Mercy Corps exists to alleviate
suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive
and just communities.
Driven by local needs, our programs
provide communities in the world’s toughest places with the tools and support
they need to turn the crises they confront into the opportunities they
deserve.
Natural Resource Management & Market
Systems Officer, PROGRESS Programme - Wajir
Programme/Department Summary: The
Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Officer will work in
collaboration with the Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Team
Leader, Programme Manager, other technical teams and PROGRESS Consortium
members in the implementation of a proposed multi-year project as part of
DFID’s BRACED initiative (Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes
and Disasters).
Mercy Corps anticipates a programme
award under BRACED to implement the “Programme for Resilient Systems”
(PROGRESS).
PROGRESS will be comprised of a
multi-partner consortium poised to deliver a 36-month initiative designed to
build absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of more than 200,000
individual households in northern Kenya (Wajir) and northern Uganda
(Karamoja).
The Wajir-based Natural Resources
Management and Market Systems Officer will play a key role in implementation.
General Position Summary: The
Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Officer is responsible for
supporting the Natural Resource Management and Market System Team Leader in the
implementation of natural resource management and facilitation projects that
make market dynamics, actors, institutions and services accessible to
households within the PROGRESS focus areas.
These activities will work through
public sector enabling strategies and private sector actors, seeking to crowd
in provision rather than displace or replicate private actors with donor-funded
services.
Facilitation projects will increase
access to technical services, improve access to locally appropriate products,
develop agent input and aggregator networks, improve service offerings,
commercialize access to innovative energy products and methods, and expand the
role and relationship of line Ministries in strategic prioritization of
investment for economic vitality that contributes to household and community
resilience.
The Natural Resource Management and
Market Systems Officer will support processes for engaging communities,
governments and private sector actors in collective action plans that support
household and community access to and management natural, physical environment
and the socio-ecological systems supported by it.
Essential Job Functions:
Program Implementation:
- Under the direction of the Natural Resource
Management and Market Systems Team Leader, carry out assessments in the
target geographic areas to assess the current situation, economic and
natural resource management opportunities and resources, needs and
potential programs as well as obstacles that could be mitigated through
PROGRESS.
- Recommend program priorities and explore,
evaluate and present new natural resource management and market
opportunities that leverage impact and/ or complement core activities.
- Emphasize the role of and opportunities for
women, girls and youth in the economic and natural resource management
sectors in both rural and urban sphere;
- Introduce the program to relevant stakeholders
including local business owners, actors engaged in natural resource
management, local representatives and community members. Foster ongoing
positive cooperation with these stakeholders and forge links between
market actors, producers, end users, etc.;
- Ensure an integrated approach to program
implementation in order to maximize resource utilization and synergy
between the staff and different MC programs where relevant and feasible.
- Identify small business activities for seed
support through basic improvements or inputs;
- Identify value-addition opportunities that
strengthen economic opportunities, especially for rural women and urban
poor, in the livestock, poultry and other sectors as identified by local
government and independent studies and assessments. These opportunities
will focus on the urbanizing areas of Wajir Town, Habaswein particularly
for livestock, and climate-smart agriculture areas that promotes
production and market links for agricultural products;
- Identify opportunities and alternative methods
of climate-smart agriculture within the long-term plans of Wajir County
that can be fostered through partnerships, such as activating initiatives
in the peri-urban livelihoods zone. Work with Mercy Corps technical staff,
consortium members and local partners to establish locally appropriate
pilots;
- Work within local government strategic plans
for resource management and advocate for cohesive implementation of
projects that demonstrate government responsiveness to community
processes.
- Engage pastoralists in inter-community
dialogue around access to land and water for livestock management.
- Engage with remote communities to establish
priorities for community-led natural resources management, and lead
process for developing community NRM plans
Collaboration / networking
- Maintain productive working relationships with
sub-county and district leaders and local government departments under the
leadership of the Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Team Leader
as directed by the line manager;
- Coordinate with counterpart agencies and
organizations, especially DFID-funded agencies, involved in conservation,
climate change adaptation for information exchange, learning and
optimizing efforts and resources;
- Identify opportunities for social innovation
and enterprise that could be launched through catalytic investments from
PROGRESS, or public and private sector initiatives;
- Support events, exhibits, workshops that bring
private and public sector entities together to collectively review and
discuss technology developments and innovation and to examine private
sector approaches to household and community challenges that can be
incubated through public sector incentives;
Monitoring and Evaluation:
- Gather and document natural resource
management and market program activities
- Comply with M&E systems that will be
established to measure program impact and desired results. Ensure data is
collected and monitoring occurs regularly.
