Vacancies at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary

With funding from USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), Mercy Corps’ Nawiri Program is leading a consortium of Kenyan and international partners on an eight-year journey to sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition in Turkana and Samburu counties of Kenya. Through a phased approach that emphasizes evidence - based interventions, as well as partnership, learning, and co-creation, the program has applied a robust contextually - informed design with government leadership, active engagement from communities, the private sector, and civil society. USAID Nawiri Mercy Corps’ consortium brings together the global leadership, research capacity, technical expertise, and implementation experience necessary to partner with local institutions to test, adapt, and scale evidence-based solutions. Together we will sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition for vulnerable populations in Turkana and Turkana counties.

General Position Summary

The Social Accountability and Civic Engagement Officer is responsible for contributing to the development and implementation of the community engagement program strategy for community members and their platforms such as village councils, ward development planning committees, civil society and local stakeholders. This will also include engagement and management of civil society organizations (CSOs) and managing the scope of work. The officer will implement integrated community engagement across multiple program components, which will include the continuous assessment and capacity building support of CSOs and community structures, including mentorship, over a long-term period of engagement with a view to enhancing community-driven nutrition resilient interventions. The main objective of this role is to support community platforms, civil society and citizens to better identify problems related to nutrition services and undertake actions to address these problems directly; build collaborations between citizens and government to ensure that the priorities and feedback of beneficiaries are helping government officials plan, resource and provide better services; and analyze accountability ecosystems to help citizens, civil society partners and governments better understand how to make positive change happen with regards to sustainably reducing persistent acute malnutrition in politically complex environments.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT & COORDINATION

• Coordinate the USAID Nawiri’s program community outreach and civil society strengthening efforts and ensure that all activities and deliverables are of high quality, on schedule, and reach program’s objectives and targets.
• Contribute to the development, implementation and continuous review of USAID Nawiri’s Community Integrated Action Planning (CIAP) strategy in Turkana and Samburu County.
• Inform design review of project interventions to engage and build agency of the public including adolescent, youth and vulnerable populations, the mass media, and civil society organizations in nutrition advocacy such as public education, oversight, and participation in decision-making processes, among others.
• Provide technical input to and oversight of the CSO and civil society engagement including development of the technical requirements and proposal evaluation.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships and cooperation with relevant counterparts, beneficiaries, and stakeholders and seek to engage them in USAID Nawiri’s interventions.
• Provide technical support to the partners and field teams for the program’s budget management; and work with the grants team to ensure all program activities are implemented in compliance with Mercy Corps’ and donor requirements.
• In coordination with the MEL team, monitor the implementation of activities through regular field visits and assessments to ensure program quality and impact. Document lessons learned and shared with management and team members.
• Contribute and assist in the preparation of technical reports and deliverables and other reports/deliverables, as requested.

SAFEGUARDING

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

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.

 ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTICIPANTS 

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

OTHER:

Conduct themselves professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and do not jeopardize its humanitarian mission. Other duties as assigned.

Accountability

• Reports Directly To: Stakeholder Engagement and Social Accountability Manager
• Works Directly With: Turkana and Samburu Field Director and technical teams.

Knowledge and Experience

• Degree in Social Sciences, Development and Climate & Environment Studies or other relevant fields.
• A minimum of 3-5 years of relevant professional experience in civic engagement and social accountability work at the county or local levels.
• Strong facilitation and consensus-building skills.
• Competent in building networks, strong problem-solving skills, and ability to influence with effective listening, persuasion, negotiation, and other techniques.
• Excellent and persuasive oral and written communication skills, including report writing, in English and other language(s), and fluency in Kiswahili.
• Previous work experience in Northern Kenya is desirable.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Requires knowledge of the county planning and budgeting process.

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The Position

The Programme Director will provide overall leadership, management, and strategic vision for the implementation of the programme, ensuring that the programme meets its targets and deliverables on time and within budget. Equivalent to a Chief of Party role on USAID funded programmes, the programme Director will supervise senior programme staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies as well as all donor rules and regulations. They will be the primary representative for the programme with the donor, government entities, and all other partners and stakeholders. The preferred location for this role is Isiolo, and Nairobi can also be an option.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND PLANNING

• Lead continuous development of a vision and strategy for RANGE shared with Activity staff and stakeholders. Lead Annual planning and budgeting for the programme including support to partners in the consortium.
• Lead the consortium and partners under the programme ensuring alignment and common effort towards our goal.
• Leverage Mercy Corps’ existing market development and resilience programme and expertise to ensure technical quality and integration with complementary initiatives.
• Participate in Mercy Corps’ strategic discussions at the country and global level.

