Community Base Workers at Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on adolescent girls’ empowerment, economic development, and conflict mitigation. Mercy Corps started its humanitarian response in 2014 to address the rising humanitarian needs and building on the significant humanitarian investments and move towards an integrated market systems development approach that will drive inclusive economic recovery and ensure peace gains are maintained and improved upon in its intervention contexts.

Mercy Corps is implementing a three-year Ekaterra Tazo tea funded Empowering Resilient Ginger farmers Program in Kaduna state. The goal of the program is to support ginger farmers, especially females and their families in Kaduna State to have increased ginger productivity, increased incomes, and build longer-term financial stability and resilience.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Community Base Worker

Locations: Kachia, Jaba, Sanga and Jemma LGAs - Kaduna
Employment Type: Contract

Introduction

• Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on adolescent girls’ empowerment, economic development, and conflict mitigation. Mercy Corps started its humanitarian response in 2014 to address the rising humanitarian needs and building on the significant humanitarian investments and move towards an integrated market systems development approach that will drive inclusive economic recovery and ensure peace gains are maintained and improved upon in its intervention contexts.
• Mercy Corps is implementing a three-year Ekaterra Tazo tea funded Empowering Resilient Ginger farmers Program in Kaduna state. The goal of the program is to support ginger farmers, especially females and their families in Kaduna State to have increased ginger productivity, increased incomes, and build longer-term financial stability and resilience.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Assist in identifying and establishing contact with lead firm(s) and other market actors.
• Assist in collecting data related to interventions targeted for study or implementation by the project including ginger sectors/markets and commodity chains.
• Assist in facilitating the identification and development of networks among key stakeholders, identifying common interests between the networks and ERGF.
• Assist in establishing contacts with national and regional institutions, stakeholders and participants that would contribute to the successful implementation of market activities.
• Assist conduct regular field visits to ensure proper implementation of activities.
• Assist in maintaining contacts with key stakeholders to increase synergies within the ginger value chain.

Role and responsibilities

• The purpose of the position is to provide service support to the ERGF program.

Generic Responsibilities

• Adhere to Mercy Corps policies and guidelines.
• Support with the implementation of ERGF field activities according to plan of action.
• Promote and share ideas for improvement of the ERGF program.
• Involve and inform communities and community leaders about the activities to ensure accountability.
• Perform any other duties as requested by the Agric Intervention Officer/MEL-Communication Senior Officer.

Specific Responsibilities

• Participate in the implementation of all ERGF field activities through community engagement.
• Through community engagement, support Mercy Corps to establish, strengthen and maintain relations with community stakeholders / local leaders and beneficiaries.
• Assist in organising and grouping of beneficiaries during registration, distribution, monitoring and community meetings, sensitization/engagements.
• Liaising closely with community leaders and participants under the supervision of the Agric Intervention Officer/MEL-Communication Senior Officer to ensure accountability to affected populations.

Eligibility Criteria

• Recruited CBW must be willing to work in one of the LGAs Kachia /Jaba/Sanga/Jemma as well as communities within the LGA.
• 1 - 3 years work experience.
• Fluency in English and Hausa is a must.
• Familiarity with the target communities and cultural sensitivity
• Proficiency in local languages is an advantage.
• Excellent oral and written skills and IT skills (ODK etc)
• Be flexible and able to work within a multicultural team.
• Willing and able to work within remote areas, where services are limited.
• All applicants must have a minimum of Diploma education in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, Public Administration or equivalent (B.Sc. or HND is an Added Advantage)
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills.
• Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

Organizational Support:

• The Community Based Assistant will be managed by the Mercy Corps staff.
• Technical support for the CBW will be provided by Mercy Corps.

Selection Criteria:

• Written Test: A written test will be conducted for all applicants who were shortlisted from the pool of applications. Selection from the pool will be dependent on requisite experience in related data collection.
• Performance: This will be based on the results of two evaluations to be completed after the interviews. Applicants will be ranked based on performance; those attaining higher scores will be given first preference for the position.
• Demeanor: good conduct, behavior and deportment will be considered.
• Prior Experience: Previous community engagement experience with community-based programs or donor funded programs will be a relevant consideration, all things being equal.
• Fluency in Hausa and English.

Security:

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by program leadership.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its mission.

Accountability To Participants:

• 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.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion:

• Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges.
• We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening, and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

• Mercy Corps is an equal-opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have a sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination based on race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics:

• Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we meet through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and always adhere to the Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

Contract Duration

• The contract with the community-based workers will be for 6 (six) months and the CBWs will be required to work from 8am-4pm Mondays to Thursdays, 8am-12noon on Fridays as well as some Saturday and Sunday as needs arises.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CVs and Cover Letters in one document addressing the position requirements including copies of valid means of identification (passport, driver’s license, national identity card or voters card), LGA certificate or indigene certificates, and school certificates emailed to: [email protected] using the job title as the subject of the mail.

Note: Female candidates who are qualified are strongly encouraged to apply

Application Deadline  22nd December, 2023.