Mercy Corps is looking for committed
and dynamic individual to take up the following position.
Position: Area Manager
Location: Nairobi
About Us: Mercy
Corps is a leading global relief and development agency saving and improving
lives in the world’s toughest places. In more than 40 countries, we partner
with local people to put bold ideas into action, help them overcome adversity
and build stronger communities.
We help communities survive and move
beyond emergencies. When natural disasters strike, economies collapse or
conflict flares, Mercy Corps is there.
Working with communities, we leverage
local logic to help people transform their lives to grow more food, earn higher
incomes and ultimately advocate for their needs. We see global challenges as an
invitation to pioneer innovative, sustainable solutions.
Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps implements high-quality, analytical
development work and peacebuilding programs in difficult places.
We have been operating in Kenya since
2008 and are presently implementing development programs across the Central,
Rift Valley, North Western and Northern Eastern regions of Kenya.
The Area Manager will oversee
implementation of a one-year election violence prevention and response program
beginning in December, 2016.
The program will pursue three inter-related objectives;
1) Identify and map the relationships
between key influential actors, in identified at-risk areas, capable of
mobilizing people toward and away from violence;
2) Develop or expand upon existing
structures that facilitate coordination and information sharing related to
electoral security planning and response between identified local influencers,
including community leaders, local administrators, and the security sector,
and;
3) Electoral security structures
develop plans and processes that enhance prevention and responses to early
indicators of violence.
The Area Manager will be responsible
for managing and supervising project activities and the performance of project
partners.
He/she and his/her team will work
with electoral bodies and the security sector—along with civil society—to
establish and strengthen existing local networks, establish county level Early
Warning Early Response (EWER) Hubs, and link them to Uwiano platform.
The project team will leverage
different players and networks to preempt political manipulation by providing
administrative and logistical support to enable stakeholders to monitor risks,
and develop actionable plans for prevention and response.
General Position Summary: Under the direction of the Project Director, the Area
Manager will be responsible for the overall planning and implementation of
project activities in Nairobi and possibly select areas of Central as needed.
The Area Manager will directly manage
the program staff based in the Nairobi and possible Central and ensure project
activities are implemented according to schedule, budget and required quality.
Essential Job Functions:
·
Manage the day-today operations of
activities in the Nairobi and possibly in select area of Central as needed;
·
Work with the Project Director and in
accordance with approved proposal, budget and timelines;
·
Coordinate and share information with
the Project Director and the greater program team to ensure overall program
targets and donor obligations are being achieved;
·
Visit project sites regularly,
including partner sites, to provide appropriate technical assistance, monitor
and oversee activities;
·
Ensure full application of
participatory methodologies like Participatory Learning and Action and
Appreciative Inquiry in facilitation of community dialogue meetings, and
trainings and workshops;
·
Support the project and partner staff
to establish a system to monitor and evaluate program activities and impact on
an ongoing basis. Ensure that program monitoring is being done on a regular
basis and that adequate monitoring reports are prepared;
·
Work with the Project Director to
regularly coordinate and keep updated with relevant county government and IEBC
officials and institutions, security sectoral, stakeholders and community
members relevant to project;
·
Participate in peace, election and
conflict-related coordination meetings and professionally represent Mercy Corps
in these meetings;
·
Support the development of
partnerships with national and international NGOs, CBOs and other agencies
involved in election conflict management initiatives and other Mercy Corps
activities;
·
Build the capacity of select
implementation partners to improve their technical, organizational and
management capacity;
·
Regularly meet with and communicate
with the Project Director to discuss program achievements, especially when they
deviate from the original plan;
·
Participate in project team meetings
as required;
·
Work with Project Director to
organize and facilitate field visits for donors and Mercy Corps staff;
·
In collaboration with the Project
Director, monitor security developments and report to Mercy Corps Senior
Management as per the Mercy Corps Kenya security procedures and protocols;
·
Jointly prepare donor reports with
the Project Director and other staff to capture program impact;
·
Provide direct and ongoing
supervision and managerial support to project and partner staff based in
Nairobi or Central to ensure effective implementation of program activities;
·
Oversee the development of program,
staff and partner work plans, and ensure regular one-to-one sessions and
performance reviews to review progress and resolve any concerns or issues;
·
Support and facilitate team and
partner development, encourage active participation of team members and support
positive relationships between members;
·
Identify training needs and
opportunities for project staff to ensure that they have adequate resources to
complete program objectives, and to enable learning and growth;
·
Ensure that project staff have the
necessary facilities and office equipment for the smooth functioning of the
program;
·
Maintain close cooperation with the
Finance and Administration departments and other staff to ensure that the
program is in full compliance with all the established operational,
administrative and financial procedures;
·
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 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 that benefit Mercy
Corps as well as themselves.
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.
Supervisory Responsibility: All Project Officers in Nairobi and Central; possible
oversight of partner activities.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Project Director
Works Directly With: Project team (in all locations), coast based team, l
implementing partners, Government, IEBC, security sector, HR, operations, and
Finance teams.
Knowledge and Experience:
·
Bachelor’s degree in conflict
management/peace building, social sciences or other relevant field. A Master’s
degree is preferred;
·
Minimum of five years’ relevant
professional experience managing conflict management or other peace building or
capacity building related projects preferably within NGOs;
·
Demonstrated experience working on
past Kenyan election violence prevention programs and with electoral processes
and stakeholders is a preferred;
·
Experience in managing teams and
facilitating planning and program development processes;
·
Experience in both community level
programming and government focused capacity building;
·
Experience working in conflict
environments is required;
·
Excellent verbal communication,
negotiating, organization and prioritization skills;
·
Excellent quantitative skills and
financial management knowledge is preferred;
·
Leadership skills, and proven
experience in developing effective teams;
·
Strong organizational and managerial
skills;
·
Demonstrated problem solving skills;
·
Demonstrated experience in coaching,
conducting workshops and community meeting facilitation;
·
Excellent written communication
skills with demonstrated ability to develop and write quarterly reports
independently;
·
Experience in building and
maintaining strong/productive relations with implementing and strategic partner
agencies is preferred. This includes coordinating with government authorities
and counterparts;
·
Excellent computer skills, including
all Microsoft applications;
·
Demonstrated skills to successfully
communicate and initiate and maintain positive relationships with beneficiary’s
community.
Success Factors:
·
Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and
appropriate flexibility;
·
Ability to effectively communicate
with Mercy Corps target populations and partners;
·
Demonstrated attention to detail,
ability to meet deadlines, and work independently and cooperatively with team
members;
·
Willingness to travel frequently to
remote locations;
·
Ability to quickly learn and
implement new information/concepts
·
Must be able and willing to be
impartial during the election period.
How to Apply
Interested candidates who meet the
above required qualifications and experience should submit a cover letter and
detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) listing three professional references (including
a recent supervisor) to ke-hrkenya@mercycorps.org on or before Monday
28th November, 2016 by 4.00pm.
The email subject line must clearly
indicate the job title and location being applied for.
Applications without an appropriate
subject heading will be automatically disqualified.
Please do not attach any
certificates.
Applications will be reviewed on a
rolling basis and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
NB:
Mercy Corps does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process.