REAP Officer at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps has been operating in Kenya since 2008, focusing its interventions around four objectives:

• Peace and Conflict Management;
• Livelihood/Market Systems;
• Governance (particularly at the county level); and
• Youth Employment/Employability (including the social and economic development of adolescents).

The four objectives serve to increase community resilience to drought and other shocks and stresses, and to decrease fragility with a particular focus on Kenya’s Arid Lands.  Mercy Corps’ vision for change requires the private sector, government and civil society to work together to create meaningful and sustainable change.

Under the Omo Delta Project – Expanding the Rangeland to achieve Growth and Transformation, Mercy Corps in collaboration with five other partners: VSF G – lead agency, VITA (RTI) Ltd, EPaRDA, CIFA and TUPADO seeks to address the drivers of instability, irregular migration and displacement so as to expand and maximize opportunities for communities living in the rangelands along the Kenya – Ethiopia border by increasing wealth of young people in particular and especially young women; accelerating national and cross-border trade and collaboration; and increasing stability to promote growth and protect gains.

General Position Summary: The Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP) Officer will be responsible for technical oversight and management of the Omo Delta Project through a poverty graduation model aimed at supporting human capital development for resilient individuals who are then placed in a commercial engagement. S/he will define implementation strategies in coordination with the Program Manager and leadership team.

The REAP Officer will train staff and partners, providing them with technical assistance and ensuring that common strategies and approaches are applied consistently in all communities. S/he will coordinate closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Project teams to ensure that systems are in place to track, analyze and report results.

S/he will keep abreast of changing contexts and integrate new ideas and approaches as appropriate, seek additional technical assistance as needed and ensure effective working relationships with collaborating agencies.

Essential Job Functions:

• Contribute to team work plans and guide successful implementation of REAP activities, ensuring teams follow work plans so activities are on time, target and within the approved budget, and program deliverables achieve desired impact;
• Provide technical guidance on the poverty graduation model and ensure that interventions are responsive to stakeholders and consistent with Mercy Corps’ program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan. Ensure that interventions are evidence-based and adhere to adaptive management principles;
• Identify most vulnerable youth and women in the village through community based wealth ranking, Participatory Rural Appraisal and scoring through Participant Targeting Tool for inclusion in the project;
• Train and mentor REAP Facilitators to mentor the youth and women on entrepreneurship and employability skills so as to get linked to viable businesses or jobs, and provide mentoring during monthly visits;
• Facilitate disbursement of cash grants for youth and women to enable them to buy stock and equipment for their business;
• Train youth and women how to run a business, supply and demand, profit and pricing, marketing and record keeping including other trainings such as: life skills and leadership;
• Facilitate youth and women to form savings associations of 5 to 7 businesses that meet monthly to deposit savings which will enable members and village residents access credit for long term expenses and business growth;
• Link youth and women to other traders, markets, financial institutions, public and private institutions;
• Develop and facilitate trainings on internship programs, skills development programs for informal sector productivity, and other ways of skills building for poor and vulnerable youth working closely with country offices;
• Coordinate with Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions and other service providers under Omo Delta Project to promote youth friendly trainings and assess opportunities for linkages;
• Support in management and development of relationships with private sector for provision of internship, apprenticeship and career counseling and youth mentorship providers and agencies;
• Generate and implement monitoring and evaluation tools;
• Play a key role in the development of intervention designs, sector strategies and M&E frameworks;
• Coordinate assessments, evaluations and monitoring surveys in area of operation. This will entail development of Scope of Works, development of survey tools, trainings and management of data collectors, report write and facilitating results discussion;
• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate including certifying all interventions to adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards;
• Facilitate planning meetings and workshops with government, NGO, private sector, and community partners to revise plans and promote partner acceptance/buy-in;
• In coordination with the MEL team, monitor the implementation of activities through regular field visits and assessments to ensure program quality and impact. Document approaches, successes and lessons learned;
• Coordinate with procurement, logistics, security, administration and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities;
• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance and reach objectives;
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one and performance review;
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence;
• Work closely with the HR department to orient and lead team members as necessary;
• Represent Mercy Corps at government, NGO and other relevant community events, in close coordination with the Program Manager;
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission;
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility: REAP Village Mentors

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Program Manager

Works Directly With: GIRL Project Officer, M&E Officer, Community Facilitators, Finance, HR and Operations teams, Partner Organizations, and broader LMS team.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Degree in Community Development, Economic Development, Business, Monitoring and Evaluation or related field or diploma with over 3 years’ hands on work experience;
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience working with NGOs/CBO’s in civic engagement, livelihoods, skills development and employability, and education;
• Should have knowledge of quantitative and qualitative data collection, reporting techniques.
• S/he should understand and be able to apply basic measures of central tendency and spread;
• Demonstrated computer competency of Microsoft Excel, Access, Word and knowledge of at least one data management software including SPSS and STATA;
• Commitment to working with Women, Girls, youth and vulnerable groups in need, regardless of race, tribe, religion or gender;
• Understanding of working with local partners and commitment to working with the greater BOMA Project and LMS team;
• Good problem solving, written and oral communication skills;
• Strong written and spoken English and Swahili;
• Local language skills required;
• Knowledge of the context of implementation area;
• Ability to work without constant supervision and as part of a mixed team;