Program Coordinator Dfid

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: Mercy Corps program addresses a large array of needs and gaps, going from urban and peri-urban scale projects to community level interventions, addressing food, livelihoods and NFI needs. The program will be implemented through local and/or regional partner NGOs and will be managed remotely from the Beirut office, Lebanon.   This position is dependent on funding.   GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: The Program Coordinator’s role is to support the management of at least two large multi-sectoral programs/grants. Under the direct supervision of the Program Manager, the Program Coordinator is responsible for coordinating and assisting NFI, food, livelihoods and economic opportunities programs through partner organisations in the program areas. The position holder will work closely with implementing partners to ensure smooth, efficient and effective implementation of the program. The position also involves understanding how the collection of partner projects fits within Mercy Corps’ grant and Mercy Corps wider strategy, with support and guidance from the Program Manager. The position encompasses a wide range of project activities, including planning and coordination of high quality interventions, monitoring and verification of activities, supporting budget and proposal development at partner and donor level, collating information collected from partners, reporting to donors, arranging trainings with partners and mentoring and coaching of specific partner staff where appropriate. .   Relevant technical sectors the Program Coordinator will be involved in include but are not limited to: Non-Food Items; Food; Livelihoods; economic opportunities.   The position holder will work closely with the Program Manager, who will seek to expand the skills of the Program Coordinator and delegate more responsibility during the duration of the contract.  At present there is no direct line management responsibility under this position, but this could change during the course of the contract.   ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Program Support Ensure that the programs targets are met accordingly to the implementation work-plan. This includes being responsible for the quality of periodical reports/updates and grants tracking system by ensuring that subgrant and grant records are kept up to date. Provide recommendations to the Program Manager on projects to fund. Ensure that the review and pre-monitoring process is fair, transparent and well-coordinated. Closely follow the implementation of partner activities from the design phase through to implementation and close out. Pay close attention to issues, trends or concerns that arise from partner reports, updates and meetings. Alert the Program Manager of these on a regular basis and offer possible solutions. Maintain positive and professional working relationship with partners as their primary focal point. Be responsive to their needs and challenges and report to Program Manager as necessary. Coordinate internally with finance, compliance, humanitarian access and program development teams, ensuring a consistent approach to project design, implementation and close out. Help design project frameworks/objectives with local partners, and ensure that the projects funded all meet set criteria and standards and feed into the larger MC grant. Organize and participate in the facilitation of meetings/workshops/trainings to help increase the capacity of local staff and implementing partners in planning and implementation of emergency response programs. Provide specific coaching to local partners, maintaining a consistent approach with other team members. Maintain well-organized and consistent filing system and tracking system for all project documentation and information. Ensure a good understanding of the Syrian conflict context and humanitarian need trends. 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. Assist in any other task or duty assigned by the supervisor. Where possible, provide technical oversight and support, direct and/or remotely, for the technical food and livelihoods components of the program implementation by the local and/or regional partner(s) at the field level. Recognize programmatic gaps either in current quality of implementation or potential future areas of implementation. Liaise with Mercy Corps’ experts in specific fields to acquire the required technical support.   Representation and Coordination As required by the supervisor, represent Mercy Corps at donor meetings, and government and sectoral coordination forums/meetings. Under supervision of the Program Manager, develop and maintain working relationships and coordinate with relevant international and local agencies including humanitarian and human rights organizations, local authorities and local partners.   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. Highlights: Take initiative to find required trainings/on-line learning needed to impove his/her professional performance.   Accountability to Stakeholders: Support partners to ensure that beneficiary communities are adequately informed about programs, are aware of their entitlements, are comfortable to give feedback and that feedback is used to improve the quality of our programs; Integrate M&E and accountability systems that are compliant with HAP international benchmarks, SPHERE and other relevant standards, as well as to the Donors’ requirements; 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 or put the team, assets and mission at risk;   Other: •           Participate in and support internal office coordination and planning meetings and workshops; •           Ensure all activities are gender sensitive and follow Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity Policy; •           Apply Do No Harm standards to ensure activities do not have detrimental effects on vulnerable communities;   SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Program Officer     REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Program Manager   WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: All Mercy Corps department and staff as well as staff from partner(s) organizations   KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: University Degree or Higher in field relating to humanitarian and development work or’ Degree relevant to one or more of the following technical sectors (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Distributions, Food, Protection) 2-5 years of experience working in Non-Governmental Organisation, ideally focused on humanitarian relief. Desired demonstrated expertise in implementation of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Promotion programs and relevant projects. Experience in implementing humanitarian programs such as NFI distributions, food distributions, livelihoods interventions or child protection initiatives.   Knowledge about water treatment technologies, quality control procedures, and hydraulics principles would be an asset, but not requirement. Demonstrated experience in emergency response programming in highly insecure environments. Commitment to local capacity building and past experience of engaging and working with local stakeholders in project design and implementation. Demonstrated capacity to collaborate closely with INGOs, national NGOs and Community Based Organisations. Good organizational and project management skills. Proven ability to work cooperatively with colleagues from other departments in a team environment, and to lead a diverse group of people. Understanding of participatory methodologies for project design, implementation and evaluation. Knowledge of humanitarian standards and codes, including SPHERE, HAP is an asset. Working understanding of procurement, administration and finance systems. Demonstrated familiarity with the MS Office software (i.e., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) is required. Show great initiative and be able to work well in a team and independently. Demonstrate knowledge of the Syrian conflict context and understands project needs. Commitment to high level of confidentiality with sensitive information. Arabic and English language written and spoken is essential.   SUCCESS FACTORS: The successful candidate will have proven experience working effectively and respectfully with NGOs and CBO representatives, and will have effective verbal and written communication as well as multi-tasking, organizational, and prioritization skills. S/he will have demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines, and work independently and cooperatively with team members. S/he should have excellent coordination skills, the ability to manage multiple deadlines and show initiative to improve program implementation. Sensitivity to multi-cultural humanitarian and development work and ability to train and facilitate dialogue among a diverse group of individuals with various skill sets and working styles are all critical. An ability to creatively solve problems, juggle multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and to calmly and diplomatically deal with unexpected and sudden events impacting program operations are also essential. Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours. 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 venues, in such a manner as to bring positive recognition to Mercy Corps and to not endanger Mercy Corps’ humanitarian mission.