Deputy Chief of Party

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, adjust 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 ransformativepotential 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:

1. Deputy Chief of Party, PAHAL- 1, based in Kathmandu with frequent travel to PAHAL working districts

 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 February 15, 2018 to the email address below:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 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 Title: Deputy Chief of Party, PAHAL

Duty Station: Kathmandu, with 55% travel to PAHAL districts as required

Position Category: Part-time AND Temporary

Salary Level: D

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:

Mercy Corps Nepal as the prime organization has been implementing a five-year program - "Promoting Agriculture, Health and Alternative Livelihood" (PAHAL) funded by USAID. PAHAL seeks to  Strengthen livelihoods, improve nutritional status and increase the capacity of vulnerable households to mitigate, adapt to and recover from shocks and stresses in communities with deep poverty  and high rates of malnutrition in critical zones of the Mid-Western and Far-Western Regions of Nepal. The goal of the PAHAL program is: Vulnerable populations in the middle and high hills of Far-Western and Mid-Western Nepal are food secure. The target area of the program covers 14 districts in the Mid-West and Far-West regions of Nepal. The Mid-West region comprises of 7 districts - Surkhet, Dailekh, Pyuthan, Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan, and Jajarkot, while the Far-West region comprises of 7 districts: Dadeldhura, Doti, Accham, Baitadi, Bajhang, Bajura, and Darchula districts.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP) will report directly to the Chief of Party (CoP) and, together with the program’s Senior Management Team (SMT), help provide the overall leadership, management and strategic vision to the program. The DCOP will lead program management processes among the central team and, directly manage program and technical staff and resources under the Economic Systems unit, which includes

the program’s agriculture, alternative livelihoods and financial services interventions, ensuring that activities within this unit are well integrated and coordinated at all levels. As a member of the SMT, s/he will also coordinate with the ecological, social and transformative systems units to facilitate broader integration and understanding across all program sectors. S/he will be expected to drive an innovative, integrated technical approach to program implementation that focuses on long-term change and sustained impact. In addition, together with the SMT, the DCoP will  liaise and engage with government officials, implementing partners and other key stakeholders to ensure close coordination, collaboration and high visibility for the program. S/he will work closely with the Chief of Party as a program representative to USAID, when necessary.

As gender and social inclusion (GESI), governance and M&E are cross-cutting and core components of the PAHAL program, the DcoP is required to own these components and ensure GESI sensitivity and integration, governance practices and M&E systems are integrated into his/her work area.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

The specific duties and responsibilities of the DCoP include, but are not limited to, the following:

Strategy and Vision

• Under the guidance of the CoP, set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve program objectives.
• Under the guidance of the CoP and with support from the Resilience Director, develop and drive a coherent,integrated vision, ensuring innovation, influence and impact across the program areas.
• Support the development of annual, integrated strategic work-plans for the program.
• Under the guidance of the Resilience Director, adopt and support the roll out of a program-wide resiliencebuilding framework to guide coordination and integrated implementation.

Program Implementation:

• Lead the development of detailed implementation plans, flowing from annual strategic work- plans, and ensure the delivery of the same.
• Ensure that beneficiaries are effectively targeted according to vulnerability criteria.
• With the SMT, drive the development and roll out of systems that support program quality and integrated implementation approaches across sectors, partners, and program geographies.
• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.
• Ensure that sound gender and social inclusion and good governance strategies are integrated across all program areas where appropriate.
• Provide managerial and programmatic oversight to partners and sub-grantee(s).
• Create and follow effective stakeholder management plans, ensuring sound and proactive communications with Mercy Corps Nepal, partner organizations, Mercy Corps headquarters, USAID, Government of Nepal authorities, and colleague agencies.
• Conduct frequent field visits to all project sites - spend up to 55% of time in the field.

Team Management and Capacity-Building

• Set-up regular team-building efforts and regular review and reflection processes among team members and, ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Manage relevant program staff to ensure day-to-day activities are implemented in a coordinated fashion according to schedule, budget and the highest quality standards.
• Supervise and manage all program partnerships to ensure sound coordination in the context of an overall program strategic and resilience-building framework.
• Manage and help with the recruitment orientation, professional development and ongoing training of OFAP staff to ensure they are of the quality and technical capacity necessary to ensure the successful implementation of activities.