- Analyze project implementation strategies to
identify constraints to program success and provide timely
recommendations;
- Submit timely reports as requested by the
Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Team Leader or Programme
Manager.
- Support external evaluations and assessments.
Coordination and Representation:
- Attend key events, committee meetings, fora,
seminars, etc. as they relate to East Africa resilience.
- Support PROGRESS activities with consortium
partners, sub grantees, local government and other implementers, as well
as with other Mercy Corps programs.
Staff Management, Professional
Development and Team building: Contribute
to country team-building efforts, and ensure sharing and coordination of date
with the broader PROGRESS team.
Program Support Operations:
- Ensure close communication across
cross-country field teams and consortium members regarding program
activities and plans, challenges and obstacles to timely and quality
implementation.
- Coordinate with program, finance, and
administration staff for troubleshooting and problem solving.
Organizational Learning: As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide
Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for
spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional
learning activities.
Supervisory Responsibility: None
Accountability: 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.
Reports Directly To: Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Team
Leader
Works Directly With: Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Team
Leader, Programme Manager, other technical officers, consortium members, and
technical and support staff from Mercy Corps office in Portland, Oregon and
Edinburgh, Scotland.
Knowledge and Experience:
- A degree in Natural Resource Management, Business
Administration, Economics or Finance is required;
- Minimum of two years working in the fields of
agriculture/livestock, microfinance, economic development, natural
resource management within the NGO sector or within the private sector is
required;
- Excellent written and verbal English
communication skills;
- Excellent computer skills, specifically in MS
Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Excellent teamwork abilities and interpersonal
skills;
- Superb networking and negotiation skills is
required;
- Strong analytical and quantitative skills is
required
- Demonstrated flexibility, creativity and
enthusiasm as well as a willingness to learn and to be continually
adaptive within a dynamic and often self-directed working environment
mandatory;
- Ability to focus on day-to-day tasks at hand
while also working towards longer-term objectives with an understanding
that these will change continuously
- Willingness to spend much time in the field
and work closely with program target groups and consortium members.
- Proven understanding of both urban and rural
livelihoods systems, climate change adaptation strategies, public
administration and resilience programming;
- Familiarity with Somali culture and Somali
language is preferred.
- Proven ability to forge relationships with
community members, leader and government authorities.
- Experience in building and maintaining
strong/productive relations with implementing and strategic partners.
- Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to
follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Experience working in conflict environments is
preferred.
- Security management experience in remote and
insecure environments.
Success Factors:
The successful candidate will have
the following characteristics:
- A strong team player, with good communication
and diplomatic skills.
- Proven ability to work independently as part
of a regional team and with international professionals.
- Excellent analytical and information
management skills.
- Good organizational skills and ability to work
under stress and in austere contexts of remote locations.
- Flexible and creative in planning and problem
solving.
- Attention to detail, ability to follow
procedures and meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Proven excellence maintaining professional
internal and external relationships.
- Willingness and ability to live comfortably in
Wajir and travel throughout the County.
Somalis are encouraged to apply.
Governance and Community Mobilization
Team Leader, PROGRESS Programme – Wajir
Programme / Department Summary: The
Governance and Community Mobilization Team Leader will work in collaboration
with the PROGRESS Programme Director, Programme Managers and PROGRESS
consortium members in the implementation of a multi-year project as part of
DFID’s BRACED initiative (Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate
Extremes and Disasters).
Mercy Corps
anticipates a programme award under BRACED to implement the “Programme for
Resilient Systems” (PROGRESS).
PROGRESS will be comprised of a
multi-partner consortium poised to deliver a 36-month initiative designed to
build absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of more than 200,000
individual households in northern Kenya (Wajir) and northern Uganda
(Karamoja).
The Wajir-based Governance and
Community Mobilization Team Leader will play a key role in implementation.
General Position Summary: The
Governance and Community Mobilization Team Leader will be responsible for
overseeing program activities aimed at strengthening the horizontal and
vertical linkages of governance with the aim of community development, advocacy
and increased public sector support towards public projects, plans and budgets
that enhance resilience.