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

• Oversee programme management and administration. Ensure implementation is on time, target, and budget, using effective M&E systems to assess impact.
• Ensure that implementation is responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant programme guidelines, principles, values, quality standards, and strategic plan.
• Develop partnership frameworks, partner agreements/Memorandum of Understandings, and oversee capacity building for partners.
• Integrate locally-driven approaches, gender sensitivity, and capacity building into all activities, as appropriate. Certify that all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and programme participant accountability standards.
• Design and oversee market systems analysis for selected systems, including working with consultants
• With the RANGE programme team, select and design a portfolio of MSD interventions to drive transformational change in priority systems
• Spearhead the RANGE private sector partnership strategy for MSD interventions, meet private sector partnerships, and broker successful partnerships working closely with the RANGE team.
• Ensure programme strategies and activities represent global good practice for market development and resilience programming.
• Coordinate with procurement, logistics, security, administration, and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities.
• Fulfill Mercy Corps’ programme Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Develop the capacity of the existing team and new team members, deepen understanding of staff roles, and assist with career development.
• Provide team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Provide MSD training for the RANGE team, including on-going mentoring and skills development.
• Promote staff accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one meetings and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Support Mercy Corps global and regional initiatives for human resources, including safeguarding and diversity, and talent development.

 FINANCE & COMPLIANCE

• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps’ regulations.
• Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with programmeme, donor, and Mercy Corps’ needs.
• Ensure sound financial management, including programmatic budgeting, spending projections, and monitoring of payments in compliance with donor and Mercy Corps standards.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO, and other relevant events, in close coordination with the Director of Programmes and Country Director.
• Coordinate activities with consortium partners, subgrantees, local government, and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programmes.

RISK MANAGEMENT

• Collaborate with country leadership to support preparedness and response to major disruptive events.
• Own and keep updated the programme risk register and log.
• Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.
• Ensure that programmes are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

SAFEGUARDING

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervise the RANGE programmes team, including line management of the senior programme manager, senior programmes, finance, technical and MEL leads. Exact line management will be confirmed at a later date.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Programmes, MC Kenya

Works Directly With: Regional Directors, Country Directors, other programme Directors or Chiefs Of Party, Mercy Corps programmes in East Africa, finance and operations teams, HQ Regional programmes Team, and HQ Technical Support Unit

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our programme 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

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in natural resource management, agriculture, economics, rural development, or similar field.
• Minimum 5+ years of Chief-of-Party or Programme Director level  experience managing large (preferably $10 million and above) market systems development (MSD), natural resource management, agricultural development, and/or livelihoods programmes with a market-orientation, preferably in Africa.
• Proven technical expertise in market systems development and in one or more of the following programme areas: natural resource management, resilience, agricultural value chain development, income & livelihoods diversification.
• Experience in Kenya preferred, especially in ASAL regions.
• Strong skills and track record in leading diverse teams, inspiring staff, and developing a shared vision with staff and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain partnerships with diverse stakeholders including national and subnational government, donors, donor-funded programme, private sector actors, and civil society organizations.
• Proficient English with excellent verbal and written communication skills.

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GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: 

• Assist in developing and maintaining an effective filing, archiving and record keeping systems both (hard copy & electronically) according to MC procedures.
• Prepare photocopies and scans of vouchers and other supporting documents required for HQ and donor reporting.
• Assist in ensuring proper documentation of payment vouchers and all other supporting documents.
• Assist in ensuring efficient, timely and accurate recording, payment and tracking of accounts payable.
• Assist in management of the office cash and office cash levels as per the office Cash Management Policy.
• Maintain the cash advance tracking sheet, follow up on un-cleared advances and ensure advances are reconciling with general ledger records.
• Assist in preparing and processing bank payments via checks.
• Assist in preparing payment vouchers ensuring proper documentation and recording to accounting system on daily basis.
• Assist in monthly amortization entries of prepaid accounts, account maintenance and reconciliations as part of month end closeout process.
• Assist with audit related 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.
• Other duties as assigned.

