Mercy Corps Job Vacancy : County Project Coordinators

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.

We help communities survive and move beyond emergencies. When natural disasters strike, economies collapse or conflict flares, Mercy Corps is there.

We see global challenges as an invitation to pioneer innovative, sustainable solutions.

Mercy Corps is looking for committed and dynamic individual to take up the following position:

Position: County Project Coordinators (5)

Location: Isiolo, Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa and Turkana Counties

Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps has been operating in Kenya since 2008, focusing its interventions around four objectives:

1) Peace and Conflict Management;

2) Livelihood / Market Systems;

3) Governance (particularly at the county level); and

4) Youth Employment/Employability (including the social and economic development of adolescents).

The four objectives serve to increase community resilience to drought and other shocks and stresses, and to decrease fragility with a particular focus on Kenya’s Arid Lands.

Mercy Corps’ vision for change requires the private sector, government and civil society to work together to create meaningful and sustainable change.

Mercy Corps is recruiting five County Project Coordinators to oversee county-level activities for a five-year USAID-funded Feed the Future (FtF) Livestock Market Systems Development Activity for Northern Kenya.

This project will support USAID’s Feed the Future Initiative specifically to improve households’ income, productive assets and resilience to drought and other shocks.

Specific areas of focus include: strengthened and sustained rangeland and water management; strengthened drought risk management; strengthened conflict management; improved and sustained health, nutrition, and hygiene practices; improved literacy, numeracy, and life skills; and collaborative action and learning for community empowerment.
 

General Position Summary: Under the direction and management support from the Deputy Chief of Party, the County Project Coordinator will be responsible for the overall county-level planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of the Strengthening Community Capacities for Resilience and Growth project.

S/he will ensures all project initiatives are implemented to achieve maximum impact as per project objectives while remaining on schedule and budget.

The Project Coordinator directly manages the county-level staff on the project and has an informal reporting line to our partner’s Regional Program Manager.

 Strong day-to-day coordination with the Regional Program Manager is required to ensure that office operations are running effectively and are compliant with all internal and external regulations.

S/he will be the primary liaison with county government officials.

Essential Job Functions:
 

Program Management

• Provide overall managerial leadership for the project at the county level, ensuring teams follow work plans so activities are on time, target and within the approved budget, and project deliverables achieve desired impact;
• Lead effective coordination, collaboration and integration among all technical, support and project units including with our lead partner – ACDI/VOCA and implementing partner – the  BOMA Project;
• Partner with county-level government and communities in areas of operation;
• Ensure effective and timely monitoring, documenting and reporting on all project activities as per the policies and practices of the consortium lead, Mercy Corps, USAID and the government;
• Provide timely updates to supervisor on progress and issues, identifying risks and proposing solutions for action and early resolution;
• Attend all quarterly project meetings in Nairobi as well as facilitate planning meetings and workshops with government, NGOs, private sector and community partners to revise plans and promote partner acceptance/buy-in;
• Regularly visit field sites to assess progress of activities and provide formal and informal feedback;
• Coordinate with procurement, logistics, security, administration and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities.

Team Management

• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance and achieve 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;
• Work closely with the HR department to recruit, orient and lead team members as necessary.

Influence & Representation

• Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO and other relevant events, in close coordination with the Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party and country leadership;
• Coordinate activities with consortium partners, sub grantees, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.

Security

• Work closely with the county team’s security focal points to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.  Coordinate closely with our partner, ACDI/VOCA on security issues at the county level;
• Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

Other

• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission;
• Other duties as assigned.

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: 3-5 project team members

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Deputy Chief Of Party

Works Directly With: Regional Program Manager (partner), Chief of Party, finance and operations teams, HQ Regional Program Team, HQ Technical Support Unit, and Partner Organizations.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Masters Degree or equivalent in development studies, business, planning, social sciences or other relevant field is preferred;
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in multi-sectoral programs, managing teams, strategic planning and implementing programs;
• Strong managerial skills, including effective personnel management, adaptive management, coordination and decision-making;
• Strong facilitation and consensus-building skills;
• Competent in building networks, strong problem-solving skills, and ability to influence with effective listening, persuasion, negotiation and other techniques;
• Strong understanding of USAID compliance issues;
• Internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work;
• Excellent and persuasive oral and written communication skills, including report writing, in English and other language(s), as required;
• Spoken fluency is Swahili is required and primary local dialects in the respective County is strongly preferred;
• Previous working experience in northern Kenya is desirable;
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members;
• Ability to work comfortably in a sometimes tense and changing security environment is required.

Success Factors

The successful County Project Coordinator will have a strong understanding of project approaches and represent the project professionally at all times.

S/he will combine exceptional management skills and capacity to manage relationships with different stakeholders. A heavy emphasis will be placed on coordination with other actors implementing in the areas of intervention.

S/he will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level.

Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous 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.

S/he will be committed to working closely and collaboratively with the County Government structures and our lead partner, ACDI/VOCA.

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