Mercy Corps
About Mercy Corps
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. Now, and for the future.
COUNTRY SUMMARY
Mercy Corps has been working in Mali since 2013 supporting Malian women and men – including young women and men – to cope with food insecurity and conflict-induced shocks and stresses, restore peace and stability, and address humanitarian and development structural challenges. Throughout our work, Mercy Corps seeks to support strong, inclusive, and resilient communities by i.) providing conflict-sensitive humanitarian assistance, ii.) addressing the root causes of conflict through improved and holistic conflict prevention and management mechanisms and iii.) promoting sustainable economic development through market systems strengthening and employment opportunities for women and young women and men. Mercy Corps’ work addresses issues related to natural resource management and climate change adaptation within Mali and across the borders with neighboring Central Sahel countries, Niger and Burkina Faso. With a current portfolio of approximately 30 M USD funded by FCDO, USAID/BHA, Sweden, the European Union, and private foundations, over the past 18 months Mercy Corps reached over 100,000 persons in Mopti, Segou, Koulikouro, Kayes, Sikasso, Koutiala.
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY
The Director of Program Implementation (DPI) directs the programmatic portfolio of Mercy Corps Mali, working closely with the Country Director (CD), program & support teams to provide overall leadership, management, and strategic vision for quality implementation of all programs. S/he will lead the design and the implementation of the Mali program strategy, and ensure effective program coordination, the mobilization of resources, technical or otherwise to drive the delivery of programs on scope, on budget and on time. Working closely with the Director of Program Development & Quality (PDQ), the DPI will effectively roll out and drive adherence to Mercy Corps’ program policy and standards. S/he is responsible for ensuring that program teams have the required knowledge, information, access to tools and systems, and other relevant resources to deliver high quality, high impact programs. The DPI will provide on-the-ground support to program implementation teams by troubleshooting issues preemptively, mentoring & coaching, providing technical support and gap filling when required. S/he will actively participate in relevant thematic coordination platforms on behalf of Mercy Corps and will represent Mercy Corps programs to donors, major stakeholders, relevant government authorities and other program partners. The Director of Program Implementation is part of the Senior Management Team (SMT) with supervisory and managerial responsibilities of the program implementation team. The DPI must be highly motivated, self-driven and able to support Mercy Corps Mali portfolio.
ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
STRATEGY & PLANNING
● Maintain a central role in shaping and implementing Mali’s country strategy, ensuring that existing programs contribute to strategic goals, objectives and targets and is relevant to the evolving context in the country.
● Actively lead and support the expected process of developing a new country strategy in light of Mercy Corps’ Global New Strategy and Vision;
● Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve program and agency objectives;
● Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
● Conduct analyses to determine humanitarian/development gaps and how Mercy Corps should position itself to best serve the needs of vulnerable populations;
● Program planning from start to end of program, ensuring program implementation is within time scope and budget.
NEW INITIATIVE DEVELOPMENT
● In collaboration with the Program Development and Quality team, actively contribute to the development of concept notes and funding proposals (including budgets).
● Ensure that lessons learned from program implementation are integrated in the proposal development process.
● Ensure adequate participation in the proposal development process by the program implementation team and support the coordination of their contribution to the process.
● Support in ensuring that proposals are written based on donors’ requirement for format and contents.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT & PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
● Ensure that program implementation teams understand Mercy Corps’ vision 2030 and how their work contribute to achieving strategic objectives at global and national level.
● Ensure that Mercy Corps’ programs are responsive to community needs and are built and delivered to enhance community resilience.
● Promote a culture of program management that actively seeks the inclusion of all constituents of communities (especially those often left behind) and their participation in key decision-making processes.
● Provide strategic and technical leadership in the management of the Mali program portfolio to ensure coordinated implementation, enhanced resource optimization, cross program learning and adaptive management.
● Keeping abreast of the objectives and status of all projects, ensure that program teams have timely access to the right information, knowledge, tools, and systems to adequately implement activities.
● Responsively troubleshooting, making decisions and enhancing the decision-making capacity of program staff to ensure that all bottlenecks are consistently and adequately addressed.
● Provide the leadership, capacity building and tools to create a culture of program delivery on scope, on budget and on time.
● Ensure that all programs have and regularly update essential program management tools (Detailed Implementation Plan, Budget Forecast, BvA, Procurement Plan, Work Plan, Staffing Plan, etc.)
● Ensure regular coordination of program, finance and operations key staff for regular program review meetings (weekly and monthly meetings, program kick-up meetings, 90 days closeout meetings, quarterly review & learning meetings, etc.);
● Ensure that program resources are used efficiently, effectively, and transparently towards meeting desired results. In particular ensure that monthly BvA meetings are held to monitor costs.
