Mercy Corps
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.
The Program / Department / Team
Mercy Corps has committed to increasing its use of Cash Transfer Programming (CTP) in humanitarian responses. In Gaza, with funding range of donors including ECHO, USAID, and oPt Humanitarian Fund through UNOCHA HPF, and under the umbrella of the Gaza Protection Consortium (GPC), Mercy Corps is delivering innovative CTP mechanisms and leading the Humanitarian Community to adapt to CTP programming.
The Position
This position is responsible for providing technical support for implementing an innovative CTP program in Gaza, including developing program tools, supporting evaluations, conducting research, supporting program implementation, and drawing on technical analysis to inform current and future program design. The position will form the core of the GPC’s managerial and technical team alongside the Mercy Corps’ Cash Program Manager, Consortium Manager and NRC/GPC Protection Manager; GPC is led by Norwegian Refugee Council. The position will provide technical leadership to the Humanitarian Community in Gaza, particularly through the Cash Working Group (CWG) and multiple technical task force(s) and working groups. This position will explore the potential to expand CTP to the West Bank and provide technical support to other actors there.
Essential Responsibilities
TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP AND TRAINING
● Design and lead a research strategy that prioritizes the impact of CTP in Gaza and potentially the West Bank, using clear research objectives and plans, performing data analyses, writing reports, and ensuring the results are spread to all relevant actors.
● Lead the refinement of criteria and data collection tools for beneficiary selection, and the indicators and data collection tools for monitoring and evaluation, in collaboration with GPC partners. coordinating inputs from the two cash actors in the Consortium (Mercy Corps and NRC) and working closely with the respective M&E teams.
● With the Programs team, ensure compliance with Mercy Corps Cash Minimum Standards, including periodic revision of the SOPs.
● Provide quality trainings to Mercy Corps teams, GPC partners, the CWG, and donors on CTP principles and practices.
● Ensure Mercy Corps is continuing to better understand and document the many facets of vulnerability in Gaza and identify opportunities to work with other entities on this.
● Coach and support the Mercy Corps and GPC teams on effective data analysis – both quantitative and qualitative, report writing and presentations and edit external documents as needed.
● Support the team to develop, promote, and implement a CTP vision in Gaza and the West Bank.
● As opportunities arise, design new CTP, and support the GPC management unit in designing new CTP program concepts and draft proposals, with a particular lens on the technical aspects specifically, ensuring adherence to the Gaza CWG recommended standards.
● Provide overall cash technical support to the GPC, prioritizing field assessments (baseline, PDM, and endline exercises) and analysis, program implementation, and donor and cash community engagement.
INFLUENCE AND REPRESENTATION
● Support the GPC leadership with wider stakeholder engagement, principally current and prospective donors.
● By coordinating closely with the Cash Program Manager, provide technical support and cash leadership to the Cash Working Group, including in the Minimum Expenditure Basket Task Force and the Vulnerability Technical Working Group, and assist with on-going adaptation of the new national Proxy Means Test Formula (PMTF) into existing Cash programs.
● Assist other Cash Community Actors including Oxfam and UNICEF to harmonize CTP methodologies and monitoring and evaluation plans.
● Represent Mercy Corps in relevant external discussions and working groups with entities such as the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), the World Bank, WFP, UNRWA, and OCHA.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
● Support the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Team in conducting regular monitoring of CTP, including adapting the data management and assessment process and revising key program indicators as needed.
● Work closely with the GPC and other actors to harmonize the monitoring and evaluation plans, tools, data collection, data visualization, and reporting.
OTHER
● Ensure compliance with safety and security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
● Ensure all CTP interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.
● Represent Mercy Corps professionally at all times.
Supervisory Responsibility
None
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Gaza Director of Programs
Works Directly With: Gaza Cash Team, MEL, Palestine Country Director
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
● Bachelor’s degree required. M.A, M.S., M.Sc., or equivalent in international development, business, economics, or related field preferrable.
● 5 + years working in humanitarian response and development.
● 3 + years’ direct experience managing and/or supporting CTP programming in the field, including extensive field-based research and market assessments.
● Proven understanding of and experience using CTP tools, indicators, and other best practices.
● Previous experience managing cash transfer programming and knowledge of e-transfer mechanisms.
● Previous experience working in consortia.
● Previous experience building capacity of staff and local partners.
● Superb written and verbal communications skills.
● Fluency in English is required; Arabic language skills preferred.
● Ability to obtain an Israeli work permit and travel approvals to enter Gaza are a necessity.
Success Factors
The successful Advisor must be flexible and approachable and good at communicating across cultures and languages. They must have proven experience with cross-cultural team and capacity building, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills and must be able to change the mindsets of external entities, including government. The Advisor must maintain strong cash transfer principles and knowledge but also be pragmatic in how to achieve change. 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.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Jerusalem/Ramallah, but the work is primarily in Gaza and requires weekly travel back and forth and spending up to five days a week in Gaza. While in Gaza, the individual will stay in a Mercy Corps Guest House and movement is restricted. Strict adherence to Mercy Corps security policies and procedures will be required as will respect for local cultural norms and traditions.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
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 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 on the basis of 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 come into contact with 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 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 to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.