General Position Summary
The Field Director will promote a culture of
collaboration, learning and adaptation amongst Mercy Corps staff, partner
organizations, county government and a variety of other stakeholders that are
committed to reducing acute malnutrition. They will ensure integration between
diverse program activities and the continual refinement of our approach based
on evidence of what works. The Field Director will build collaborative
relationships with county government, CSOs, the private sector and other key
stakeholders to ensure efficient program implementation and shared ownership of
the program as well as its results. They will be the primary program
representative to donors, relevant government entities, partners, other
implementers and stakeholders in the field.
Essential Responsibilities
Strategy, Leadership and Representation
Communicate a clear vision of the complex program to
county team members and other stakeholders that translates into concrete
program design and incorporates learning.
Represent Mercy Corps and the program at the highest
levels of county government; maintaining productive relationships with internal
and external constituents such as private sector partners, county government,
civil society, communities, and other stakeholders.
Lead county level planning processes and provide strategic updates in collaboration with technical leads.
Ensure that all program activities are tightly
integrated at the county level and are responsive to the overall vision for the
program – in close collaboration with the Nairobi-based technical leads.
Continuously monitors program performance and, in
coordination with the Deputy Chief of Party, generates and evaluates
alternative solutions and makes effective and timely decisions.
Team Management
Promote a culture of learning, systems thinking, and
critical analysis. Create a working environment in which sharing of successes
and failures is encouraged and capitalized through learning to establish
mechanisms that ensure informed adaptive actions.
Create a work environment of mutual respect that
attracts motivated, skilled and effective team members and enables them
individually and collectively to strive to achieve excellence.
Supervise, provide leadership, mentor and build the
capacity of direct reports, including through individualized professional
development plans.
Assist in connecting research results and best
practices in M&E to ensure that information and knowledge is accessible to
all staff and partners.
Hire, onboard and lead team members so that they are
positioned for success.
Coordinate county-level NAWIRI staff and oversee the
timely development and submission of quality program reports, workplans and
budgets.
Program Management
Provide leadership and oversight that helps inform
and improve program outcomes and county level results.
Lead in the principles, methods or tools for
developing, scheduling, coordinating, and managing program activities and
resources – including monitoring and inspecting costs, work, staff and
consultant performance.
Oversee daily office and program activities by
ensuring program staff are following work plans as assigned by respective team
leaders.
Serve as a resource for program staff and input into
activity design, evidence-based programming, M&E plans, and impact
assessments.
Support internal and external reviews and lead the
analysis of findings, with a strong emphasis on learning.
Ensure adherence to Mercy Corps administrative
procedures by support and program staff.
Work daily with support staff i.e. Operations,
Finance and Human Resources departments to ensure proper daily support
functions and compliance with MC and donor policies.
Work daily with program staff and receive regular
updates of program activities- ensure activities are on schedule.
Conduct daily meetings and receive routine reports
from support functions, as per MC policies, and facilitate linkages to
programming.
Security
Ensure compliance with security procedures and
policies as determined by country leadership.
Proactively ensure that team members operate in a
secure environment and are both abiding by and aware of policies.
Represent Mercy Corps as required with local
governments and authorities for security meetings/briefings.
Assist the CoP and DCoP in developing strategies to
continue work in times of heightened security.
Supervisory Responsibility
Deputy Field Director, Field Office Program Managers,
County finance and operations team, M&E Coordinator, CLA Coordinator,
partner purpose leads
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Director, Implementation and Nutrition Resilience
Works Directly with:
DCoP/Technical Director, Director Program Performance
and Learning Nairobi based technical leads and advisors, Strategic Learning
Lead, Institutional Strengthening Lead, the M&E team, partner agencies,
local government, MCK finance and operations team.
Accountability To Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all
efforts towards accountability, specifically to program participants and to
international standards guiding international development work, while actively
engaging ecosystem as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation
of our field projects.
Minimum Qualifications and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; an advanced
degree is preferred
At least 10 years’ work experience with 3 years field
experience managing diverse multi-sector, multi-partner programs and teams
(familiarity with nutrition programming preferred).
Proven experience managing a large team with
programmatic and operational functions.
Deep familiarity with the local context in the ASALs.
Direct experience in either Turkana or Samburu preferred.
Demonstrated ability and/or appetite to demand
evidence and translate it into practice.
Demonstrated ability working with
policymakers/practitioners on translating evidence into practice.
Strong writing skills; ability to analyze and
consolidate information into succinct and timely reports.
Highly proficient English verbal and written skills;
additional verbal proficiency in Turkana/Samburu preferred.
Success factors
Initiative-taker, multi-tasker, and able to work
effectively and respectfully with local government, private sector, civil
society and donors.
Demonstrated experience in setting up and managing
systems and procedures as well as experience in building team commitment toward
the achievements of program objectives.
Team-player with positive attitude to problem solving
and conflict resolution. Focused on team building and capacity-building of
program staff and will be able to apply creative solutions to program quality.
Ability to juggle multiple priorities under tight
deadlines and to calmly and diplomatically deal with unexpected events
impacting program operations
How To Apply