This includes leading community
mobilization and engagement efforts in partnership with consortium partner,
WASDA, and promoting engagement of local government departments, and advocating
for strengthening of policies within the PROGRESS practice areas (water
resources management, livestock, climate-smart agriculture, urban economic
linkages).
Essential Job Functions:
Program Implementation:
- Provide research, review, advocacy,
coordination and support to policy formulation and policy implementation
between remote communities in Wajir and Wajir County Government
departments.
- Coordinate and supervise the implementation of
sub program activities by leading local level Shared Learning Dialogue
sessions between the PROGRESS Team and practice area line ministries. The
SLDs will constitute a series of dialogue workshops that engage both
public and private sector actors around innovation and learning for
greater resilience.
- Facilitating technical coordination of
technical and financial, budget actors in interventions of the various
PROGRESS practice areas to respond to current government strategic plans
and community led initiatives
- Map how and who in County government approves
decisions and what are key dates whereby decisions need to be made in
order to be included in annual County budgets.
- Influence government leaders to include
resources to co-finance projects that meet PROGRESS and government
objectives.
- Maintain strong, up-to date understanding of
the national and local-level policy environment, including donor
initiatives and funded activities and public budgeting processes,
timelines and prioritization.
- Foster enhanced communication and collective
planning across line ministries in a way that honors needs of communities
with a focus on gender-sensitive policy and budget planning.
- Identify women in positions of community and
local government leadership for targeted technical trainings.
- Lead the planning and coordination of targeted
learning events that emphasize public-sector innovation around
public-private ventures.
- Support coordination of large-scale infrastructure
projects and other elements of an enabling market environment that local
and national governments should consider when attempting to invite private
sector investment and market activity.
- Draw on technical resources from within Mercy
Corps and PROGRESS Consortium Partners including the University of Nairobi
to forge relationships with local government and civil society as a
technical resource.
- Strengthen the role of civil society by
promoting civic agency, advocacy, participatory planning, transparency
with the public sector and market actors.
- Ensure that women and girls are actively
participating in community engagement processes and that issues affecting
females are brought in to the public realm when addressing the strategies
for government to support community-wide resilience.
- Provide support, oversight and technical
guidance to consortium partner, WASDA, in Wajir tasked with community
engagement. Lead community engagement efforts in areas where WASDA is not
leading.
- Liaise between PROGRESS Consortium, local
government counterparts, relief, aid and resilience agencies and
bi-lateral organizations such as UN agencies that support planning and
policy for development and management of natural resources and economic
development.
- Ensure that coordination linkages are drawn
between PROGRESS, DDR and Climate Change Adaption programs and that
climate-relevant information from these fora are integrated in to PROGRESS
community mobilization and engagement efforts.
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)
and Reporting:
- Support Programme Manager in the achievement
of program targets and objectives and support efforts towards the design
effective M&E systems and operations.
- Facilitate the coordination, scheduling and
production of formal and informal reports and documentation and
communication of reports and learning materials.
- Actively record, document and demonstrate all
aspects of governance and community activities for impact measurement and
learning purposes.
Coordination and Representation:
- Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor,
NGO and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with the
Programme Manager and Programme Director.
- Attend key events, committee meetings, fora,
seminars, etc. as they relate to East Africa resilience.
- Coordinate activities with consortium
partners, sub grantees, local government and other implementers, as well
as with other Mercy Corps programs.
Staff Management, Professional
Development and Team building: Contribute
to country team-building efforts, and ensure the integration of all team and
consortium members into relevant decision-making processes.
Program Support Operations:
- Ensure close communication across
cross-country field teams and consortium members regarding program
activities and plans, challenges and obstacles to timely and quality
implementation.
- Coordinate with program, finance, and
administration staff for troubleshooting and problem solving.
Organizational Learning
As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide
Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for
spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional
learning activities.
Supervisory Responsibility: Governance and Community Mobilizer Officer
Accountability: 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.
Reports Directly To: Programme Manager based in Wajir
Works Directly With: Programme
Manager, other team leaders, consortium members, and technical and support
staff from Mercy Corps office in Portland, Oregon and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Knowledge and Experience:
- Advanced University Degree (Masters) in public
administration, public policy, political science, or related field.
