Recent Jobs at Mercy Corps, 27th May, 2019
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. Mercy Corps has been working in Nigeria since 2012 in the most marginalized regions of the country to deliver urgent, lifesaving assistance and promote development. We partner with communities to help them recover and rebuild while addressing root causes of conflict, insecurity, and inequality. Every month we help ensure that more than 100,000 people have enough food to eat, and our work impacts the lives of over 600,000 people across the country.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: M&E Database Officer
Reference Number: ABV/PRO/2019/0015
Location: Abuja, Nigeria (With an estimated 50% travel to other program locations)
Position Status: Full-time, Field-based, and Regular.
Program / Department Summary
- This is a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Community Initiative to Promote Peace (CIPP)
- The CIPP program aims to strengthen conflict prevention, mediation and early warning by facilitating community-led analysis and action to prevent, manage, and mitigate conflict and violent extremism
- The program will work in twenty-four (24) high-risk local government areas in Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi and Plateau states
- The position is based in Abuja and it requires up to (50 %) travel to project sites in Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi and Plateau states.
General Position Summary
- The M&E Database Officer will work with the MEL Unit as part of a team to operationalize and improve the MEL system, which heavily relies on a well-managed CIPP database
- The M&E Database Officer is responsible for supporting Mercy Corps staff and local partners to regularly collect/ enter/ verify/analyze/ data and make timely database adjustments to measure the impact of Mercy Corps’ programs
- The M&E Database Officer will directly work with the M&E Manager who is the point of contact for all Mercy Corps field staff regarding M&E support needs and operational issues
- The M&E Database Officer will also closely coordinate with the Learning/Knowledge Management Officer to help ensure monitoring and evaluation data is accurately incorporated into all reports, learning and information products.
Essential Job Responsibilities
DM&E System Database Management and Innovation:
- Understand, maintain and innovate an M&E system database (MIS) that improves Mercy Corps’ ability to inform program implementation, analyze data, and represent impact to USAID, government, colleague agencies, and communities themselves
- Ensure all relevant program staff are able to utilize the database to analyze program information and results
- Design, adapt and maintain the MIS in conjunction with the M&E Manager Learning and knowledge management officer to match strategic program or implementation change
- Provide training in the use of a database, pivot tables and pivot charts to staff members that require it, or support on exporting to MS Excel for data analysis
- Ensure the database is live and accessible to field offices
- Review data being entered in the database regularly in order to locate and fix problems with data entry or integrity
- Document system database contents, protocols and update manuals for smooth functioning
Implement the M&E System and Tools:
- Work as part of a team to facilitate and support M&E operations including baseline, annual, and endline surveys, regular monitoring, data collection and analysis, feedback and reporting according to the MEL workplan
- Generate data (tables/graphs/reports) from the database at regular intervals, ensuring reports/information are available for program implementation staff when required. Facilitate data analysis with the program implementation team as requested
- Conduct regular field visits to ensure all elements of the M&E system and database are being utilized effectively by all stakeholders, assessing and identifying breakdowns and areas that require clarifications and improvements
- Ensure field teams always have the most recent version of all M&E tools and documents.
Staff Training and Capacity Building:
- Work closely with MEL Manager to develop and deliver staff/partner training, improving capacities in monitoring and evaluation and database management: data collection, entry, verification and analysis; and other identified needs
- Follow up on training by mentoring staff/partners to develop identified technical skills one-on-one
Link M&E Results to Reporting:
- Review or edit data in reports as requested and required
- Produce analytical summaries: graphs, charts, and tables as requested to fulfil reporting requirements
- 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 in Nigeria
- Other duties as assigned and agreed upon
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 aware of policies.
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.
Accountability:
- Reports Directly To: CIPP MEL Manager
- Works Directly With: Communication Officer, DCOP, Program officers, finance and operations and security and safety teams.
