United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Programme Officer - East and Southern Africa

Mercy Corps is a global organisation, 4,000 strong, powered by the belief that a better world is possible. We help people survive and get back on their feet when natural disaster strikes, economies collapse or conflict erupts. And where there are chronic threats to peace and progress, we partner with communities to overcome obstacles and thrive.

We live and work in more than 40 countries facing the world’s toughest challenges. We have no political or religious agenda. For more than three decades, we’ve learned and grown alongside extraordinary people—more than 190 million individuals who understand their own needs better than anyone else. Our experience shows they are best able to strengthen their communities from within. In everything we do, we look for moments of transition to connect people to resources and expertise that can catalyse transformative change.

Mercy Corps implements a variety of programming throughout the East and Southern Africa in response to the diverse humanitarian and development challenges in the region. From emergency livelihood responses in South Sudan, Somalia and Sudan, to broad and deep market systems development and resilience programming across Ethiopia, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Kenya, the range of challenges and responses is vast. In each country, our teams continue to work closely with communities, government and the private sector to understand their needs and capacities, in order to identify and address the key issues; together we are finding solutions

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY

The Programme Officer (PO) supports strategic, impactful, high-quality programming in the East and Southern Africa region. S/he supports the Senior Programme Officer (in Edinburgh), the Regional Program Director (in Nairobi) and the seven Country Directors (in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe) in many aspects of their country programme and grant administration. S/he plays a key role in connecting the field to HQ resources and represents the country/regional interests internally with various HQ teams as well as with external stakeholders. The PO works with the Senior Programme Office (SPO) and RPD to provide the secondary check and supports the field (ultimate point of responsibility) in adhering to internal and external policies and regulations.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Programme & Grant Administration – The PO for ESA is one of the key HQ members with oversight and support responsibilities for programmes and grants. The PO:

· Supports the SPO with the maintenance of programme documentation and ensures the system for tracking grants (GAIT) is updated

· Assists in programme monitoring and ensuring compliance with donor regulations and Mercy Corps policies and procedures – especially PM@MC

· Advises country teams on formats for donor reporting and defines timelines to review, edit and input to donor reports submitted in accordance with the agency’s Reporting Standard Operating Procedures and in adherence to deadlines set out in the grant agreement/contract

· Initiates, coordinates and disseminates New Award Initiation Summary and Programme Close-Out emails

· Acts as a focal point for proposals submitted to secure co-financing and liaises with Fundraising and Finance Departments as required

· Provides up to date information on donor visibility requirements and commitments in liaison with the Media & Communications Department

Proposal Development & Coordination – The PO leads HQ coordination for the development of selected proposals. Throughout the proposal process, the PO:

· Monitors the timeline and status of proposals and ensures clear communication with relevant parties

· Provides administrative support for proposal development such as drafting Past Performance Reports, Capacity Statements or other required documents

· Reviews final drafts for coherence and manages submission to the donor

· For EC-funded programmes, leads on coordinating PADOR partner registration in proposal development

· Undertake donor research and identify appropriate funding opportunities from donors, reviewing donor guidelines and carrying out eligibility checks for newly identified funding opportunities

· May be asked to take on lead writing responsibilities from time to time

Strategy Planning & Learning – In support of, and with guidance from, the SPO, the PO:

· Supports country teams with strategy development and planning

· Facilitates learning across country portfolios and the region and shares lessons learned

· Ensures country teams have access to and utilise agency resources/tools/best practices/etc

Partnership Development & Management – With guidance from the SPO, the PO:

· Coordinates partnership negotiation and development, including the Teaming Agreement process

· Ensures the necessary teams are engaged, to help further programme, country and regional interests

Recruitment Support, Deployment & Orientation – In order to ensure our teams comprise the best possible personnel, the PO:

· Participates in interview processes, providing contextual information on Mercy Corps’ programmes and the realities of the position

· Participates in Mercy Corps’ LEAP process for Senior Management field positions and supports the process as needed

· Provides orientation briefings for new hires on context, country strategy and programmes prior to their departure as an initial step in the onboarding process

· If requested, supports supervisors with onboarding of new expatriate team members in-country

· Facilitate the training of new programme and other staff as appropriate on internal grant management, administration and proposal development processes, tools and systems

· Support on recruitment of consultants (identification, interviews, processing and post-work follow-up)

Security – Given the insecure nature of many of the contexts we work within in East and Southern Africa, the security of our staff, beneficiaries and assets is a critical concern. In light of this, the PO:

· Provides relevant security documents to travellers (new staff, consultants, donors, media etc), as well as top-level security briefings in preparation of travel

· Communicates country/regional security posture to staff/new hires as needed and supports country teams, in coordination with the RPD and Global Security Adviser, as issues arise

External Representation – To raise Mercy Corps’ profile with external actors, in coordination with the SPO, RPD, Country Directors and other relevant stakeholders, the PO:

· Represents regional interests and programmes with external stakeholders at meetings and events

Internal Communications – In coordination with the SPO, the PO:

· Serves as the primary point for internal communications, facilitating Mercy Corps’ web-based information systems to draft and update programme material (e.g. country fact sheets, country pages on web, dollar handles, etc)

· Supports internal communications and ensures knowledge management systems are up to date and accurate to support communication with other teams

Other – In addition to specific tasks and areas of responsibility listed above, the PO:

· Acts as a backstop when other colleagues are away from their work stations

· Can be asked to take on additional duties, in line with workload and capacity to deliver, as assigned

· May be required to travel to the field to support any of the above

KNOWLEDGE, QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Masters level degree in a relevant discipline


• 2 – 4 years of field-based experience in international relief and development — ideally in the region; demonstrated knowledge of relevant sectoral and/or operational areas


• 2- 4 years of experience managing the development, implementation, administration and compliance of programmes (especially of European-funded grants); general programme management experience preferred


• Experience with proposal development including support and writing with various donors, particularly European institutions, private foundations and corporations


• Experience with monitoring and evaluation and other learning/knowledge management efforts


• Experience representing an organisation and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organisations, other international organisations, the media and the public


• Proficiency with MS Office software (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).


• Preference given to candidates with prior work experience in the East and Southern Africa

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The ideal candidate is a problem solver, who is adept in successfully dealing with issues of complexity. A skilled communicator, the candidate will be able to develop and utilize strong relationships with staff, partners and donors. S/he will coordinate with his/her supervisor, the SPO, and be skilled at building highly effective working relationships with Country Directors and their teams. S/he will harness the expertise, experience and ideas of Mercy Corps’ diverse programme support teams, including members of the Technical Support Unit (TSU), Leadership and Organisational Effectiveness and Social Ventures teams and channel them into impactful partnerships with country programmes and the region at large. S/he will work with country teams to ensure that we learn from experience, thoroughly research and analyse context and develop high impact strategies. S/he 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 programme impact can be scaled. A robust sense of humour is greatly appreciated.

LIVING /ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The position is based in either Edinburgh or London (preference for Edinburgh) and is expected to travel up to 35% of the time – sometimes on short notice— to areas with limited access to medical facilities and amenities. Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

OTHER

Organisational Learning: As part of our commitment to organisational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organisations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve – we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to formal or informal learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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.

Reporting to the SPO, the PO works with a variety of other HQ Program units and other departments, including Fundraising, Finance, People & Strategy, Legal, Policy and Advocacy, Mercy Corps Counterparts at MC HQ offices in Portland; MC donors and partners.