● Support Program Directors/Managers to oversee performance of their team, partners, sub-grantees, and technical contractors;
● Facilitate sharing and learning across program portfolios, teams, offices, and support teams to incorporate learning in program design and management.
● Ensure the program fulfills Mercy Corps Program Management Minimum Standards and donor requirements; guide the team to ensure high quality implementation approaches that are consistent with national and global strategies and acknowledge good practices.
● Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.
PROGRAM PERFORMANCE & QUALITY
● Support the roll-out of the harmonized program management 2.0 policy
● Ensure that program implementation teams follow the program standards and provide periodic checks.
● Support the Program Development & Quality (PDQ) Director in establishing systems, policies and approaches necessary to ensure tools are in place for effective program management, evaluation, and learning.
● Work with the PDQ Director to put in place effective program quality tools and measures in place and to regularly monitor and improve quality control.
● Ensure that programs members are actively linked to those at HQ to ensure that global indicators and technical quality are considered and adhered to where necessary.
● Ensure technical excellence and efficient performance of technical support team, ensuring they have the tools and support needed to lead technical excellence across Water & Food Security, Governance & Peacebuilding, Market Systems Development and Economic Opportunities.
● Engage programs leadership in ongoing context analysis that enables programs and teams to adapt to significant context changes and to work together in a collaborative and impactful manner.
● Ensure all program teams have received training on program management (PM@MC & Project Dpro) and minimum standards.
● Ensure program documentation and program minimal standards are consistently adhered to;
● Ensure that a comprehensive reporting schedule is maintained and adhered to according to requirements.
● Ensure program teams are trained on the community accountability and response mechanism (CARM), that CARMs are put in place and operational, and anti-fraud and safeguarding measures considered in program design/implementation.
● Maintain CARM as a regular agenda item with PMs.
MONITORING, EVALUATION, RESEARCH, LEARNING & COMMUNICATION
● Support the design of a country-wide Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation system supporting managers and their teams to establish real time information that can steer program implementation and maximize Mercy Corps’ ability to analyze and represent impact at a program and portfolio level to donors, government, colleague agencies, and communities themselves
● Ensure effective collaboration between MEL staff, technical advisors, and thematic specialists in the development of sector log frames, indicators, implementation plans, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks and related tools
● Contribute to the understanding and application of new MEL approaches to emerging themes like resilience, systems thinking, and complex humanitarian crises.
● Support the country MEL Manger in promoting and monitor adherence to Mercy Corps’ standards, including the use of standardized indicators, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), program and adaptive management approaches, and country-level learning and strategic objectives.
● Support Programs managers/directors and the MEL Manager in the development of an adaptive management culture at country-level, providing training and guidance in adaptive management techniques and decision-making.
● Ensure high quality evaluations are conducted to demonstrate outcomes and impact and accountability mechanisms are in place for all projects with a focus on knowledge management.
● Support the country MEL Manager in promoting sustainable adoption and usage of TolaData through program team members training, setting up program engagement plans and ensuring quality of information uploaded on the platform.
GRANTS MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING
● Develop a thorough understanding of relevant Mercy Corps internal and donor policies, regulations, and procedures and train teams accordingly.
● Work closely with the finance and operations departments to develop grants compliance checklists and share, and follow-up, with program staff for implementation
● Lead in keeping track of grant start and end dates and ensure all donor reporting deadlines are met and are of quality.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
● Create an environment for open dialogues among program colleagues and peers take place in order to discuss relevant issues, unpack key topics, solve problems and learn together for the purpose of successfully achieving the main outcomes and impacts of our programs.
● Ensure appropriate staffing for program management positions.
● Develop the capacity of the team, ensure program team members have a clear and deep understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
● Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
● Manage performance of program leaders including establishment of clear and measurable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews, and regular check-ins.
● Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
● Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
● Hire, orient and provide mentorship and capacity building to team members as necessary.
FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT
● Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps’ regulations on all programs.
● Serve as overall budget holder for programming; manage and support budget holders for individual programs and awards and ensure project expenditure is in line with work plans and commitments to donors.
INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION
● Support the Country Director to cultivate strategic partnerships or relationships with new/existing donors and potential consortium partners to further strategic development opportunities.
● Build productive relationships with donors, national/regional/local government authorities, private sector actors, and local/international organizations in Mali, in close coordination with the Country Director, and the Director of Program Implementation.
● Represent Mercy Corps at all relevant coordination meetings and increasingly play a lead role in other advocacy and coordination bodies.
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