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Mercy Corps is a global humanitarian aid agency engaged in transitional environments that have experienced some sort of shock: natural disaster, economic collapse, or conflict.
The Program
With funding from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), Mercy Corps’ Nawiri Program is leading a consortium of Kenyan and international partners on a five-year journey to sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition in Turkana and Samburu Counties of Kenya. Through a phased approach that emphasizes evidence gap analysis, as well as partnership, learning, and co-creation, the program takes a robust county-centered design with government leadership, active engagement from communities, the private sector, and civil society. Mercy Corps’ consortium brings together global leadership, research capacity, technical expertise, and implementation experience to partner with local institutions to test, adapt, and scale evidence-based solutions to sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition for vulnerable populations in Turkana and Samburu counties. Together we will sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition for vulnerable populations in Turkana and Samburu counties.
The Position
The role of the Senior Technical Manager is to lead and supervise a technical team and, in collaboration with the technical Director and DCOP, oversee and steer design and implementation of a coherent technical strategy. The Senior Technical Manager is responsible for managing the technical team and providing support to design robust technical program strategies utilizing evidence and learnings developed in the research phase of USAID Nawiri. S/he must ensure integration of diverse technical sectors for the specific goal of sustainably reducing persistent acute malnutrition below emergency threshold levels. The Senior Technical Manager will lead coordination and collaboration of technical experts in water systems, climate smart agriculture, environment, alternative livelihoods & inclusive markets, financial inclusion, socio-economic, as well as resilience for the benefit of over one million vulnerable people in Turkana and Samburu. In addition to providing technical direction for the project, they will bring both the technical and functional skills required to manage USAID Nawiri’s technical advisors while providing nutrition specific technical support. They will also work closely with wider technical functions to ensure gender and social inclusion, social behavior change and resilience are fully integrated and addressed across program strategies. She/he will integrate a systems approach and sustainability in all strategies and approaches towards nutrition resilience. S/he will lead their team to deliver on high quality program design and implementation, including through transferring knowledge and building skills in ways that build the capacity of field teams to deliver program and practice excellence. The Senior Technical Manager also ensures the team is guiding USAID Nawiri’s best practices in the field and is committed to interpreting results while being open to change.
In addition to direct oversight of select technical staff, s/he will seek out opportunities, promote cross team coherence on the theory that the complex problems USAID Nawiri seeks to address are, by definition, multi sectoral in nature and require shared solutions across sectors and systems. By working with composite teams and providing strategic engagement on technical matters, the Senior Technical Manager will deliver coherence and clarity of approach across the entire consortium. Working across all program areas, and supporting the Technical Director, s/he will ensure that the USAID Nawiri team is analyzing emergent findings and routinely iterating to build a robust evidence base for informing strategic investments that drive nutrition outcomes. The Senior Technical Manager will also coordinate with other organizations and donors to ensure the best practices and learning from other initiatives are integrated in the USAID Nawiri Program.
Essential Responsibilities
STRATEGY & VISION
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
TEAM MANAGEMENT
FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT
INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION
SECURITY
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.
Supervisory Responsibility
Technical Advisors
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Technical Director
Works Directly With: All Nawiri Team, Nawiri Consortium Team Members, Mercy Corps Technical Support Unit (TSU) and other relevant Kenya Country Team.
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
Success Factors
The successful Senior Technical Manager must be a self-starter who demonstrates leadership in technical management/supervision, communications, partnership development, and team management. Multi-tasking with proven ability to manage competing priorities, follow procedures, and meet deadlines is required. The position manages their team to have an impact on program quality, overall strategy and thought leadership. The Manager leads and nurtures individual team member development and works effectively with different work styles. The position must communicate and work with a variety of external groups including private sector partners, peer agencies, academic institutions, and donors. The Senior Technical Manager is flexible and creative in planning and problem solving, and has a proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative and be accountable for results. The person will have the vision and drive to lead initiatives that are more than program development, that demonstrate understanding for the larger picture while remaining focused on and able to handle the details. Be open to learning, adaptations and must be culturally sensitive.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Nairobi requiring up to 50% field visits to projects sites in remote locations, and working with county relevant department office and forums;
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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