Mercy Corps is a leading global
organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In
disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner
to put bold solutions into action – helping people triumph over adversity and
build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
Mercy Corps is looking for committed and dynamic individual to take up the following position:
Mercy Corps is looking for committed and dynamic individual to take up the following position:
Position: Youth
Officer
Location: Turkana County
Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps has been operating in Kenya since 2008, focusing its
interventions around four objectives:
1) Peace and Conflict Management;
2) Livelihood/Market Systems;
3) Governance (particularly at the
county level); and
4) Youth Employment/Employability
(including the social and economic development of adolescents).
The four objectives serve to increase
community resilience to drought and other shocks and stresses, and to decrease
fragility with a particular focus on Kenya’s Arid Lands. Mercy Corps’ vision
for change requires the private sector, government and civil society to work
together to create meaningful and sustainable change.
Under the Omo Delta Project –
Expanding the Rangeland to achieve Growth and Transformation, Mercy Corps in
collaboration with five other partners: VSF G – lead agency, VITA (RTI) Ltd,
EPaRDA, CIFA and TUPADO seeks to address the drivers of instability, irregular
migration and displacement so as to expand and maximize opportunities for
communities living in the rangelands along the Kenya – Ethiopia border by
increasing wealth of young people in particular and especially young women;
accelerating national and cross-border trade and collaboration; and increasing
stability to promote growth and project gains.
General Position Summary: The Youth Officer will support the development and delivery of a
comprehensive youth internship, mentorship, apprenticeship and career
counseling programs under the leadership of the Program Manager.
S/he will develop relationships with
potential employers, screen and orient youth and employers to ensure successful
matches and provide oversight of activities and communication related to all
career development activities.
The Youth Officer will also support
in the design and implementation of interventions that assist youth to access
opportunities and platforms for internships, apprenticeships, job search
activities including labour market and career information.
In addition, s/he will lead in the
implementation of strategies and activities that promote youth engagement,
particularly focusing on youth and women, and marginalized populations in order
to access relevant employability trainings, markets, finances, jobs and other
employment services.
Essential Job Functions:
Program Implementation:
·
Provide career counseling,
assessment, administration and interpretation, building the capacity of
implementing partners to deliver the career development support services;
·
Coordinate the internship and
apprenticeship programs including the initial assessment, placement and
monitoring and oversight of youth internships, apprenticeship, career, and
labour market information needs.
·
Develop and facilitate trainings on
internship programs, skills development programs for informal sector
productivity, and other ways of skills building for poor and vulnerable youth
working closely with country offices;
·
Coordinate with Technical and
Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions and other service providers
under Omo delta project to promote youth friendly trainings and assess
opportunities for linkages.
·
Support in management and development
of relationships with private sector for provision of internship,
apprenticeship and career counseling and youth mentorship providers and
agencies.
·
Promote coalition building and
relationships to influence youth development and education policies, sectoral
policies/strategies/programs, and promote workforce development and ecosystem
approach to inclusive youth employment and economic productivity in Southern
African countries;
·
Assess business opportunities for
granting and mentorship.
·
Help to coordinate and participate in
various events, activities and fairs on topics related to internships,
apprenticeships, job placement as well as career counseling for youth
Collaboration and Networking
·
Maintain productive working
relationships with sub-county and county leaders and local government departments
as directed by the line manager;
·
Coordinate with counterpart agencies
and organizations, especially EU-funded agencies, involved in markets systems
and workforce development.
·
Identify opportunities for social
innovation and enterprise that could be launched through catalytic investments
from 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 Program Manager.
·
Support external evaluations and
assessments.
Coordination and Representation:
·
Attend key events, committee
meetings, fora, seminars, etc. as they relate to the program.
·
Support Omo Delta Project activities
with consortium partners, local government and other implementers, as well as
with other Mercy Corps programs.