- At least five years of experience including
three years in a management position in relevant field.
- Strong writing, communication, organization,
prioritization and negotiating skills.
- Strong management skills, with good
understanding of relevant cross-sector and cross-cultural issues.
- Experience contributing to donor-funded
program processes including assessment, design, and report writing
- Proven understanding of both urban and rural
livelihoods systems, climate change adaptation strategies, public
administration and resilience programming;
- Demonstrated knowledge of the Kenyan political
context including devolution and recent constitutional changes and the
geo-political and socio-economic environment of Northern Kenya in
particular.
- Familiarity with Somali culture and Somali
language is preferred.
- Excellent analytical and English written
skills required.
- Proven ability to forge relationships with
community members, leader and government authorities.
- Experience in building and maintaining
strong/productive relations with implementing and strategic partners.
- Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to
follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Demonstrated success building, managing and
leading a team of professionals.
- Experience working in conflict environments is
preferred.
- Security management experience in remote and
insecure environments.
- Previous experience with and strong
understanding of DFID rules, regulations and compliance issues
Success Factors:
The successful candidate will have
the following characteristics:
- A strong team player, with good communication
and diplomatic skills.
- Proven ability to work independently as part
of a regional team and with international professionals.
- Excellent analytical and information
management skills.
- Good organizational skills and ability to work
under stress and in austere contexts of remote locations.
- Flexible and creative in planning and problem
solving.
- Attention to detail, ability to follow
procedures and meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Proven excellence maintaining professional
internal and external relationships.
- A focus on building staff capacity.
- Willingness and ability to live comfortably in
Wajir and travel throughout the County.
Somalis are encouraged to apply.
Governance and Community Mobilization
Officer, PROGRESS Programme – Wajir
Programme / Department Summary: The Governance and Community Mobilization Officer
will work in collaboration with the PROGRESS Governance and Community
Mobilization Team Leader, Programme Manager and PROGRESS consortium members in
the implementation of a multi-year project as part of DFID’s BRACED initiative
(Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters).
Mercy Corps
anticipates a programme award under BRACED to implement the “Programme for
Resilient Systems” (PROGRESS).
PROGRESS is comprised of a
multi-partner consortium poised to deliver a 36-month initiative designed to
build absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of more than 200,000
individual households in northern Kenya (Wajir) and northern Uganda
(Karamoja).
The Wajir-based Governance and
Community Mobilization Officer will play a key role in implementation.
General Position Summary: The Governance and Community Mobilization Officer
will be responsible for supporting the implementation of program activities
aimed at strengthening the horizontal and vertical linkages of governance with
the aim of community development, advocacy and increased public sector support
towards public projects, plans and budgets that enhance resilience.
This includes community mobilization
and engagement efforts in partnership with consortium partner, WASDA, and
promoting engagement of local government departments, and advocating for
strengthening of policies within the PROGRESS practice areas (water resources
management, livestock, climate-smart agriculture, urban economic linkages).
Essential Job Functions:
Program Implementation:
- Coordination and support policy formulation
and policy implementation between remote communities in Wajir and Wajir
County Government departments.
- Support the Governance and Community
Mobilization Team Leader to coordinate and implement local level Shared
Learning Dialogue (SLDs) sessions between the PROGRESS Team and practice
area line ministries. The SLDs will constitute a series of dialogue
workshops that engage both public and private sector actors around
innovation and learning for greater resilience.
- Help to coordinate technical and financial,
budget actors in interventions of the various PROGRESS practice areas to
respond to current government strategic plans and community led
initiatives
- Work with the Governance and Community
Mobilization Team Leader to map who in County government approves
decisions and what are key dates by which decisions need to be made in
order to be included in annual County budgets. Influence government
leaders to include resources to co-finance projects that meet PROGRESS and
government objectives.
- Foster enhanced communication and collective
planning across line ministries in a way that honors needs of communities
with a focus on gender-sensitive policy and budget planning.
- Support and coordinate community mobilization
efforts at the community level as requested.
- Identify women in positions of community and
local government leadership for targeted technical trainings.
- Assist the Governance and Community
Mobilization Team Leader to coordinate targeted learning events that
emphasize public-sector innovation around public-private ventures.
