Location: US-Remote, UK, Senegal
Position Status: Regular, Full-time, Exempt
Salary Level: US Starting salary for this role will be $76,800 – $91,200 USD annually – commensurate with professional experience. Candidates outside of the US will be benchmaked accordingly to their location. Salary range will be provided upon request.
Language: French proficiency is required. Candidates with French fluency will be prioritized.
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.
The Program / Department / Team
Mercy Corps’ programs in Africa are undergoing both momentous humanitarian crises and significant development challenges that offer the opportunity to empower people to survive through crisis, build better lives and transform their communities for good. Against this backdrop Mercy Corps’ focus in Africa has been in promoting good governance and conflict resolution, enhancing resilience, facilitating market systems, access to finance and economic opportunities, as well as youth employment and empowerment. It is imperative that Mercy Corps presents itself as a key and credible partner with donors, government authorities and civil society actors in order to contribute to the process of positive change across the continent. Mercy Corps looks to actively engage and partner with an ever growing and innovative African private sector to achieve greater and sustained impact. It is also critical that we are executing our current and future programs on scope, on budget and on time across the continent, while looking at new approaches and opportunities and leveraging innovations for the greatest impact and influence in the region.
The Position
The Program Officer (PO) supports strategic, impactful, high-quality programming in the Africa Region. They support Country Directors in aspects of their country program and grant administration, play a key role in connecting the field to HQ resources and represent the country/regional interests internally with various HQ teams as well as with external stakeholders. The PO works with the Senior Program Manager (SPM), Deputy Regional Director and Regional Director (D/RD) to provide the secondary check and supports the field (ultimate point of responsibility) in adhering to internal and external policies and regulations.
Essential Responsibilities
PROGRAM & GRANT ADMINISTRATION
- Serve as HQ point of responsibility for overall monitoring of grants/programs for both external/donor requirements as well as Mercy Corps’ internal policies and requirements.
- Provide ongoing monitoring of the status of programs and complete regular check-ins on grant requirements (such as co-financing/match, BVA, data aggregation, etc.).
- Review and submit award agreement deliverables, such as donor narrative reports, to ensure overall quality and adherence to donor requirements.
- Serve as first point of contact for country office teams and provide guidance and support on matters related to donor compliance and communication, particularly for U.S. government grants and cooperative agreements.
- Participate in regular meetings with country offices to provide support and collaborate with country program teams on issues related to donor compliance, submissions of reports and other post award deliverables, and/or monitoring/awards management.
- Serve as HQ point of contact to donor representatives.
- Support country team’s adherence to Mercy Corps’ internal policies and Program Management minimum standards. As identified, support adherence to Mercy Corps’ Complex Programs management standards.
- Support country programs with planning and implementation challenges, and coordinating with other HQ departments, including Technical Support, Compliance, Finance, to provide additional support.
PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT
- Lead HQ coordination for proposals (unless designated otherwise). Throughout the proposal process, monitor the timeline and status of the proposal and communicate to the relevant parties as appropriate.
- Provide input to proposals, ensuring alignment with donor priorities and requirements. In addition, review drafts for coherence, accuracy and effectiveness. Work with the APO to provide editing and rewrites as necessary, and manage submission to the donor. He/she may be appointed a different role in the design process and travel to the field if needed.
PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT
- With guidance from the SPM, coordinate partnership negotiation & development, ensuring the necessary teams are engaged, to help further program, country and regional interests.
EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION
- Liaise with donors on ongoing and future opportunities.
- With guidance from the SPM, represent regional interests and programs with external stakeholders, in concert with the field teams.
STRATEGY, PLANNING & LEARNING
- With guidance from the SPM, support country teams with strategy development and planning.
- Facilitate learning across country portfolios and regions and share lessons learned and knowledge of agency resources/tools/best practices/etc.
RECRUITMENT
- For senior management field positions, participate in Mercy Corps’ recruitment process and support the process as needed.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
- In coordination with the APO, support internal communications and ensure knowledge management systems are up to date and accurate to support communication with other teams.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
- In coordination with the APO, ensure management of agency systems and adherence to HQ-related Program Management minimum standards, etc.
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.
SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES
- Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
- Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
- Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options
Supervisory Responsibility
None
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Senior Program Manager, Africa
Works Directly With: Assistant Program Officers and other Program Officers; Country teams; other HQ Program units and other departments including Technical Resources and Quality, Resource Development, Finance, Compliance, Human Resources, Legal, Policy and Advocacy; Counterparts at MC HQ offices in Europe; MC donors and partners.
Knowledge and Experience
- BA/S in relevant field required
- 2+ years of field-based experience in international relief and development — ideally in Africa; demonstrated knowledge of relevant sectoral and/or operational areas.
- 2-4 years of experience managing the development, implementation, administration and compliance of grants (especially of US Government-funded grants); general program management experience preferred.
- Experience with proposal development including support and writing with various donors, particularly US Government, private foundations and corporations.
- Experience with monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts.
- Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media and the public – preferred.
- Proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
- Preference given to candidates with prior work experience in Africa.
- Proficiency in French required.
Success Factors
The successful candidate is a problem solver, who is adept in successfully dealing with issues of complexity and demonstrates the ability to serve as a mentor for the Assistant Program Officer. They are a skilled communicator, able to develop and utilize strong relationships with staff, partners and donors. They will coordinate with their supervisor, the SPM, and be effective at building working relationships with stakeholders. They will collaborate with Mercy Corps’ diverse program support teams, including members of the TRAQ to support impactful partnerships with country programs and the region at large. The Program Officer is part of a team that works with country teams to ensure that we learn from experience, thoroughly research and analyze context and develop high impact strategies. They will be a skilled writer and synthesizer of diverse and complex information, helping teams generate new insights into their work, the needs of their countries and the region, and how program impact can be scaled. A robust sense of humor is greatly appreciated.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based remotely in the United States. When possible, this position may travel up to 25% of the time.
More Information
- Job City Senegal