Program Support Operations:
·
Ensure close communication with 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 our commitment to organizational learning and in
support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective,
efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team
members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy
Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to
Beneficiaries: Mercy Corps team members are expected
to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries
and to international standards guiding international relief and development
work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the
design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Team members are expected to conduct
themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s
policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
Accountability
Supervisory Responsibility: None
Reports Directly To: Program Manager
Works Directly With: Program Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Market
Systems Officer, GIRL Officer and REAP Officer
Knowledge and Experience:
·
A Bachelors Degree in degree in
Social Work/Community Development preferably with specialization in economic
policy management, labor dynamics and workforce or other related discipline.
·
A minimum of three (3) years
professional experience in implementation of poverty reduction, workforce
development and social inclusion operations.
·
Good knowledge and experience in
socio-economic development policy, labour market issues, workforce productivity
and gender equality, preferably in the design, development and implementation
of projects/ programs.
·
Local dialects spoken in Northern
Kenya are also a plus.
·
Ability to inspire, motivate, mentor
and support people towards achieving their goals.
·
Ability to build relationships and
work collaboratively with a range of partners.
·
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 significant time
in the field and work closely with program target groups and consortium
members.
·
Good knowledge of MS Office software
such as PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Access.
·
Experience of working with budgets.
·
Experience of monitoring and
evaluating community projects.
Success Factors:
·
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 Turkana and travel throughout the County.
Position: Violence Reduction and Institutional Reform Technical Advisor
Location: Nairobi
County
This
position is contingent upon receipt of funding and donor approval.
Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps began working in Kenya in 2008 to address the
societal wounds following the 2007 post-election violence.
Since
that time, Mercy Corps has built a robust and diverse portfolio in Kenya that
is working to address structural causes of poverty and injustice and to
strengthen systems that enable men, women and children to access opportunities,
participate in and contribute to peaceful democratic processes, and thrive in
the face of ecological and social change.
To
do this, we deliver integrated programming to strengthen market and governance
systems, address the root causes of conflict, and equip vulnerable populations-
in particular youth, women, adolescents and marginalized social groups- with
the skills, opportunities and resources they need to be healthy, productive and
to drive the development of their communities.
We
work closely with the private sector, civil society and governance structures
at local and national levels to facilitate change and ensure that opportunities
are inclusive of all Kenyans.
Mercy
Corps seeks to implement a 5-year, 20 million GBP program funded by the UK
Department for International Development (DFID) entitled Reducing Insecurity
(and Violent Extremism) in the Northern and Coastal Regions of Kenya (RE-INVENT).
RE-INVENT aims to enhance Kenyan capacity and capability at the national,
county and local levels to address five types of inter-related violence:
inter-communal conflict, weak community-police relations, violence against
women and girls (VAWG), violent extremism and election related violence.
It
will support the continued advancement of police reforms to improve the
management, oversight and accountability of the police force.
General Position Summary: The Violence Reduction and Institutional Reform Technical
Advisor will provide overall leadership and technical guidance to the program
on violence reduction strategies cutting across the five types of violence
mentioned above.
S/he
will engage with stakeholders at the national, county and community level to
design and implement reforms aimed at strengthening community security,
building relationships between police and communities, and tackling the root
causes of violence and conflict in Kenya.
The
Technical Advisor will be a key member of the program management team, and will
work with senior management to ensure that community-level interventions,
government policies, and research are delivered in a complementary and
mutually-reinforcing way to achieve maximum impact.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategy and Vision
·
Provide strategic direction and
vision to guide the program implementation strategy and technical approach in
order to address the five inter-related forms of violence. mentioned above.
·
Gather/analyze data and complete
assessments to determine program needs and priorities in order to achieve the
program’s intended outcomes.
·
Set direction by prioritizing and
organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to the
overall program strategy development.
·
Support the development of a partner
engagement strategy by identifying key technical approaches and activities to
be implemented by partner organizations at the community level.
