MCEurope recruits 01 Program Manager

MCEurope recruits 01 Program Manager

This position is pending funding

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.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of over 300 people working in Eastern DRC, with the overall country goal to support vulnerable communities through crises, while fostering programs that build resilience and promote long-term change. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. Mercy Corps’ key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs in order to:

• Improve water service delivery and ensure equal access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas;
• Improve food security and nutrition;
• Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development.

Mercy Corps DRC’s humanitarian programs aim specifically to assist populations affected by the conflict and crises in Eastern Congo. With funding from humanitarian donors including ECHO, OFDA and UN donors, the humanitarian portfolio continues to expand in order to provide multi-purpose cash assistance and emergency WASH to displaced and host populations.

An Ebola virus outbreak is currently ongoing in and around Butembo in North Kivu Province, and cases have been increasing regularly in a context of worsening security and low levels of understanding of the disease among health care workers and the broader population alike. It is in this context that Mercy Corps proposes to support communities in Ebola hotspots with the provision of infrastructure tailored to their needs, thereby increasing the community acceptance and effectiveness of EVD response efforts. All Mercy Corps interventions in DRC are implemented in a conflict and gender sensitive manner.

General Position Summary

The Wash and Infrastructure Needs (WIN) Program Manager is responsible for the design and direct execution of all activities to this Mercy Corps’ intervention in eastern DRC, in order to increase effectiveness of the Ebola Response by addressing essential infrastructure needs. Mercy Corps will engage with communities to identify priority infrastructural needs (including access to WASH services, minor road rehabilitation and bridge repair), plan and design works through a participatory process, and implement them. The WIN PM will be supported by a WASH Team Leader and a Community Engagement Team Leader in order to support communities in Ebola hotspots with the provision of infrastructure tailored to their needs, thereby increasing the community acceptance and effectiveness of EVD response efforts.

He/She will be in contact with all Mercy Corps Emergency (Ebola or not) Managers especially with the Emergency Program Manager and the Emergency WASH Expert to effectively engage with all layers of the community about the Ebola virus disease (EVD) as well as other emergency needs especially those related to IPC/Wash. He/she will be in charge of implementing a community network and manage a trusting dialogue with the communities affected by Ebola, emphasizing methods that encourage listening to and fully understanding their concerns.

The WIN PM will also be responsible for overseeing the implementation of programming, including the daily management of program activities and program staff, and ensuring appropriate systems and support mechanisms are in place to track, analyze and report on results. The WIN PM is a strong team leader, able to develop and mentor team members and is an effective communicator, able to work with internal and external stakeholders to achieve common objectives.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND VISION

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• In coordination with management, set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to country-wide strategy development.
• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.

COORDINATION AND REPRESENTATION

• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships, sub-grantees, donors, local authorities and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall targets and donor obligations are met.
• Identify, build and manage partnerships on state and local levels with different stakeholders such as state and local government, Ebola national and local coordination bodies, civil society, UN agencies, peer INGOs, businesses and program participants.
• Host and ensure logistic support for donor or other stakeholders field visits including donors, partners, and technical support visits.
• Participate actively to coordination meetings with emergency stakeholders (OCHA, Prevention Sub-commission and other relevant Clusters, CCM, humanitarian actors, government of DRC). This include representing Mercy Corps in coordination meetings.
• Demonstrate flexibility, resilience and ability to maintain positive relationships and composure.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Oversee program start-up and ongoing program management and administration of the teams across the various field locations;
• Collaborate with program, finance and administrative staff.
• Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Implement and model Mercy Corps’ philosophy of social entrepreneurship and leverage Mercy Corps’ best practices.
• Fulfill Mercy Corps’ Program Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide.
• Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.

TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT

• Drive operational excellence to achieve optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness of all functions and activities of the WASH portfolio (under the WIN program)
• Manage road and bridge construction interventions
• Coordinate closely with Mercy Corps’ Operations Team to facilitate procurement planning and execution to facilitate timely implementation, including informing contractor and vendor selection and contract development;
• Ensure staff compliance with financial and operational policies, procedures, and systems to deliver compliance with Mercy Corps and donor requirements;
• Ensure staff comply with coordinated budget monitoring processes for all programs;
• Identify opportunities to introduce efficiencies and eliminate redundancies in existing processes for streamlined sector operations;

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Develop work and monitoring plans and monitor the development of community engagement assistants’ activities according to the needs of the projects Assist team members with training, information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Ensure effective communication and coordination with Ebola Emergency Program Manager and WASH Advisor to implementing interventions that are coordinated and based on the most severe needs. 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.
• Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

INFLUENCE AND REPRESENTATION

• Manage relationships with local partners, beneficiaries and donor representatives, contributing to the achievement of country goals through innovation and program development and displaying expertise in the health sector as well as regional experience to the team on the ground.
• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with the partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
• Demonstrate flexibility, resilience and ability to maintain positive relationships and composure.
• Maintain high ethical standards and treat people with respect and dignity.
• Exhibit an awareness of his/her own strengths and development needs.

SECURITY

• 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.

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.

Supervisory Responsibility

He/she will supervise a program team, including a WASH Team Leader and a Community Engagement Team Leader

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Ebola Program Director

Works Directly With: Other sector managers on the Ebola response; Deputy Country Director – Programs; Mercy Corps DRC Finance and Operations department staff; HQ Technical Support Unit (TSU); HQ Finance and Regional Program Teams; Local Partners

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S or equivalent in engineering or social Science, Management, International Development or other relevant fields
• At least 5 years of international program management experience, preferably WASH in Emergency programming
• At least 5 years of experience in social and behavior change or behavior change communication, community outreach, social marketing or similar role, in the health sector.
• Demonstrated experience in identifying barriers to social and behavior change and developing effective strategies and plans for responding to them, including designing and implementing evidence-based social and behavior change approaches
• Knowledge of principles and approaches of community mobilization, including taking into account gender, age, disability and other dynamics
• Previous experience with and knowledge about Ebola a plus.
• Proven ability to learn quickly, lead a program to achieve stated results and objectives.
• Experience with the development, implementation & compliance of OFDA, USAID, ECHO, UNICEF, WHO & private donor- funded programs desired
• Ability to effectively represent Mercy Corps and its interests to key stakeholders and Ebola coordination bodies.
• Experience working with host governments, national and international NGOs.
• Effective verbal and written communication in French, multi-tasking, organizational and prioritization skills.
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
• Previous experience in insecure environments.
• Knowledge of Sphere standards and other training in humanitarian response preferred.

Success Factors

The successful Wash and Infrastructure Needs Manager will combine technical knowledge in the Wash and behavior change communication sectors with exceptional management skills and experience in maintaining donor and partner relationships. S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage innovative CE 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. Prioritizing, problem solving, ability to seize opportunities, 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 Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The Wash and Infrastructure Needs Manager is based in Butembo, DRC. This location is unaccompanied and insecure; the position is eligible for R&R and hardship. Housing is (group/individual) accommodation with limited/restricted freedom of movement beyond the house/office. Travel may be required up to 50% of the time to program areas within North Kivu and Ituri.

In and around Butembo, travel can be dangerous and unpredictable due to armed forces and rebel activity. North Kivu and Ituri continue to be an arena of violence and insecurity. Mercy Corps’ sub-offices experience variable levels of insecurity, with the situation closely monitored by UN peacekeepers. Mobile phones and cellular services are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. Travel to field sites will be required where living conditions are clean and secure, but basic. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses. There is reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive.

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 MC policies, procedures and values at all times and in all in-country venues.