Finance & Compliance Management:

• S/he will be responsible for ensuring all program staff are accountable to Mercy Corps' policies and donor rules and regulations.
• In collaboration with the country program's operations and finance departments, ensure proper financial management, procurement, administration, human resources and logistics (including transport, warehousing and asset management) needs of the program are conducted within Mercy Corps' policy and with the maximum benefit to the program
• Monitor adherence to grant agreement, Mercy Corps' policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations, including those of the Government of Nepal.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) and Reporting:

• Coordinate reporting responsibilities among the systems units Senior Managers and compile system reports for submission to the Chief of Party.
• Ensure program data and analysis is used for learning by holding and leading semi- annual program workshops with all program partners.
• With the support of the MEL Systems Lead, support the roll out of resilience monitoring and evaluation framework, and strategic research that contributes to program learning related to resilience.
• Document achievements/impact of innovative program components of the program.
• Ensure that M&E and all team members’ together focus on assisting the program to generate practical information that can be used for ongoing program analysis and decision-making while also  capturing results at the impact level.

Representation and Coordination:

• Develop and maintain of positive relationships with the agencies and ministries within the Government of Nepal relevant to PAHAL’s successful implementation.
• As agreed with the CoP, liaise with and represent program to USAID and other cooperating stakeholders.
• As directed by the CoP, represent Mercy Corps at government donor, NGO and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with the CoP and Country Director.
• Develop clear coordination plans and with support of the CoP, drive systematic coordination and information sharing with consortium partners, sub- grantees, local government and other implementers as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.

Program Management Processes:

• Ensure program management processes are carried out among the Senior Management Team at the centrallevel to facilitate effective team coordination.
• Oversee follow through on cross-system initiatives arising from the Senior Management Team.
• Develop and implement new, when necessary, team management processes for effective communication and coordination.
• Coordinate with program, finance and administration/logistics staff to ensure operational systems are in place to support field activities including logistics (transport, warehousing and asset management), procurement, security, administration and human resources.

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.

Others

• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to the program and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission;
• Oversee and ensure GESI aspects are addressed across institutional strategic and programmatic levels.
• Mercy Corps as a humanitarian agency is expected to response as and when crisis and humanitarian situation engulfs. As an MC employee all staff are expected to be part of humanitarian and emergency response in addition to their regular roles and responsibilities in such situations.
• Other PAHAL duties as assigned by the Chief of Party and or Country Director.

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: Direct supervision of Program Units at central level and with and through them,of the Program Units at the regional levels 

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Chief of Party

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Resilience Director, Chief of Party, M&E Manager, Resilience Program Coordinator,Finance & Compliance Manager, Sub-Award & Compliance Manager, Operations Manager, HR Team, Program Component Managers and, Mercy Corps Global Technical Support Unit (TSU) team members

ACCOUNTABLE TO: Chief of Party PAHAL, Position Description; National Staff Policy Handbook; Code of conduct and Mercy Corps policy and procedures.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree in international development, management, economic development or other relevant field.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience with positions of progressively greater responsibilities.
• At least 5 years of experience in a senior management role on USAID or similarly funded large development project with experience in program management related to multi-sectorial program activities strongly required.
• Previous overseas experience on USAID or similarly funded large development projects
• Strong knowledge of integrated programs and resilience concepts. Resilience programming experience preferred.
• Technical capacity in at least two, and ideally more, of PAHAL's target sectors i.e. resilience, food security,alternative livelihoods, agriculture, nutrition, maternal & child health, water, sanitation and hygiene, adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction required.
• 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 coordinating with private sector actors to leverage investment and increase scale of activities.
• Excellent spoken and written English and Nepali language skills and ability to interact effectively with international and national staff.
• Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of office applications.
• Self-initiator and ability to work independently on several tasks with minimal supervision
• Strong organizational skills and demonstrated ability to multi-task and process information into action as to not delay program activities
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment
• Willingness to travel domestically across PAHAL districts as needed.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful Deputy Chief of Party will combine exceptional management skills and experience in building and maintaining donor and partner relationships. S/he will have an ability to think creatively about improving food security, community development and resilience. The DCoP will have proven experience with crosscultural team 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 team 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. Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY 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

LIVING CONDITIONS/ ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

The position is based in Kathmandu. Approximately 45% travel will be required to field locations, some of which are easily accessible but, many others of are quite remote and require extended travel (by flight, vehicle, hiking, and occasionally motorcycle) in locations that may be distant from amenities or health care.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY 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.

SIGNATURES:

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Employee Date

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Chief of Party Date