operational management to optimize resources through sound budgets, consistent financial tracking, and timely submission of reports to the donor

HUMAN RESOURCES, SAFEGUARDING AND DIVERSITY

Support Mercy Corps global and regional initiatives for human resources, including safeguarding and diversity, and talent development
Collaborate with the people team to promote staff access to high quality learning opportunities, with a special emphasis on national team member development
Assist with the on-boarding of senior team members, ensuring they are set up for success and familiar with agency systems, procedures, and protocols

COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY

Ensure Mercy Corps’ Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM) is operationalized, in line with the relevant CARM policy, within the programs.
Identify a CARM focal point for each program s/he manages.
Develop a CARM sensitization plan and ensure activities are incorporated into the program activity plan.
Proactively inform all program stakeholders about the CARM feedback channels.

RISK MANAGEMENT

Engage and support program areas across the country to ensure that adequate risk management systems are in place
Collaborate with country and program leadership to support preparedness and response to major disruptive events
Participate in the internal audit (IA) process to track findings and ensure program compliance with IA findings and recommendations
Work closely with the country team security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members
Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO and other relevant events, in close coordination with other program leads and teams
Assist Mercy Corps Tanzania Country Coordinator in maintaining active and cooperative relationships with all key stakeholders, including government officials, project partners, other implementing agencies, and related institutions
Coordinate activities with consortium partners, subgrantees, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs

SECURITY

In collaboration with the security focal person monitor security developments and report to Mercy Corps Senior Management as per the Mercy Corps Tanzania security procedures and protocols.
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.

Supervisory Responsibility

Mentors throughout the project’s duration. In-depth understanding of gender, age and other socio-cultural factors in the context of livelihoods programming.
Ability to foster commitment and build capacity among project staff and in-country actors around gender and youth integration.

Accountability to Program Participants

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging participants’ communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field activities.

The Senior Program Officer will ensure that Mercy Corps’ Community Feedback and Accountability Mechanism is clearly communicated to program participants and that the hotline numbers are visible to end participants throughout the program. S/He will ensure all activities are gender-sensitive and follow Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity Policy, apply Do No Harm standards to ensure activities do not have detrimental effects on vulnerable communities.

Influence and Representation

Support and coordinate field learning visits to counties, communities, partners, and external visitors, such as donors and media, in collaboration with GIRL-H Program Manager and Country Coordinator.
Support the GIRL-H Country Coordinator in coordination and communication of field activities with other non-governmental organizations, and government partners for effective synergy, thereby avoiding service duplication, but enhancing support for an enabling environment for GIRL-H program interventions.
Establish and maintain a productive working relationship with the GIRL-H Program Manager and Country Coordinator, local implementing partners, and stakeholders, and work in unison to develop complementary joint monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management structures where possible.

Ethics and Integrity

All Mercy Corps staff are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate the highest integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero-tolerance for any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment, or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination.

Security

Ensure data protection policies are adhered to, establishing security controls for software, hardware, and archive beneficiary databases.

Organization 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.

Supervisory Responsibility: None.

Reports Directly To: Country Coordinator with dotted lines to Program Manager.

Works Directly with: Program Officers, local implementing partners field team (Program, MEAL, Finance, HR, Operations), and global GIRL-H technical team.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

Degree and equivalent experience in international development, political science, women’s studies, economics, sociology or another relevant field.
3-5 years’ experience in gender and youth development work including experience developing and conducting gender training, gender/youth mainstreaming and engaging in gender advocacy.
Demonstrated ability to implement a program, manage a team and develop their capacities
Demonstrated capacity to lead the collection, analysis and utilization of information from a broad range of sources to ensure effective integration of gender and youth concerns throughout
Excellent reporting, communication and representation skills
Strong public speaking and facilitation skills required.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
Fluency in written and spoken English required
Fluency in written and spoken Kiswahili required

Success Factors

The successful program officer will be bright, energetic, hard-working and eager to learn. S/he will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development assistance. S/he will be attentive to detail and ability to carry out assigned tasks in a timely manner and according to a very high standard of quality. S/he will be creative and flexible, contributing to developing and encouraging new and innovative solutions, but at the same time will not have any difficulty in adhering to systems and procedures. S/he will strictly follow all protocols related to safety and security and holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Mercy Corps’ values.

An excellent team and interpersonal relationship skills, with demonstrated ability to work effectively in complex environments is key.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Kigoma, Tanzania shall be supporting other counties thus this will involve regular travels to these counties.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed. Team members are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respect local laws, customs, and Mercy Corps policies, procedures, and values always and in all in-country venues. Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision.

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

Remote work opportunities

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 based on race, color, 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.Remote work opportunities

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 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. By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. 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 to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis. As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]

How to Apply:

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