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.