·
Recognize opportunities for
innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are
welcomed.
Program Quality
·
Participate as an active, integrated
member of the team providing technical support to the overall program across
all intervention areas and sectors.
·
Support effective violence reduction
programming interventions, using integrated approaches and applying systems
thinking to address root causes of violence in Kenyan communities.
·
Help maintain standards of program
delivery that apply agency priorities and comply with relevant regulations and
requirements.
·
Help the team gather, refine, and
disseminate tools such as training presentations and manuals, teaching notes,
best practices and lessons learned, program examples, and monitoring and
evaluation tools.
·
Support program staff and partners to
understand and implement best practices for peacebuilding/conflict mitigation
programming and to incorporate best practices throughout the program cycle.
Influence & Representation
·
Engage with national, county and
community stakeholders to advance policy reforms related to police reform,
intercommunal violence reduction, violence against women and girls, violent
extremism and election related violence.
Training and Capacity Building
·
Enhance the project teams’ capacity
by designing and leading technical training sessions for project team staff and
local partners and providing ongoing coaching and mentoring.
·
Work with regional focal points and
partner staff to identify key county and community stakeholders and build their
capacity to address local conflict issues.
·
Promote learning and knowledge
management through documentation and knowledge sharing around best practices
and lessons learned.
·
Lead conflict sensitivity training
for program staff and local partners and continuously review the program
activities to ensure application of do no harm approaches.
·
Promote active learning and adaptive
management, and contribute to agency-level networks and working groups, through
documentation and knowledge sharing around best practices and lessons learned
in violence reduction programming.
Organizational Learning: As part of our commitment to organizational learning and
in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective,
efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team
members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy
Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to Beneficiaries: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all
efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to
international standards guiding international relief and development work,
while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the
design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Team
members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect
local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and
in all in-country venues.
Supervisory Responsibility: Regional Coordinators in Turkana, Wajir and Mombasa
counties
Accountability
Reports Directly to: Mercy
Corps’ Country Director
Works Directly with: Chief
of Party, MEL Manager, Finance and Sub-grants Manager, local and national
government officials, local civil society organizations, implementing partners
and communities.
Knowledge and Experience
·
Master’s degree in Peace Building and
Conflict Resolution or related discipline.
·
Extensive experience working on
conflict mitigation and resolution, violence reduction and prevention programs,
countering violent extremism, police reform, elections violence programming,
both at the community level and the policy level etc.
·
Demonstrated strong theoretical and
applied knowledge in the above-mentioned fields.
·
Demonstrated effectiveness designing
technical approaches in the fields of conflict mitigation and violence
reduction.
·
Experience coaching and working with
a diverse team of staff, consortium partners and local implementing partners,
building skills and capacity to deliver on complex programming results.
·
Solutions-oriented individual, with
strong strategic thinking capabilities.
·
Experience with policy engagement and
influencing in fields related to violence reduction and conflict mitigation,
with a range of stakeholders including public institutions, county government,
and local government.
·
Experience working with a diverse range
of community members to discuss sensitive and delicate topics in a
conflict-sensitive manner.
·
Excellent writing and reporting
skills.
·
Excellent verbal and inter-personal
communications skills.
·
Demonstrated sensitivity, skill, and
experience working within different cultural settings and navigating public
affairs and communications on sensitive issues.
Success Factors: The successful candidate will have strong technical skills in
the area of violence reduction, and demonstrated ability to apply theoretical
knowledge to the development of programmatic strategies and interventions,
using integrated approaches and applying systems thinking.
S/he
will demonstrate strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills
and be committed to the values and mission of Mercy Corps. S/he will take
initiative and contribute to team efforts, as well as demonstrate an ability to
communicate, assume leadership, and make solid decisions while working remotely
from country leadership.
Application Procedure:
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 17th September, 2018.
The
email subject line must clearly show the job title and location they are
applying 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.
Only
shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
NB: We do
not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process