Program Manager, Building Resilience through the Integration of Gender and Empowerment (BRIGE)

Vacancy Announcement

Mercy Corps is an international, non-governmental humanitarian relief and development agency that exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Mercy Corps works in more than 40 countries, and has been present in Nepal since 2005. In Nepal, Mercy Corps works to build the absorptive, adaptive, and transformative potential of vulnerable individuals and communities across the country. Through a systems-based approach to market development, financial services access, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and youth engagement, Mercy Corps builds resilience among target communities.

Mercy Corps invites applications from all interested and potential Nepali candidates for the following position who meet the below mentioned requirements:

Program Manager, Building Resilience through the Integration of Gender and Empowerment (BRIGE)

Please refer to nepal.mercycorps.org for the full position description.

“Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision, and we encourage people from all backgrounds, especially women and members of disadvantaged groups to apply. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer”.

Interested candidates are requested to submit cover letter and Mercy Corps Application Form available at http://nepal.mercycorps.org by COB March 05, 2017 to the address below: 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for further selection process. Telephone enquiries will not be entertained.

Attn: Human Resources Department

[Please mention the title of the Position on the subject line of the e-mail while applying]

Email to: np-jobs@mercycorps.org

POSITION DESCRIPTIONS

Position Title: Program Manager, Building Resilience through the Integration of Gender and 

Empowerment (BRIGE)

Duty Station: Kathmandu, with occasional travel to field offices

Position Category:  Full-time AND Regular 

Salary Level: 

Current Employee:  N/A

BACKGROUND:

Mercy Corps is an international, non-governmental humanitarian relief and development agency that exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Mercy Corps works in more than 40 countries, and has been present in Nepal since 2005. In Nepal, Mercy Corps works to build the absorptive, adaptive, and transformative potential of vulnerable individuals and communities across the country. Through a systems-based approach to market development, financial services access, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and youth engagement, Mercy Corps builds resilience among target communities.

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

The BRIGE Program is a 2-year program funded by the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation (MAC Foundation) that seeks to build community resilience by increasing Mercy Corps’ capacity to better respond to gender-specific needs and vulnerabilities during complex and chronic crises. The program, within Mercy Corps’ overall resilience framework, seeks to identify and empower those groups at the community level which can serve as inclusive ‘drivers of resilience’.

Disasters and chronic stresses can undermine the foundations of communities, but may also provide opportunities to begin to transform deeply entrenched inequality and inequities. Although men, women, boys, and girls are all vulnerable to the impacts of disasters, women and youth are often exposed to additional barriers – such as constraints on their mobility or insufficient access to land, education, and finance – that decrease their capacity to adapt to adversity and contribute to change. At the same time, women, youth, and other vulnerable groups often have critical knowledge and skills that can help their households and communities respond to and recover from crises. The BRIGE program will support the aid community to better identify and utilize these untapped resources while empowering women and youth to be part of household and community decision-making.  BRIGE seeks to empower women, girls and other socially-excluded groups as agents of resilience, thereby increasing the coping capacities of households and communities to manage the impacts of recurring disasters, slow-onset crises, climate change, and poor governance

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: 

Program Management:

• Lead thorough analysis of findings from the gender assessments already conducted to understand the gender dynamics of needs, vulnerabilities and capacities in partner program communities, as well as gender capacities within our partner program teams, and to formulate and refine recommendations on how to address gender gaps; 
• Develop gender integration tools and training materials with support from the US-based Program Director.
• Organize and deliver workshops and training for the partner program teams and their implementing partners to support gender integration action planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Increase Mercy Corps and partner staff capacity by designing and leading technical training sessions on gender integration and providing ongoing coaching and mentoring.
• Oversee BRIGE M&E and research processes to track learning and progress through the gender integration activities, including developing M&E and research objectives and assessment plans and ensuring that monitoring, evaluation, research, learning and reflection is conducted and documented on a continuous basis. 
• Ensure program implementation is on time, target, and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Ensure adaptive management, using learning from progress monitoring and reflection meetings to adjust implementation plans as well as management and coordination approaches where needed.
• Develop communication materials in English such as fact sheets, newsletters, articles, reports and papers that capture outcomes and learning of BRIGE for sharing with wide range of internal and external audiences.
• Coordinate and facilitate learning events/workshops with key program stakeholders to share lessons learned from the program. 

Strategy and Vision:

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to country-wide strategy development. 
• Develop and organize activities to secure support for and buy-in of programs from the varied stakeholders.
• Conceptualize and implement approaches for communicating the relevance of the program and its results to other Mercy Corps Nepal programs, peer agencies, donors, and Government of Nepal offices/officials, and how these results fit into, complement, and further the research, learning, and practical implementation around resilience writ large.

Representation 

• Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local government officials, and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met, shared, and understood.
• Maintain good working relationships with the donor, the host country government and local leaders, partner agencies, and other key stakeholders.

Team Management 

• Maintain and strengthen a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback via performance reviews. 
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem-solving options, and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Provide team members with information, tools, and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives. 
• Supervise and regularly coordinate with program staff and support departments to ensure smooth planning, preparation, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of program activities.
• Supervise and support local partners and Mercy Corps team members on the sustainability plans and exit strategy of the program and its participants.

Others:

• Collaborate with program, finance, and administrative staff to ensure systems are in compliance with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Oversee and ensure GESI aspects are addressed across institutional strategic level.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not to jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNINGS: As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:BRIGE Nepal Program Officers

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: BRIGE Program Director and Mercy Corps Nepal Director of Programs

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: BRIGE Program Director, BRIGE program team, participating Mercy Corps Nepal Program Managers and their M&E Officers, and country- and region-level M&E professionals and operations team.

ACCOUNTABLE TO: BRIGE Program Director; Mercy Corps Nepal Director of Programs;Position Description;National Staff Policy Handbook; Code of conduct and Mercy Corps policy and procedures. 

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: 

• Master’s degree in international development, social policy, women’s studies, gender, disaster risk reduction or a comparable area of study, or comparable real-world experience.

• 5-7 years of relevant professional experience with positions of progressively greater responsibilities. 
• At least 3 years of gender or related project management experience preferred.
• Substantial background in gender and development work including experience implementing programming, developing and conducting gender trainings and/or gender mainstreaming activities, and engaging in gender advocacy. 
• Strong experience in and knowledge of M&E and research, including gender as a central or cross-cutting theme.
• History of working effectively and respectfully with national government, L/INGOs, contractors, and other partners. 

• Experience with international donor rules, regulations, and requirements is preferred. 

• Demonstrated experience working with country-level ministries and government officials, Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Federal Affairs and Local Development and/or Home Affairs experience is preferred. 
• Experience working at national level required. 

• Excellent negotiation, representation, skills and the ability to work comfortably with an ethnically diverse staff in a very sensitive environment.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Strong public speaking skills required. 
• Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of office applications. 

• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful Program Manager will combine exceptional management skills and experience in building and maintaining global team, national team, government, and partner relationships. S/he will have an ability to think creatively about improving inclusivity, community/group resilience, community development, and innovation. The Program Manager will have proven experience with cross-cultural teams and capacity building, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving, and simultaneous attention to detail as well as 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.