- Ensure that women and girls are actively
participating in community engagement processes and that issues affecting
females are brought in to the public realm when addressing the strategies
for government to support community-wide resilience.
- Provide support and technical guidance to
consortium partner, WASDA, in Wajir tasked with community engagement.
Support the Governance and Community Mobilization Team Leader to implement
community engagement efforts in areas where WASDA is not leading.
- Ensure that coordination linkages are drawn
between PROGRESS, DDR and Climate Change Adaption programs and that
climate-relevant information from these fora are integrated in to PROGRESS
community mobilization and engagement efforts.
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)
and Reporting:
- Support the Governance and Community
Mobilization Team Leader to implement and achieve program targets and
objectives and support efforts towards the design effective M&E
systems and operations.
- Help develop the formal and informal reports
and documentation and communication of reports and learning materials.
- Actively record, document and demonstrate all
aspects of governance and community activities for impact measurement and
learning purposes.
Coordination and Representation:
- Help the Governance and Community Mobilization
Team Leader to coordinate government, donor, NGO and other relevant events
in the field.
- Attend key events, committee meetings, fora,
seminars, etc. as they relate to East Africa resilience.
- Coordinate activities with consortium
partners, sub grantees, local government and other implementers, as well
as with other Mercy Corps programs.
Staff Management, Professional
Development and Team building: Contribute
to country team-building efforts, and ensure the integration of all team and
consortium members into relevant decision-making processes.
Program Support Operations:
- Ensure close communication across
cross-country field teams and consortium members regarding program
activities and plans, challenges and obstacles to timely and quality
implementation.
- Coordinate with program, finance, and administration
staff for troubleshooting and problem solving.
Organizational Learning: As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational
Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their
work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.
Supervisory Responsibility: None
Accountability: 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.
Reports Directly To: Governance
and Community Mobilization Team Leader.
Works Directly With: Governance and Community Mobilization Team Leader,
Programme Manager, other team members, consortium members, and technical and
support staff from Mercy Corps office in Portland, Oregon and Edinburgh,
Scotland.
Knowledge and Experience:
- Bachelor’s Degree in public administration,
public policy, political science, or related field.
- At least two years of experience with
community development and/or governance-focused activities
- Strong writing, communication, organization,
prioritization and negotiating skills.
- Experience contributing to donor-funded
program processes including assessment and report writing
- Demonstrated knowledge of the Kenyan political
context including devolution and recent constitutional changes and the
geo-political and socio-economic environment of Northern Kenya in
particular.
- Familiarity with Somali culture and Somali
language is preferred.
- Excellent analytical and English written
skills required.
- Proven ability to forge relationships with
community members, leader and government authorities.
- Experience in building and maintaining
strong/productive relations with implementing and strategic partners.
- Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to
follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Experience working in conflict environments is
preferred.
- Security management experience in remote and
insecure environments.
Success Factors:
The successful candidate will have
the following characteristics:
- A strong team player, with good communication
and diplomatic skills.
- Proven ability to work independently as part
of a regional team and with international professionals.
- Excellent analytical and information
management skills.
- Good organizational skills and ability to work
under stress and in austere contexts of remote locations.
- Flexible and creative in planning and problem
solving.
- Attention to detail, ability to follow
procedures and meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Proven excellence maintaining professional
internal and external relationships.
- A focus on building partner’s capacity.
- Willingness and ability to live comfortably in
Wajir and travel throughout the County.
Somalis are encouraged to apply.
Natural Resource Management & Market
Systems Team Leader, PROGRESS Programme – Wajir
Programme / Department Summary: The
Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Team Leader will work in
collaboration with the PROGRESS Programme Director, Programme Manager and
PROGRESS Consortium members in the implementation of a proposed multi-year
project as part of DFID’s BRACED initiative (Building Resilience and Adaptation
to Climate Extremes and Disasters).
Mercy Corps
anticipates a programme award under BRACED to implement the “Programme for
Resilient Systems” (PROGRESS).
PROGRESS will be comprised of a
multi-partner consortium poised to deliver a 36-month initiative designed to
build absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of more than 200,000
individual households in northern Kenya (Wajir) and northern Uganda (Karamoja).
The Wajir-based Natural Resources
Management and Market Systems Team Leader will play a key role in
implementation.
