Economic Recovery Program Officer-Mosul

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps works in places of transition, where conflict, disaster, political upheaval, or economic collapse present opportunities to build more secure, productive, and just communities. Providing emergency relief in times of crisis, we move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to future shocks, and promote sustainable change by supporting community-led and market-driven initiatives. Recognizing both the great potential and the complex challenges faced by the Middle East, since 1989 Mercy Corps has been implementing a range of humanitarian assistance and development programs tailored to the specific needs of the region and of those communities where we work.

Mercy Corps has worked across Iraq’s 18 governorates since 2003, implementing relief and development programing, more than a third of which has focused on the specific needs of refugees and displaced persons. Mercy Corps Iraq current goal is to work with new and existing civil society, public and private sector partners to meet immediate and long-term needs by strengthening communities’ ability to rebuild amidst increasing crisis. Mercy Corps Iraq focuses on (1) a relief-to-resilience pathway to meet the needs of conflict-affected communities leveraging agency expertise in conflict management and civil society development (2) a humanitarian response that empowers conflict-affected populations to meet their own needs (3) partnering with conflict-affected adolescents to address their diverse needs, promoting leadership and linkages with civil society.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps economic recovery program aims to help most vulnerable communities (Returnees, IDPs and host communities) to meet their basic needs through providing cash and voucher assistance to vulnerable populations. The program currently running in Ninawa governorate only, working in multiple districts including Mosul and Sinjar.

General Position Summary

The Program Officer (PO) supports strategic, impactful, high-quality implementation of the program. S/he supports the Senior Program Officer and Program Manager to implement program activities, including -but not limited to- leading assessment/registration of targeted communities, supervise cash assistance distributions, conduct qualitative interviews and success stories with program participants and coordinating with external stakeholders.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to countrywide strategy development.
• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Support the Senior Program Officer and Program Manager in daily implementation and administrative tasks, including logistics and procurement.
• Contribute to all  field  work,  including  identifying  program  participants  and  vendors,  participating  in distributions, monitoring and supporting beneficiaries during the distribution periods, and other field-based tasks as assigned.
• Conduct monitoring and data collection as directed by the Program Manager/ Senior Program Officer, assisting with specific surveys or assessments as needed.
• Work with the Senior Program Officer and Program Manager to ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Contribute to effective program reporting, monitoring and evaluation systems for both internal and external use in coordination with the program staff. This includes interviewing beneficiaries for communications materials and case studies.
• Contribute to program documentation by updating program files and following Mercy Corps responsible data usage policy.
• Contribute to providing the Senior Program Officer and the Program Manager with up-to-date information on the affected and targeted community, and coordinates with different stakeholders.
• Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy
• Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan.
• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.
• Fulfill Mercy Corps’ Program Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide.
• Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

•  Managing the program team on a day-to-day basis and create a positive atmosphere for professional growth.
•  Develop the capacity of the team under her/his supervision, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally.
• Create and  sustain  a  work  environment  of mutual  respect where team members strive  to  achieve excellence.
• Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

•  Maintain good working relationships with stakeholders in the urban, displaced and host communities, in order to ensure smooth implementation and prompt management of any conflicts.
• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.

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 program participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging with targeting 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

The program officer will be responsible of direct managing enumerators and distribution facilitators. S/he will also make sure that her/his team follows gender balance rules and all adhere to Mercy Corps policies and standards.

Reports Directly To: Economic Recovery Senior Program Officer

Works Directly With: Other program staff and other departments, including Operations, Finance and HR

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S in relevant field required; MA/MS/MBA or equivalent preferred.
• 1-2 years of experience managing the development, implementation, administration and compliance of a field-based international development or humanitarian program; general program management experience required. Experience managing a team preferred.
• Experience with relief and recovery programming is strongly preferred.
•  Experience working with multiple stakeholders to identify potential program participants is required.
• Experience with running assessments, monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts preferred.
• Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media and the public.
• Proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
• Proficiency in English and Arabic. The candidate should be able to communicate at a professional level with staff, stakeholders and program participants.

Success Factors

• A passion for relief and recovery work and helping vulnerable people to live independently.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles, follow procedures, and meet deadlines.
• Promotes a culture of accountability in handling all paperwork according to high standards of accuracy and compliance to ensure smooth processing of payments.
• Demonstrated attention to detail and ability to implement a complex program according to procedures and high standards of compliance.
• Demonstrated understanding of the compliance and security needs.
• Ability to understand the components of the program, design workplans for staff members, and promote accountability to deadlines in light of time-sensitive nature of this program.
• Sensitive to the protection and gender concerns of program participants.
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving.
• Proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and be accountable for results.
• Conscientious, with an excellent sense of judgment.

The most successful Mercy Corps staff member has a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, and makes effective communication a priority in all situations. Flexibility about work assignments and processes is necessary in a dynamic and fast-paced work environment, coupled with the ability to respond to many new and unpredictable challenges in a demanding program.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES:   

Successful candidates should meet the education and experience requirements in the position descriptions for the Accountability deputy Manager.   

S/he must be self- motivated, creative, tolerant, and able to work in difficult, stressful environments and follow Mercy Corps procedures. S/he must respect diversity and gender equality at the workplace.   

Interested candidates should submit their CVs to the email address [email protected] before the deadline indicated below.   

Please indicate on the subject of the email the title of the position you are applying for, for full position description for the noted posts, please visit websites NCCI and F-Job.   

ALL APPLICATIONS/ CVS SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY MARCH 10, 2022 AT 4:00PM   

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer. Females are highly encouraged to apply.   

Female Candidates are encouraged to apply for apply for this position, Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global Impact.    

Potential candidates for the post will be contacted for an interview and processed according to Mercy Corps Human Resources policies and procedures. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for potential interview.  

Any documents submitted will remain with Mercy Corps and will not be returned to candidates