Knowledge and Experience
- B.A or equivalent from a recognized institution, preferably in Sciences, MS Access, Database Management/Programming or Administration
- Microsoft certification is preferred
- 1-3 years’ experience managing or designing MS Access databases, knowledge of SharePoint, MySQL, and VBA a plus
- Demonstrated skills in training, capacity building, and mentoring
- Good basic math and analytical skills as well as a general knowledge of statistical or monitoring and evaluation principles
- Former experience in field survey/data collection techniques, data entry, data verification, and analysis beneficial
- Fluency in spoken and written English
- Computer literacy in MS Access and other MS Office packages including Excel, and PowerPoint is essential
- Willingness to travel to all CIPP field offices regularly
Success Factors
- The ideal candidate will have a strong curiosity for understanding and working effectively within the complex cultural, political, security and social environment of Nigeria
- He/She will be an excellent communicator, multi-tasker, and able to work in ambiguous situations
- He/She will be a tolerant and flexible individual able to work in difficult and stressful environments and follow procedures
- The successful candidate will be a design thinker, have strong skills in design monitoring and evaluation of development programs and maintain a sense of humour.
- Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/STA 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.
- Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.
Living/Environmental Conditions
- The position is based in the capital city Abuja with regular travel to other parts of Nigeria. The location is accompanied and generally secure. Housing, health care, water, electricity and consumer goods are all reasonably accessible and there are good international and domestic travel options from Abuja Airport. Air travel is necessary to get to some field locations. Mobile phones services are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices with some inconsistencies in the most remote sites
- There is a wide variety of schools with different education philosophies and curriculum (British, American, French, and German to name the few). This position requires 50% travel by road and air to field offices that are located in highly insecure locations.
- Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on short-term assignments. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps' policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues. Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision
- Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment. Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions The position is based in Abuja and it requires up to 50% travel to field offices.
Job Title: Senior Program Officer
Reference Number: ABV/PRO/2019/0017
Locations: Abuja and Kaduna, Nigeria (With an estimated 40% travel to other program locations)
Position Status: Full-time, Field-based, and Regular.
Program / Department Summary
- This is a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Community Initiative to Promote Peace (CIPP).
- The CIPP program aims to strengthen conflict prevention, mediation and early warning by facilitating community-led analysis and action to prevent, manage, and mitigate conflict and violent extremism.
- The program will work in twenty-four (24) high-risk local government areas in Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi and Plateau states.
- Mercy Corps is seeking to recruit two (2) experienced and exceptional individuals to support the implementation of the Community Initiative to Promote Peace (CIPP). One officer will be based in Abuja and another one in Kaduna.
General Position Summary
- The senior program officer is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of program activities in her/his respective area.
- S/he will ensure that CIPP’s community-level engagement approach is systematic, replicable, and adheres to participatory process to involve, empower, and engage citizens and key stakeholders in conflict prevention and response across the six-state target areas in a cost-effective and sustainable way that seamlessly builds on previous programs and consortium partner strengths. This will include skills building in conflict analysis, mediation, and dialogue as well as establishment/strengthening of EWER mechanisms
Essential Job Responsibilities
Program Administration:
- Expand local partner networks, and build wider public support for peace.
- Act as a liaison and facilitator between MC target communities and relevant authorities, building community representatives’ capacity to engage in effective dialogue.
- Strengthen local level networking and coordination with relevant local structures, CSOs, INGOs, media and Government Departments involved in peacebuilding interventions, including relationship building with religious leaders of diverse faiths
- Strengthen community-based peace structures, support locally-led peace initiatives, and reinforce communication and collaboration with community-level stakeholders,
- Work with peace structures and leaders at community, LGA, and the state levels, to strengthen pre-existing structures (e.g., Conflict Mitigation and Management Regional Councils (CMMRCs) established by IMC under TOLERANCE, the Plateau State Peacebuilding Agency, the Kaduna State Peace Commission and its newly inaugurated LGA-level peace committees) and launch new ones where necessary.
- Provide field level oversight role for referral of project ideas/programming strands to other MC Nigeria sectors (currently, Humanitarian, Resilience, protection and market development and Livelihoods), and ensure appropriate cross-communication throughout the project process.
- Actively engage in the community planning and development process, developing and guiding a tailored mobilization for peace program at the community that ensures participation, transparency and accountability.
- Oversee and consolidate regular weekly reporting functions, and ensure data is fed into the CIPP database accurately and rapidly.
- Promote inclusion of and support dedicated initiatives led by young people, and women, recognizing that their present exclusion from conflict mitigation in Nigeria is a missed opportunity.