General Position Summary: The
Natural Resource Management and Market Systems Team Leader is responsible for
leading the implementation of natural resource management and facilitation
projects that make market dynamics, actors, institutions and services
accessible to households within the PROGRESS focus areas.
These activities will work through
public sector enabling strategies and private sector actors, seeking to crowd
in provision rather than displace or replicate private actors with donor-funded
services.
Facilitation projects will increase
access to technical services, improve access to locally appropriate products,
develop agent input and aggregator networks, improve service offerings,
commercialize access to innovative energy products and methods, and expand the
role and relationship of line Ministries in strategic prioritization of
investment for economic vitality that contributes to household and community
resilience.
The Natural Resource Management and
Market Systems Team Leader will lead the PROGRESS processes for engaging
communities, governments and private sector actors in collective action plans
that support household and community access to and management natural, physical
environment and the socio-ecological systems supported by it.
Essential Job Functions:
Program Implementation:
- With support from the PROGRESS Programme
Manager and fellow sector-focused Team Leaders, carry out assessments in
the target geographic areas to assess the current situation, economic and
natural resource management opportunities and resources, needs and
potential programs as well as obstacles that could be mitigated through PROGRESS.
- Recommend program priorities and explore,
evaluate and present new natural resource management and market
opportunities that leverage impact and/ or complement core activities.
- Emphasize the role of and opportunities for
women, girls and youtha in the economic and natural resource management
sectors in both rural and urban sphere;
- Highlight market-based skills which are
emerging with urban growth and work with public, private and development
actors on efforts to match skills of people transitioning out of
pastoralism and urban poor for urban livelihoods and services;
- Introduce the program to relevant stakeholders
including local business owners, actors engaged in natural resource
management, local representatives and community members. Foster ongoing positive
cooperation with these stakeholders and forge links between market actors,
producers, end users, etc.;
- Ensure an integrated approach to program
implementation in order to maximize resource utilization and synergy
between the staff and different MC programs where relevant and feasible.
- Provide direct and ongoing field supervision
to provide quality advice and technical review in the economic development
and natural resource management sectors;
- Identify small business activities for seed
support through basic improvements or inputs;
- Identify value-addition opportunities that
strengthen economic opportunities, especially for rural women and urban
poor, in the livestock, poultry and other sectors as identified by local
government and independent studies and assessments. These opportunities
will focus on the urbanizing areas of Wajir Town, Habaswein particularly
for livestock, and climate-smart agriculture areas that promotes
production and market links for agricultural products;
- Identify opportunities and alternative methods
of climate-smart agriculture within the long-term plans of Wajir County
that can be fostered through partnerships, such as activating initiatives
in the peri-urban livelihoods zone. Work with Mercy Corps technical staff,
consortium members and local partners to establish locally appropriate
pilots;
- Work within local government strategic plans
for resource management and advocate for cohesive implementation of
projects that demonstrate government responsiveness to community
processes.
- Engage pastoralists in inter-community
dialogue around access to land and water for livestock management.
- Engage with remote communities to establish
priorities for community-led natural resources management, and lead
process for developing community NRM plans
- Work with private sector and line ministries
to address environmental harmful methods of extracting local natural
resources and use Shared Learning Dialogues as a forum for policy
formulation around sustainable methods, alternative energy mechanisms, and
water management and conservation.
Collaboration/Networking
- Establish and maintain productive working
relationships with sub-county and district leaders and local government
departments, representing Mercy Corps in coordination meetings and
soliciting their participation in all activities where appropriate and as
directed by the line manager;
- Coordinate with counterpart agencies and
organizations, especially DFID-funded agencies, involved in conservation,
climate change adaptation for information exchange, learning and
optimizing efforts and resources;
- Identify opportunities for social innovation
and enterprise that could be launched through catalytic investments from
PROGRESS, or public and private sector initiatives;
- Guide Shared Learning Dialogue series that are
thematically focused on enabling environment for market activity and
natural resource management, including long-term infrastructure strategy
and prioritization and identification of potential investors and
innovators.
