About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. 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 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 quality, high impact programming that reaches communities or individuals in need, wherever they are.
Mercy Corps began working in Kenya in 2008 and has built a robust and diverse portfolio working to enable Kenyans affected by poverty, resource scarcity and conflict to be healthy, productive and to drive peace and development of their communities. To do this, we deliver integrated programming to strengthen market and governance systems, innovate urban youth employment opportunities, address the root causes of conflict, and build the resilience of vulnerable populations – in particular youth, women, adolescents and marginalized communities.
Program / Department Summary
Girls Improving Resilience through Livelihoods (GIRL) is a three-year 10 million USD program to be implemented in Kenya, Uganda and Haiti that seeks to improve the well-being of adolescent girls and young women by increasing their access to skills and knowledge, health resources, formal education and economic opportunities. GIRL also fosters an enabling environment by working with communities to transform unhealthy social norms and create opportunities for girls to access education and economic opportunity. Key to GIRL is a robust learning and research agenda that reaches across three countries to contribute to the evidence base on what works to secure access to opportunities for adolescent girls 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 adolescent girl space and to bolster fundraising efforts to scale the model.
General Position Summary
The GIRL Program Manager will manage the successful implementation of the GIRL program within Kenya, ensuring positive impact for all participants and driving innovation and learning to refine a replicable and evidence-based GIRL programming model. As a result, the GIRL Program Manager is responsible for leading intervention of the GIRL-H program within Kenya, including program start up, implementation, adaptation and close out. In conjunction with Program and Country Leadership, the Program Manager will develop a clear vision and strategy for the program in Kenya to ensure that the program activities are impactful and remain on budget and schedule. In addition to direct program implementation, the Program Manager plays a critical role in refining GIRL programming in Kenya through technical assistance to peer programs implementing GIRL activities.
Essential Responsibilities
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
- Lead program start up and implementation within Kenya, including identification of team members and implementing partners
- Manage and oversee program implementation in Kenya, in cooperation with key project stakeholders, including local non-governmental organizations, local government officials, community-based organizations, other international agencies on the ground, and key donors
- Lead engagement with local implementing partners within Kenya
- Collaborate with program, finance and administrative staff to ensure systems comply with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures, including adherence to Mercy Corps program management minimum standards
- Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts
- Increase Mercy Corps and partner organization staff capacity by designing and delivering technical training and coaching plans on topics related to building resilience and achieving gender-equitable program outcomes
- Provide leadership and oversight in all aspects of program implementation, management and evaluation within Kenya
- Establish and oversee effective program monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems for both internal and external use and ensure high quality input is obtained from team members
- Ensure documentation of achievements and lessons learned to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated in quarterly and final program reports
STRATEGY AND VISION
- Collaborate with program leadership in the development of a clear vision and strategy for the program in Kenya and ensure it is shared with all relevant program team members and key stakeholders.
- Play an active role in identifying and developing new initiatives that foster and/or improve strategic objectives of the program and the country office
- Support refinement and expansion of GIRL programming, including through resource mobilization, proposal development and technical assistance
- 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
- Guide the technical implementation of women’s and girls’ leadership country strategies based on Mercy Corps’ Country Strategy for Kenya
- Promote gender strategies across the country portfolio and adapt and improve them as needed.
- 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
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 the Program Director
- Assist Program Director 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
Supervisory Responsibility
Capacity Building Officer
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Mercy Corps Kenya Director of Programs
Works Directly With: Director of Programs, GIRL Program Director, GIRL Program Management Unit (PMU) Manager, Country Director, Program Managers, Chiefs of Party, local partner organizations, support staff (Finance, HR and Operations)
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
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- Masters or equivalent experience in international development, political science, women’s studies, economics, sociology or other relevant field.
- 5-7 years’ experience in gender and youth development work including experience developing and conducting gender training, gender/youth mainstreaming and engaging in gender advocacy.
- Experience in program start up
- 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 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.
- 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 candidate will have excellent team and interpersonal relationship skills, with demonstrated ability to work effectively in complex environments. S/he will combine strong communication skills, creativity, initiative, participatory leadership and tactful decisiveness to assist in program implementation. Multi tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. S/he must have the confidence and humility to work effectively with a diverse group of people – as well as be sensitive to political and cultural nuance. S/he must be able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast- ‐ changing situations while working as part of a team and coordinate with program personnel.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based outside of Nairobi (final location TBD, based on selected candidate).
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
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
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 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 on the basis of 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.
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. 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 eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Mercy Corps does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process.
More Information
- Job City Kenya
