Program Manager at Mercy Corps

The Position Summary

The Program Manager is responsible for the overall delivery of the program in Wajir and Garissa counties. He/she supervises the direct program team and all program activities, plans, reporting, and program compliance. The Manager will develop and deliver integrated capacity building plans and approaches across the program for county and sub-county government officials. The position requires significant experience in working with county government, rangeland management and strong leadership, communication, and ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders including national and county government partners and internal technical advisors. In collaboration with the county and national government partners, the Manager will drive important program strategies including climate information systems, sustainable and participatory rangeland management, watershed management and sustainable community water management systems  that will result, among others, in livestock productivity improvement (including forage development) and pastoral resilient livelihoods. 

Essential Responsibilities

​​STRATEGY AND VISION

• Provide strategic vision, leadership, and overall responsibility for all aspects of the program’s development, implementation, and management.
• Outline and maintain a strategic plan for the implementation of program activities, including developing stakeholder mapping, target areas/activities, methods of operation, and means of evaluation.
• Apply adaptive management and ensure that program designs and approaches are in line with MC, donor and government policies and frameworks
• Periodically review program approaches based on international best practices and lessons learned and advice Mercy Corps and/or donor on strategic shifts
• Provide technical support to country programs to ensure that these programs are using the latest learning, strategy, and best practices.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Provide leadership and strategic vision in all aspects of program implementation, development, and management, ensuring that the program remains on scope, time and budget
• Develop county capacity building strategy and adaptive work plan to ensure the program is achieving the desired outcomes and targets.
• Develop program annual work plans, MEL plans and other donor reports as required and ensure their timely submission
• Collaborate with county government to review rangement management practices and policies, tech-enabled decision making especially as it relates to natural resource management, utilization and adoption.
• Develop program strategies and approaches for the use, adoption, and dissemination of climate-smart rangeland management information using digital services and tools.
• Collaborate with National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) and county governments, facilitate discussions within communities aimed at promoting Disaster Risk Reduction approaches including for drought cycle management as important components of NRM and rangeland management.
• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate. Certify all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards
• Ensure that program implementation is responsive to counties and communities and partners, and aligned with Mercy Corps principles, values, and strategic plan.
• Conduct frequent field visits to all project sites.
• Coordinate with program and finance and administration 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.

COORDINATION AND REPRESENTATION

• The Manager will very closely work, and partner with, county and national governments. S/he will work very closely with Ward Planning Committees where applicable.
• Represent Mercy Corps at government, private sector, donor, NGO, and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with the Director of Programs and Country Director.
• Ensure project activities are working to support and help achieve relevant county government objectives, while strengthening their capacities.
• Represent Mercy Corps at academic events, conferences, media forums, and other events; contribute to thought leadership in the livestock sector.

MONITORING & EVALUATION, LEARNING (MEL) AND REPORTING

• Facilitate the achievement of program targets and objectives and lead efforts to design effective M&E systems. Evaluate program results and make recommendations for improvement in program implementation.
• Work with the county governments to promote data-driven decision making especially as it relates to real time earth observation, remote sensing and rangeland management.
• Assess and analyze impact and adaptively manage the project to meet results.
• Oversee the scheduling and production of formal and informal reports and work plans on all aspects of the program in a timely and efficient manner.
• Ensure that M&E staff focus on assisting programs to generate practical information that can be used for ongoing program decision-making while also capturing results at the impact level.
• Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) team and the country to ensure that monitoring and evaluation of livestock-based programs is practical and reflects best practices.
• Contribute to country-wide initiatives such as the research agenda around Thought Leadership priority topics.
• Provide country and remote training and support for Mercy Corps staff, partners, and others.
• Develop a deep understanding of the shared incentives and values that will entice partners to connect and work across livestock sectors, both internally and within country projects.
• Support new and ongoing programs with best practice advice and assistance on assessment, implementation, research, and evaluation needs.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Create a work atmosphere conducive to professional growth and development of excellent personnel at all levels.
• Implement, and ensure all staff are effectively using the performance planning and management system, establishing performance expectations, and regularly providing constructive feedback.
• Promote accountability by conducting staff annual performance reviews with direct supervisees and ensuring that supervisory staff do the same.
• Contribute to country team building efforts and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Develop the capacity of the team working in the livestock sector, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Assist team members in the livestock sector with information, tools, and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Hire, orient and lead team members in the livestock sector as necessary.

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.
• Ensure that Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM) is operationalized within the program. Designate a CARM focal point for the program.
• Develop a CARM sensitization plan for feedback channels, in coordination with CARM and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) teams, to ensure the harmonization of messaging.
• Ensure that program stakeholders are proactively informed of the program CARM feedback channels.
• Ensure that appropriate action is taken for all programmatic feedback Grades 1-4 and that it is appropriately incorporated into program activities and overall implementation strategy.

SECURITY MANAGEMENT

• Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that ensure the safety and security of the team in all aspects of its work.
• Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security management priorities.

Supervisory Responsibility

CISCO Program Team

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Programs

Works Directly With: Internal program and support teams, County County GIS Officers, County Data Management & Information Officers, Ward Administrators, Technical Support Unit Advisors, Grants Reporting and Communications Manager

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• BSc in Environmental Studies, Range management, Natural Resource Management, social sciences or other relevant fields.
• A minimum of seven years of relevant professional experience in rangelands, NRM or climate change
• Skilled in NRM approaches including Participatory Rangeland Management, Participatory NRM, early warning and climate information systems.
• Experience in Information Technology and computer science, a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in the application of GIS/Spatial information in design of data decision support systems, a plus
• Experience working with the Government of Kenya at both the national and county level is required.
• A team player with demonstrated ability to train and build capacity of others as well as being experienced in contributing to knowledge generation and project learning agenda among partners including government structures.
• Excellent interpersonal, facilitation, writing, and oral presentation skills in both Swahili and English required
• Ability to work in a complex environment with multiple tasks, short deadlines and intense pressure to perform.