- Lead the planning of events, exhibits,
workshops that bring private and public sector entities together to
collectively review and discuss technology developments and innovation and
to examine private sector approaches to household and community challenges
that can be incubated through public sector incentives;
- Engage with PROGRESS Consortium members such
as local civil society and the University of Nairobi around innovation and
best practices for new technologies in climate-smart practice, renewable
energy and energy saving methods;
Monitoring and Evaluation:
- Take primary responsibility for district data
gathering and documentation of natural resource management and market
program activities
- Comply with M&E systems that will be
established to measure program impact and desired results
- Analyze project implementation strategies to
identify constraints to program success and provide timely
recommendations;
- Submit timely reports as required that will be
indicative of program progress during implementation.
- Support external evaluations and assessments.
Coordination and
Representation:
- Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor,
NGO and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with the
Programme Manager and Programme Director.
- Attend key events, committee meetings, fora, seminars,
etc. as they relate to East Africa resilience.
- Coordinate activities with consortium
partners, sub grantees, local government and other implementers, as well
as with other Mercy Corps programs.
Staff Management, Professional
Development and Team building: Contribute
to country team-building efforts, and ensure the integration of all team and
consortium members into relevant decision-making processes.
Program Support Operations:
- Ensure close communication across
cross-country field teams and consortium members regarding program
activities and plans, challenges and obstacles to timely and quality
implementation.
- Coordinate with program, finance, and
administration staff for troubleshooting and problem solving.
Organizational Learning: As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide
Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for
spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional
learning activities.
Supervisory Responsibility: Natural
Resource Management and Market Systems Officer
Accountability: 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.
Reports Directly To: Programme
Manager
Works Directly With: Programme Manager, Team Leaders, consortium
members, and technical and support staff from Mercy Corps office in Portland,
Oregon and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Knowledge and Experience:
- A degree, preferably graduate level, in
Natural ‘Resource Management, Business Administration, Economics or
Finance is required;
- Minimum of five years working in the fields of
agriculture/livestock, microfinance, economic development, natural
resource management within the NGO sector or within the private sector is
required;
- Three years of experience working at a senior
management level.
- Excellent written and verbal English
communication skills;
- Excellent computer skills, specifically in MS
Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Excellent teamwork abilities and interpersonal
skills;
- Familiarity with M&E, information,
communications and knowledge sharing technologies and use of innovative
approaches on digital financial services
- Superb networking and negotiation skills is
required;
- Strong analytical and quantitative skills is
required
- Demonstrated flexibility, creativity and
enthusiasm as well as a willingness to learn and to be continually
adaptive within a dynamic and often self-directed working environment
mandatory;
- Ability to focus on day-to-day tasks at hand
while also working towards longer-term objectives with an understanding
that these will change continuously
- Willingness to spend much time in the field
and work closely with program target groups and consortium members.
- Proven understanding of both urban and rural
livelihoods systems, climate change adaptation strategies, public
administration and resilience programming;
- Familiarity with Somali culture and Somali
language is preferred.
- Proven ability to forge relationships with
community members, leader and government authorities.
- Experience in building and maintaining
strong/productive relations with implementing and strategic partners.
- Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to
follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Demonstrated success building, managing and
leading a team of professionals.
- Experience working in conflict environments is
preferred.
- Security management experience in remote and
insecure environments.
- Previous experience with and strong
understanding of DFID rules, regulations and compliance issues
Success Factors:
The successful candidate will have
the following characteristics:
- A strong team player, with good communication
and diplomatic skills.
- Proven ability to work independently as part
of a regional team and with international professionals.
- Excellent analytical and information
management skills.
- Good organizational skills and ability to work
under stress and in austere contexts of remote locations.
- Flexible and creative in planning and problem
solving.
- Attention to detail, ability to follow
procedures and meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
- Proven excellence maintaining professional
internal and external relationships.
- A focus on building staff capacity.
- Willingness and ability to live comfortably in
Wajir and travel throughout the County.
Somalis are encouraged to apply.
Interested candidates who meet the
above required qualifications and experience should submit applications on or
before 5th January 2015, by 4.00pm, containing a cover letter, detailed
Curriculum Vitae (CV) listing three professional references (including a recent
supervisor) to hrkenya@ke.mercycorps.org
The email subject line must clearly quote the job title and location being applied for.
Applications without the right
subject heading will be automatically disqualified.
Please do not attach any
certificates.
(ONLY qualified candidates who meet all the essential required qualifications will be contacted for interviews)
NB: Mercy Corps does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process.
