Position Title: Programme Director, BRACED
Primary Location: Nairobi,
Kenya with Significant Travel to Karamoja (Uganda) and Wajir
Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps’ goal in Kenya is to strengthen and
sustain capabilities of Kenyan society and stakeholders to be agents of
positive change in their communities.
1) Increase the effectiveness of
public service at the county government level;
2) Strengthen adolescent & youth
leadership, livelihoods, & ability to influence government policy,
3) Reduce levels of in-country and
cross-border conflicts that threaten to destabilize development gains; and
4) Increase the capabilities and
assets of households to adapt and recover from shocks and stresses.
The BRACED Programme Director will be
responsible for the overall management, implementation and reporting of the
DFID-funded, multi-year Building resilience and adaptation to climate extremes
and disasters programme (BRACED) program.
BRACED, a 4.5 million GBP programme,
is a Mercy Corps-led program that includes four consortium partners poised to
build the absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of more than 200,000
individual households in northern Kenya (Wajir) and northern Uganda
(Karamoja).
The Programme Director is the lead
team member responsible for quality, timely and on-budget program delivery and
demonstrating program impact.
This position helps Mercy Corps in
Kenya achieve objective #4 while helping to advance Mercy Corps’ resilience
strategy for East Africa.
General Position Summary: The Programme Director will provide overall
leadership, management and strategic vision for BRACED, managing staff and
resources to ensure that the program meets its targets and deliverables on-time
and within budget.
The Programme Director will supervise
key program staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor
rules and regulations.
He/she will be the primary program
representative to donors, relevant government entities, partners, other
implementers and external stakeholders for BRACED.
Involvement of and communication with
four consortium partners will be key in maximizing partners’ programme
contributions and ensuring programme success.
Essential Job Functions:
Program Implementation
- Provide leadership and strategic vision in all
aspects of program implementation, development and management.
- Ensure that program implementation is
responsive to communities, government strategies and partners, and aligned
with Mercy Corps principles and strategic plan.
- Ensure adherence to the DFID/KPMG grant
agreement and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
- Oversee the workplans, schedules and performance
of consortium partners and sub-grantees.
- Conduct frequent field visits to all project
sites.
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)
and Reporting
- Facilitate the achievement of program targets
and objectives and lead efforts to design effective M&E systems with
consortium guidance.
- Ensure timely and quality formal and informal
reporting on all aspects of the program that includes feedback loops with
team members and consortium partners.
- Ensure BRACED monitoring staff lead the
process of converting monitoring information to useable forms for program
managers and staff to act on it and make management decisions.
- Ensure that M&E staff focus on assisting
programs to generate practical information that can be used for ongoing
program decision-making while also capturing results at the impact level.
Coordination and Representation
- Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor,
NGO and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with the
Country Director.
- 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
- Create a work atmosphere conducive to
professional growth and development of excellent personnel at all levels.
- Implement, and ensure all staff are
effectively using, the performance planning and management system,
establishing performance expectations and regularly providing constructive
feedback.
- Promote accountability by conducting staff
annual performance reviews with direct supervisees, and ensuring that
supervisory staff do the same.
- Contribute to country and regional
team-building efforts and strategies, and ensure the integration of all
team members into relevant decision-making processes.
Program Support Operations
- Coordinate with program and finance and
administration staff to ensure operational systems are in place to support
field activities including logistics (transport, warehousing and asset
management), procurement, security, administration and human resources.
- Propose the design of new local policies as
needed and in accordance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations.
Security
- Work closely with the country teams’ security
focal points to develop and maintain systems that ensure the safety and
security of the team in all aspects of its work.
- Ensure that programs are designed and
implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security management
priorities.
- Ensure BRACED staff members adhere to all
Mercy Corps security protocols.
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.
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:
- Direct supervision of: Programme Managers (1
Wajir-based and 1 Karamoja-based), BRACED Coordinator and Learning Manager
(Nairobi-based).
- Reports Directly To: Country Director, Kenya
(with a dotted line to Uganda Country Director)
- Works Directly With: Kenya and Uganda Country
Directors, finance and operations personnel, other Programme Managers in
both countries (where multiple programs operate), HQ RPT members, and TSU
team members.
Knowledge and Experience:
- MA, MSc or equivalent in social science,
management, international development or other relevant field.
- Eight years of overseas experience including
four years in a senior management position, including at a regional/cross-country
level.
- Previous experience with and strong
understanding of DFID rules, regulations and compliance issues. Experience
working with a Fund Manager is a plus.
- Strong written and oral communication skills
in English, including report development, writing and editing.
- Strong management skills, with good
understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues.
- Experience managing Resilience and/or Climate
Change Adaptation projects
- Proven understanding of both urban and rural
livelihoods systems, climate change adaptation strategies, and resilience
programming.
- Experience implementing activities in East
Africa, and specifically Kenya and Uganda – with a strong understanding of
the current political, economic, cultural and historical context of both
countries
- Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to
follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively
with team members.
Success Factors: The successful Programme Director will possess
demonstrated management skills and experience in maintaining donor and partner
relationships.
He/she will have an outstanding
ability to develop, implement and manage innovative programs within the
parameters of the BRACED grant and Mercy Corps’ regional strategy.
S/he will also have proven experience
working with cross-cultural teams, mentoring staff, and staff
development.
Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem
solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are
essential.
The most successful Mercy Corps staff
members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in
evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal
communication a priority in all situations.
The successful Programme Director
must be comfortable operating and traveling in a sometimes volatile security
environment and therefore, changing plans and program tactics accordingly.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions: The Programme Director role is based in Nairobi. The location is accompanied and secure. Housing is individual accommodation with freedom of movement beyond the house/office.
There are seven reputable
international schools in Kenya. Staff have a high degree of access to medical,
electricity, water, etc. This position requires 50% travel to field offices in
both secure and insecure environments.
Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting.
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.
Interested candidates who meet the above required qualifications and experience should follow the following link to apply for the position http://bit.ly/1RzdRKA on or before Wednesday, 10th February 2016.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Only Shortlisted candidates will be
contacted.
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