- Ensure CIPP activities adhere to Mercy Corps conflict sensitivity framework to avoid exacerbating tensions while leveraging opportunities to build peace and connect conflicting communities
- In collaboration with consortium members, lead the conducting of a Do No Harm analysis at program start and annually to identify conflict sensitivity risks and mitigation strategies,
- Conduct quarterly review meetings with field-based program team to assess contextual changes and adapt strategies to evolving dynamics,
- Maintain regular communications with key stakeholders to gauge perceptions, tensions, and potential triggers.
- Organize dialogues, events, and local media coverage that is balanced, forward-looking, and solutions-oriented.
- Together with the MEL team conduct a rapid macrolevel conflict assessment to confirm at-risk areas, map pre-existing peace structures at all levels, and build foundational contextual knowledge that will allow CIPP to determine the most effective interventions in each state.
- Lead in the facilitation of community-led analysis and action to prevent, manage, and mitigate conflict and violent extremism while building trust between conflicting communities
- Foster linkages to local government, civil society coalitions, and businesses.
- Ensure internal regulations regarding Program Management at Mercy Corp Corps (PM@MC), including, program verification through to financial and signatory approval are followed, making suggestions for improvements to DCOP.
- Participate in weekly program meeting with the DCOP, contributing feedback from the area of operation and teams under supervision.
- Provide Mercy Corps representation at appropriate levels, with a primary focus on Kaduna or Abuja.
- Develop relationships, formal and informal, with local NGO’s and CBO’s.
- Identify and recommend areas for specific training and capacity-building, both for staff and target communities.
- Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.
- 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.
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 aware of policies.
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:
- Reports Directly To: Deputy Chief of Party
- Works Directly With: MEL manager, Operations, Finance, Compliance, and country level Technical Support Units.
Knowledge and Experience
- Previous work experience with an NGO in the area of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation, or working in social outreach, governance and policy development activities.
- Experience in managing staff, providing leadership, clear tasks and oversight.
- Ability to write clear and concise reports in English
- Good organizational skills, ability to make recommendations for improvement and contribute to overall program strategy.
- Willingness to travel throughout the MC project areas.
- Experience in conducting training and workshops is desirable.
- Experience with monitoring and evaluation is an advantage.
Success Factors
- The successful Sr. Program Officer will skillfully lead the implementation of CIPP activities within time, scope and budget and provide effective leadership to program officers and Assistants.
- S/he will have high emotional intelligence, constructive mentoring skills and proven experience with peacebuilding conflict Transformation and will be committed to the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level.
- Successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and challenging environments, and make effective written and verbal communication a priority.
Job Title: Gender & Inclusion Officer
Reference Number: ABV/PRO/2019/0016
Location: Abuja, Nigeria (With an estimated 40% travel to other program locations)
Position Status: Full-time, Field-based, and Regular.
Program / Department Summary
- This is a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Community Initiative to Promote Peace (CIPP). The CIPP program aims to strengthen conflict prevention, mediation and early warning by facilitating community-led analysis and action to prevent, manage, and mitigate conflict and violent extremism.
- The program will work in twenty-four (24) high-risk local government areas in Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi and Plateau states. Mercy Corps is seeking to recruit an experienced and exceptional individual to support the engagement of women, gender and social inclusion in the implementation of the Community Initiative to Promote Peace (CIPP).
General Position Summary
- The gender and inclusion officer will ensure an intentional approach to engaging women in peace-building work, and enable women and vulnerable groups to participate fully in peacebuilding activities, including negotiation mediation and community dialogues.
- The Officer will provide necessary orientation and advise to all the implementing partners and agencies on gender and social inclusion issues and policies, and Engage with the partners in reviewing and providing necessary inputs on drafting necessary advocacy and policy briefs for women engagement in peace-building work;
Essential Job Responsibilities
- Coordinate with and support the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team in establishing and implementing gender-sensitive monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting systems.
- Work closely with the M&E Officer to develop the data collection and analysis tools for the baseline assessment to guarantee gender and social inclusion considerations.
- Conduct a local gender assessment at the start of the program with an integrated gender and social inclusion analysis, to inform how CIPP address needs in different States.
- Incorporate a Gender and Social Inclusion Integration Plan into the project’s Annual Implementation Plan based on gender assessment findings and updated annually based on M&E data and participant/partner feedback. Report against progress on this plan on a quarterly basis.
