Capacity Development Officer

Essential Job Responsibilities

Capacity Development Support

• Support in the overall development and implementation of partners capacity development plans as per Partnership Capacity Development Strategy.
• Assists the Capacity Development Adviser (CDA) in setting up logistics for capacity development activities.
• Facilitation (as needed) and note taking for workshops, meetings and sessions.
• Assist in the relevant sessions and workshops with partners to identify strategic priorities in terms of partners organizational and technical capacity development.
• Drafts the Capacity Development Action Plan (CDAP) and develop tracking and follow up tools as needed.
• Provide day-to-day management of capacity strengthening activities with the relevant focal points.
• Oversee MC’s cross cutting and customized training conducted with the partners.
• Follow up with the partners for the implementation of the capacity development initiatives.
• Follow up with the capacity development grants; assist in reviewing monthly and narrative report.
• Attends bi-weekly Partner Catch-Up Meetings, collects follow up reports and takes all information related to partner capacity development and compiles it in one place to include: a running narrative on what is working and what isn’t, challenge areas identified and further steps to be taken.
• Support in the (as needed) reports for Donors on capacity development and/or reports to be used for lessons learned sessions with partners, feed in the lessons learnt in the capacity development and the process.
• Support in assessing, monitoring and documentation of capacity development process and activities.
• Keep a record of all capacity development resources and tools and update it on regular basis.
• Keep a record and documentation of all capacity development activities and relevant official correspondence.
• All other help/assistance needed to support the Capacity Development Adviser and team in the area of capacity development.
• 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.

Program & Partnership Development Support

• Responsible for keeping and updating the Partner’s Profile tracker with the support of the Capacity Development Advisor.
• Responsible for having a wide understanding of partner capacity on all levels in order to be able to input into the Capacity Development Adviser on partner capabilities, areas of weakness and suitability for programmatic, operational and capacity development efforts.
• Support in partners performance evaluation as needed.

Representation and Coordination

• As required by the supervisor, represent Mercy Corps at partner, internal and meetings.
• Under supervision of the CDA, develop and maintain working relationships and coordinate with relevant international and local agencies, humanitarian coordination groups 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.

Knowledge and Experience

• University Degree or Higher in field relating to humanitarian and development work or’ a relatable field
• 1-3 years of experience working in Non-Governmental Organization, ideally focused on humanitarian relief and/or Capacity Development.
• Desired demonstrated expertise in implementation of Protection programs and relevant projects.
• Experience in implementing humanitarian programs such as Child Protection, NFI distributions, WASH infrastructure projects, or food distributions are preferred, experience in capacity development is highly preferred.
• Good understanding of structure and processes in NGOs. 
• 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 Organizations.
• Good organizational and project management skills.
• Good facilitation skills are required.
• 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; Excellent written English is desired.