Senior Program Officer (Applications will only be accepted if submitted through the URL link provided)

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Program Officer’s role is to support the management of large multi-sectoral programs/grants. Under the direct supervision of the Program manager, the Senior Program Officer is responsible for coordinating and assisting mainly multi-sectoral relief projects. The position holder will work closely with implementing partner(s) to ensure smooth, efficient and effective implementation of the program. The position encompasses a wide range of project activities, including planning and coordination of high quality interventions, monitoring, supporting budget and proposal development, collating information collected from partners, arranging trainings with partners, and mentoring of specific partner staff where appropriate.

The Senior Program Officer also plays a key role in the implementation and overseeing the safety and security procedures throughout the program implementation while providing input for proposal development and expanding the programs in the targeted areas.

Relevant technical sectors the Senior Program Officer will be involved in include but are not limited to: Food, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; Non-Food Items, Livelihoods.

The position holder will work closely with the Program Manager who will seek to expand the skills of the Senior Program Officer and delegate more responsibility during the duration of the contract.

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 multi-sectoral needs including food, WASH, 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.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Program Support

• Ensure that the partner project targets are met according to the implementation work-plan and project scope. This includes being responsible for the quality of periodical reports/updates and grants tracking system by ensuring that grant records are kept up to date.
• Closely follow the implementation of partner activities from the design phase through to implementation and close out.
• Coordinate internally with finance, sub-awards, compliance, humanitarian access, information management, and program development teams, HR, security, MEL, ensuring a consistent approach to project design, implementation and close out.
• Maintain well-organized and consistent filing and tracking systems for all project documentation and information.
• Supervise monitoring activities to assess the quality and effectiveness of projects. Provide follow-up recommendations and solutions where there are problems in implementation.
• Help design project frameworks/objectives with local partners/LNGOs, and ensure that the projects funded all meet set criteria and standards.

• 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.
• Support local partner organizations throughout the program cycle, provide follow-ups recommendations and problem solving with projects’ implementation
• Providing monthly, semi-final and final narrative reports on behalf of MC for donors
• Participating in reviewing and providing recommendations on submitted concept notes from the partners
• Organizing and leading on Kick-off meetings with partners
• Preparing partner Kick-off agendas prior to the Kick-Off calls with the partners and Mercy Corps’ teams
• Leading on all communications including calls with partners
• Preparing the  programmatic Pre-Award Assessment and Due Diligence documents in addition to follow-up on the HAT and financial documents
• Reviewing the reports and supporting documents submitted by the partners and making sure that all documents meet the donors’ and Mercy Corps’ requirements and regulations
• Preparing payments packages for the partners and following-up on the process with other MC departments until the payment transfer is executed
• Reviewing and validating Participants Registration Forms submitted by partners
• Participating in the MEL coordination meetings and  representing my the relevant when needed, and submitting my After Action Review feedback on different projects

• 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.

Representation and Coordination

• As required by the supervisor, represent Mercy Corps at donor meetings, and government and sectoral coordination forums/meetings.
• Contribute to and provide inputs on donor communications materials. (i.e. presentations) when requested

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:

• Participate to staff training, helping to build technical capacity of staff, and partners in the area of FSL, WASH and basic M&E, including periodical reflection and analysis of program monitoring data;
• Mentors and coaches colleagues and team members building their capacity to enable them to obtain high quality results and impact,
• Helps in development and execution of context specific solutions to improve collaboration, coordination and performance;
• Work with partners to strengthen linkages to enhance organizational learning and capacity development which directly impacts staff performance and productivity;

Accountability to Stakeholders: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our participants and to the international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging participant communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Highlights:

• Ensure that participant communities are adequately informed about programs through partners, are aware of their entitlements, are comfortable to give feedback and that feedback is used to improve the quality of our programs;
• Integrate MEL, learning, and accountability systems that are compliant with HAP international benchmarks, SPHERE and other relevant standards, as well as to the donors’ requirements;
• Coordinate with CARM focal points including monitors to review feedback received to improve and modify partner programming as needed as per participant feedback.
• 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;

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None

ACCOUNTABILITY

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Program Manager

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: All Mercy Corps’ PSP department and staff including staff from partner(s) organizations

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• University Degree or Higher in field relating to humanitarian affairs and development, international affairs, business/economics, or related or’ Degree relevant to one or more of the following technical sectors (Mainly Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Distributions, Food security and livelihoods).
• 1-3 years of experience working in Non-Governmental Organization, ideally focused on humanitarian relief.
• Desired demonstrated expertise in implementation of emergency relief projects.
• Experience in implementing humanitarian programs such as NFI distributions, WASH infrastructure projects, or food distributions.
• Good understanding of structure and processes in NGOs. 
• Demonstrated experience in emergency response programming in highly insecure environments is an asset.
• 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 Organizations.
• Good organizational and basic 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 conflict contexts and understands project needs.
• Commitment to high level of confidentiality with sensitive information.
• Arabic and English language written and spoken is essential; Excellent written English is desired.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful candidate will have proven experience working effectively and respectfully with authorities, 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, and will have an interest and ability to travel and work in insecure environments. Sensitivity to multicultural 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, as is a commitment to working with community members to make concrete improvements to their livelihoods and living conditions. 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.