North-Eastern Regional Project Coordinator at Mercy Corps

Location: Wajir County

This position is contingent upon receipt of funding and donor approval.

Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps seeks to implement a 5-year, 20 million GBP program funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) entitled Reducing Insecurity (and Violent Extremism) in the Northern and Coastal Regions of Kenya (RE-INVENT).

RE-INVENT aims to enhance Kenyan capacity and capability at the national, county and local levels to address five types of inter-related violence: inter-communal conflict, weak community-police relations, violence against women and girls (VAWG), violent extremism and election related violence. It will support the continued advancement of police reforms to improve the management, oversight and accountability of the police force.

General Position Summary: Under the direction and management support from Violence Reduction Technical Advisor, the North-Eastern Regional Project Coordinator will be responsible for the overall county-level planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of the RE-INVENT project within the North-East Region comprised of Wajir, Mandera and Garissa.

The North-Eastern Regional Program Coordinator will provide strategic leadership, oversight and technical guidance to program partners and will lead engagement with county government stakeholders to promote violence reduction strategies cutting across the five types of violence mentioned above.

The position will require day-to-day coordination with project partners to support quality program delivery, and will work with senior management to develop a regional strategy to meet the overall program goals within the targeted counties. S/he will be the primary liaison with county government officials.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

• Program Management
  • Provide overall managerial leadership for the project at the regional level, ensuring partners follow work plans so activities are on time, target and within the approved budget, and project deliverables achieve desired impact.
  • Lead effective coordination, collaboration and integration among all partners.
  • Partner with county-level government and communities in areas of operation to engage around programming and policy needs.
  • Ensure effective and timely monitoring, documenting and reporting on all project activities as per the policies and practices of the consortium lead, Mercy Corps, DFID and the government.
  • Provide timely updates to supervisor on progress and issues, identifying risks and proposing solutions for action and early resolution.
  • Attend regular project coordination meetings in Nairobi as well as facilitate planning meetings and workshops with government, NGOs, private sector and community partners to revise plans and promote partner acceptance/buy-in.
  • Regularly visit field sites to assess progress of activities and provide formal and informal feedback.
• Strategy and Vision
  • Provide strategic direction and vision to guide the program implementation strategy and technical approach within the region in order to address the five inter-related forms of violence mentioned above.
  • Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to the overall program strategy development.
  • Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Program Quality
  • Support partner capacity building around key technical approaches and activities to be implemented by partner organizations at the community level.
  • Help maintain standards of program delivery that apply agency priorities and comply with relevant regulations and requirements.
  • Support program staff and partners to understand and implement best practices for peacebuilding/conflict mitigation programming and to incorporate best practices throughout the program cycle.
• Influence & Representation: Engage with national, county and community stakeholders to advance policy reforms related to police reform, intercommunal violence reduction, violence against women and girls, violent extremism and election related violence.
• Coordinate activities with consortium partners, sub grantees, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.
• Training and Capacity Building: Enhance the project teams’ capacity by designing and leading technical training sessions for local partners and providing ongoing coaching and mentoring.
• 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 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.
• 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: Regional Coordinators in Turkana, Wajir and Mombasa counties

Accountability

• Reports Directly to: Mercy Corps’ Violence Reduction Technical Advisor
• Works Directly with: Chief of Party, MEL Manager, Finance and Sub-grants Manager, local and national government officials, local civil society organizations, implementing partners and communities.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Masters Degree or equivalent in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution or related discipline.
• A minimum of 5 years experience working on conflict mitigation and resolution, violence reduction and prevention programs, countering violent extremism, police reform, etc.
• Strong managerial skills, including effective personnel management, adaptive management, coordination and decision-making.
• Experience coaching and working with a diverse team of staff, consortium partners and local implementing partners, building skills and capacity to deliver on complex programming results.
• Solutions-oriented individual, with strong strategic thinking capabilities.
• Experience with policy engagement and influencing in fields related to violence reduction and conflict mitigation, with a range of stakeholders including public institutions, county government, and local government.
• Experience working with a diverse range of community members to discuss sensitive and delicate topics in a conflict-sensitive manner.
• Excellent and persuasive oral and written communication skills, including report writing, in English and other language(s), as required;
• Spoken fluency is Swahili is required and primary local dialects in the respective counties is strongly preferred;
• Previous experience working in the North-eastern counties is strongly desired;
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members;
• Ability to work comfortably in a sometimes tense and changing security environment is required.

Success Factors: The successful Regional Project Coordinator will have a strong understanding of project approaches and represent the project professionally at all times. S/he will have experience engaging with stakeholders at the national, county and community level to design and implement reforms aimed at strengthening community security, building relationships between police and communities, and tackling the root causes of violence and conflict in Kenya.

S/he will combine exceptional management skills and capacity to manage relationships with different stakeholders. A heavy emphasis will be placed on coordination with other actors implementing in the areas of intervention. S/he will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level.

Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and 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. S/he will be committed to working closely and collaboratively with the County Government structures and our lead partner.