Program Manager

POSITION SUMMARY: Program Manager will manage three Project Officers in all aspects of implementing Mercy Corps’ local municipality project.  S/he will be responsible for the overall project planning and management.  It will involve fulfilling specific deliverables outlined in the project plan, as well as strategically positioning the organization to expand the initiative.  This will namely include building key relationships, disseminating information, and advocating recommendations to advance local municipalities’ response to the Syrian crisis.    ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Guide Project Officers to map union and associated municipalities to understand relationships, power structures, etc.   Build relationships with unions and local municipalities to introduce the project and facilitate access to information about their municipal service provision structures and capacities; Manage collection of information about union and municipality responses to Syrian crisis, including strategies to cope with population influx, service provision, political tensions, community needs, governance issues, etc.  through key informant interviews, focus groups, observations, etc. Analyze data collected to identify common themes and lessons learned across multiple areas; Lead development of guide for municipal offices that supports their response to crisis and promote good governance; Test initial draft of guide to ensure recommended actions are relevant to target audience; Disseminate guide to unions and municipalities through consultations and meetings to highlight strategies that can support crisis response and promote good governance; Identify small-scale grants in each target municipality that support crisis response to enable local government to address refugee and host community needs; Oversee internal Mercy Corps procurement processes to secure materials, transport to target area, provide, install, etc. based on requirements; Be responsible for all aspects of the project, including fulfilling Mercy Corps Program Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide; Ensure activities promote gender equity, conflict sensitivity, and environmental awareness; Conduct Do No Harm analysis to inform future activities related to the implementation of the project; Mentor local municipal actors to apply strategies to promote greater crisis response; Monitor use of small-scale grant and application of strategies to improve municipal crisis response; Develop monitoring and evaluation system to inform the progress of the project, based on the indicators outlined in the proposal and others as necessary; Write quarterly reports and other ad hoc reports to meet donor and internal requirements; Liaise with high-level national government officials and international policymakers and donors to discuss  the project and its findings to leverage new ideas and link to new initiatives; Coordinate all technical aspects of the project activities with Mercy Corps’ Technical Support Unit governance expert to ensure all best practices and technical knowledge are included; Serve as focal point for project expansion, including developing future grant ideas and proposals that would carry the municipal-focused response forward by securing additional funding for programming; Participate in internal office coordination and planning meetings and workshops; 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. Other assigned tasks, as necessary.