Deputy Team leader -The East Africa Border Security Programme (BSP) at Mercy Corps

The Programme

• Mercy Corps is seeking a Deputy Team Leader for the FCDO-funded East Africa Border Security Programme.  Irregular migration and associated criminal activity in East Africa remain a complex and escalating challenge which leads to significant exploitation of vulnerable people on the move.  The East Africa Border Security Programme (BSP) takes a multifaceted approach – integrating ‘prevention’, ‘prepare/protect’ and ‘pursue’, working closely with national governments, partners and local communities to disrupt the criminal networks that facilitate human trafficking and smuggling across the land borders of the East Africa 

The Position  

• The Deputy Team Lead (DTL) is a senior member of the BSP team, working with the Team Leader to design and implement strategic interventions that are contextually specific, demonstrate learning and adaptation and achieve sustainable impact. S/he will oversee the efficient delivery of the programme across outcome areas across BSP countries in the East Africa Region, working closely with Consortium and partner-level Outcome Leads, and managing BSP Country Leads, to ensure that implementation is technically robust, coordinated and coherent and delivered to workplan and budget. S/he will oversee the MRELA Manager to ensure that systems are established and implemented that monitor programme actions and progress, generate learning and evidence that supports adaptation and expansion, and demonstrate the value and impacts of the programme on disrupting OIC networks.  
• The DTL will also play a key role in managing strategic relationships, both with national governments and with the donor, ensuring that these stakeholders are kept abreast of programme delivery, progress and impacts and responding to requests for information as they arise. S/he will deputise for the Team Leader in her absence, maintaining strong channels of communication and ensuring continued delivery of programme efforts. 

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND VISION

• Support the TL in providing leadership, vision and strategy to the programme’s overall direction and implementation across the region, 
• Contribute to shaping the programme’s research and learning agenda, working with the Research Partner and MRELA Manager to integrate and advance research, learning and advocacy  
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed. 

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT  

• Manage and oversee programme activities in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda working in close collaboration with Consortium and partner-based Outcome Leads, Country Leads, and key project stakeholders, including local government officials, community-based organizations, and other implementing agencies on the ground. 
• Ensure that implementation is integrated across consortium partners, outcomes, aligned to programme workplans and budgets, and responsive to programme evidence and learning  
• Ensure that programme implementation is responsive to communities and governments and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant programme guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan. 

WORKPLANNING AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING SYSTEMS 

• Coordinate across the Consortia to lead the development and maintenance of integrated programme workplans, ensuring alignment between operational capacity, technical delivery and budget management.  
• Work with country leads and partners to ensure workplans are realistic, risk-informed and responsive to changing operational contexts.  
• Monitor implementation progress and identify operational bottlenecks, recommending solutions to maintain delivery timelines and programme quality.  
• Work with the MERLA Manager in the development and implementation of adaptive management processes that enable timely course correction based on evidence, data and contextual analysis.  
• Oversee the integration of learning, feedback and risk information into programme planning and decision-making processes.  

DONOR COMPLIANCE, REPORTING AND REPRESENTATION 

• Alongside the Team Leader, serve as a primary point of contact for donor compliance and programme assurance matters.  
• Ensure timely and accurate donor reporting, including financial, operational and performance reporting, in accordance with contractual obligations.  
• Represent the programme in meetings with donor representatives and relevant government stakeholders, maintaining strong relationships and credibility.  
• Ensure responsiveness to ad hoc donor information and reporting needs on programmatic, financial and risk related issues.  

TEAM MANAGEMENT  

• Provide leadership and strategic vision to programme teams including consortium and downstream partners across multiple BSP countries 
• Oversee the work of Outcome Leads across consortium members, and country leads to ensure quality and performance in the delivery of activities. 
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback to staff through regular coaching and annual performance reviews, and ensure that supervisory staff do the same in a timely manner. Implement, and ensure all staff are effectively using, the performance planning and management system, establishing performance expectations and regularly providing constructive feedback. 
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where participating team members – including local partners’ leads and field agents – strive to achieve excellence. 
• 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. 

SUPPORT PROGRAMME GOVERNANCE, COORDINATION 

• Contribute to strategic planning, programme governance and decision-making as a member of the Senior Management Team.  
• Ensure programme documentation, approvals and communications meet organisational and donor governance requirements.  
• Promote transparency, accountability and effective communication across programme teams and stakeholders.  
• Work with the Team Lead, to ensure strong coordination mechanisms are in place across consortium partners, donor representatives and Government stakeholders, including strong communication plans, regular steering group meetings, formal and informal information sharing, etc. 

LEARNING & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP  

• Provide strategic contributions to thought leadership to ensure effective outcomes  
• Promote active learning and adaptive management and contribute to agency-level networks and working groups, through documentation and knowledge sharing around best practices and lessons learned. 
• Promote learning and knowledge management through documentation and knowledge sharing around best practices and lessons learned. 
• Work with the Team Lead and the MRELA Manager to convene learning, and reflection events across consortium partner and with the donor. 

INFLUENCE, REPRESENTATION/INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COORDINATION 

• Represent the programme in senior level meetings with ISF, HO, wider UK government and national partner governments, ensuring diplomacy, relationship management and influence.  
• Contribute to programme visibility and advocacy work by assisting in the dissemination of programme research and learning information. Represent Mercy Corps in forums with the broader humanitarian and development community. 
• Actively contribute and collaborate with regional and global counterparts to promote best practices within the program. 

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. 

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills  

• Master’s degree in Stabilisation, Security Studies, Peace Building and Conflict Resolution or related discipline.
• At least 15 years’ experience working on similar regional programmes.
• Proven experience establishing and maintaining programme quality, robust work-planning and performance oversight and MERLA in complex and evolving operating environments. 
• Demonstrated experience overseeing high-risk programmes in complex operating environments, including those related to security, migration, border operations, peacebuilding, counter-trafficking, or violence prevention.
• Strong experience in workplanning, and adaptive management, including supporting programme start-up, scale-up, and expansion across multiple locations. 
• Demonstrated experience managing programmes funded by major institutional donors (e.g., FCDO, USAID, EU, or similar).
• Demonstrated effectiveness managing a diverse team of staff, consortium partners and local implementing partners, building a cohesive and results-oriented team to deliver on complex programming result.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities in high-pressure and complex environments.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills.  
• Excellent verbal and inter-personal communications skills.
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to work effectively across diverse teams, partners, and government stakeholders in complex operating contexts.