- Assist implementing partners to develop gender sensitive and gender responsive monitoring mechanism;
- Document lessons learned and best practices and communicate with Mercy country office and HQ to contribute to global knowledge on gender and social inclusion in relation to rule conflict and peacebuilding;
- Provide partner organizations with ongoing gender integration and social inclusion technical assistance.
- Ensure the most vulnerable and marginalized populations are represented across all CIPP program components, including as staff members, project participants, trainers, facilitators, speakers, evaluators, and so forth. Understanding that girls and women tend to experience more marginalization in conflict situations and peacebuilding work and increased vulnerability within these groups, emphasis will be placed on this population. Other types of marginalized populations may be identified through analysis.
- Ensure activities budgeted are able to equally benefit males and females and, in instances where this is not the case, provide a clear rationale that does not contradict the project’s gender equality goals.
- Integrate gender and social inclusion considerations into operational research design and policy analyses.
- Incorporate discussions and activities related to gender and social inclusion into facilitation plans when designing community dialogue sessions
- Provide necessary orientation and advise to all the implementing partners and agencies on gender and social inclusion issues and policies;
- Contribute to the production of resource materials addressing the issues of women in peacebuilding
- Facilitate policy dialogue on women and conflicts, gender and social inclusion, sexual and gender-based violence, gender-sensitive transitional justice with government and other relevant stakeholders;
- Provide technical assistance to CIPP to ensure that gender and social inclusion is influencing the program’s planning and activities and budget;
- Engage with the partners in reviewing and providing necessary inputs on drafting necessary advocacy and policy briefs for women engagement in peace-building work;
- Build capacity of CSOs and government partners to plan and implement project activities on women peacebuilding, gender and social inclusion in conflict management programs;
- Collaborate with Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist to make sure that the impact measurements focus on women and other vulnerable groups;
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
Accountability:
- Reports Directly To: Deputy Chief of Party
- Works Directly With: Program officers, staff of partner organizations, Subgrant and Finance department, etc.
Knowledge and Experience
- University degree in Gender Studies, Sociology, conflicts, International Development or related field required.
- Minimum of Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience working on gender and social inclusion issues within community and civil society development programs, preferably with USAID or other U.S. Government programs.
- Excellent knowledge of gender and social inclusion issues in Nigeria including social, political, and cultural gender norms and challenges.
- Excellent knowledge of the status of vulnerable and marginalized populations within Nigeria and their engagement in social, political, and cultural realms.
- Experience designing, leading and conducting gender and social inclusion analyses, as well as integrating and implementing findings into program activities.
- Experience building capacity of local stakeholders on gender and social inclusion issues.
- Experience integrating social inclusion in community participatory engagement or advocacy preferred.
- Demonstrated leadership, supervisory and organizational skills.
- Experience engaging local stakeholders, including CSOs, political leaders, and other local and national government leaders in gender and social inclusion initiatives.
- High level of interpersonal and communication skills.
- Ability to work well in a team environment, as well as work effectively with civil society organizations, donors, project staff, and other beneficiaries.
Success Factors:
- The successful Gender and Inclusion Officer will combine exceptional implementation skills and technical skills with a focus on innovative interventions to bring communities together.
- An ideal candidate will be conversant with the challenges inherent in peacebuilding, gender inclusion and will be a self-starter who has led grassroots development efforts.
- He/she will have an outstanding ability to support innovative programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in Nigeria. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem-solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential.
- The candidate must have excellent attention to detail.
Living /Environmental Conditions:
- The position is based in the capital city Abuja with regular travel to other parts of Nigeria. The location is accompanied and generally secure. Housing, health care, water, electricity and consumer goods are all reasonably accessible and there are good international and domestic travel options from Abuja Airport. Air travel is necessary to get to some field locations. Mobile phones services are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices with some inconsistencies in the most remote sites.
- There is a wide variety of schools with different education philosophies and curriculum (British, American, French, and German to name the few). This position requires 40% travel by road and air to field offices that are located in highly insecure locations.
- Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on short-term assignments. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps' policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
- Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment. Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions The position is based in Abuja and it requires up to 40% travel to field offices.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV and Cover Letter in one document, addressing the position requirements, reference number and location to:
[email protected]
Note
- All applications must include the position title and reference number in the subject line
- Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview
- We are an equal opportunity organization so women are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.
- This vacancy has no end date, as applications submitted will be reviewed on a timely basis.