Learning Objectives  

The intern will:

• Gain experience in Finance and accounting Processes.
• Gain experience in time management.
• Learn communication skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting or CPA finalist/K.
• A good team player.
• A good sense of humor.

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The Position  

• We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Director of Talent Acquisition to help design and lead our Talent Acquisition Center of Excellence (COE) and drive our efforts to attract, assess, and select the talent we need to meet our evolving organizational needs, deliver our strategy and reflect our mission and values. 
• The Senior Director of Talent Acquisition (TA) will develop and implement a global talent acquisition strategy that aligns with the global People Team priorities in support of Mercy Corps’ transformative Pathways to Possibility (P2P) strategy, manage and develop a global team of talent acquisition professionals, and partner with key executives to develop talent and pipeline strategies. Key activities ensuring diverse high-quality hires, creating efficient hiring practices and marketing strategies that leverage recruitment technology and data analytics, sourcing for complex programs, and emergency recruitment. 

Essential Responsibilities  

STRATEGY AND VISION 

• Develop and implement intentional talent acquisition strategies ensuring effective and creative sourcing, evaluation, and selection of the most qualified and diverse global talent. 
• Collaborate with others to design and support the implementation of a fit-for-the-future Talent Acquisition strategy for Mercy Corps aligned with evolving needs, our mission, values and P2P commitments. 
• Collaborate closely with the Chief People Officer, other COEs, the VP People Team and the Regional HR Directors to guide the overall vision and approach to recruiting top talent, delivering clear actionable plans to achieve agreed TA priorities. 
• Develop appropriate metrics and tracking mechanisms, service-level agreements and other planning and measurement tools to build accountability and measure results, impact and cost-effectiveness of the hiring process and talent acquisition team.  
• Lead with a continuous improvement mindset, involving the talent acquisition team and hiring managers in identifying process improvements in our hiring practice that will reduce the time to fill and increase the quality of candidates/new hires, such as standardization of the hiring process and improved interviewing tools. 
• Provide strategic direction, talent acquisition expertise, and guidance to key stakeholders on strategic and emerging talent acquisition trends, benchmarks, and other talent acquisition issues. 
• Ensure that every new hire has a positive and professional recruitment experience by creating an exceptional experience at each step of the recruitment process, collaborating with other HR and organization leaders to assure a smooth orientation handoff from talent acquisition to the hiring teams.  
• Ensure compliance with local regulatory requirements.

TALENT ACQUISITION FUNCTIONS 

• Develop global standards and maintain talent acquisition processes that ensure quality and consistency in attracting, assessing, selecting, and hiring talent. 
• Develop strategies to address talent acquisition-related challenges and provide appropriate approaches for resolution. 
• Empower the delivery of a responsive, high-quality candidate experience that aligns with Mercy Corps' values and mission. 
• Develop and implement strategies to build national recruitment capacity in partnership with country leadership, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and objectives. 
• Advise on and approve exceptional talent acquisition-related circumstances globally, ensuring compliance with specific labor laws and internal processes. 
• Ensure legal compliance for talent acquisition processes, maintaining accountability for adherence to relevant regulations and guidelines. 
• Thoughtfully delegate responsibilities for effective coordination between the Global Talent Acquisition and other HR functions, ensuring seamless collaboration and alignment of priorities. 
• Represent Talent Acquisition priorities to executives and leadership, advocating for resources and support as needed to achieve strategic objectives.

TEAM LEADERSHIP 

• Ensure the growth and effective resourcing of the Global Talent Acquisition team, with a deep understanding of roles and responsibilities. 
• Foster a work environment of mutual respect, excellence, and continuous learning, where team members are empowered to thrive. 
• Engage in close partnership with the larger People Team and agency to share ideas, develop standard practices, and implement best practices across Mercy Corps programs. 
• Design and streamline processes in collaboration with People Team leaders to enhance the Global Talent experience across the organization, focusing on efficiency and effectiveness. 
• Guide project management efforts within the Global Talent department, prioritizing process, and system improvements to drive operational excellence. 
• Ensure effective systems are in place in all country offices for the management of talent acquisition processes, providing support and guidance as needed. 
• Review and support country team adherence to Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures, contextualizing them to local labor laws and ensuring compliance. 
• Provide dedicated support to country teams during emergencies or complex program startups, leveraging resources and expertise as needed. 
• Collaborate with country finance leads in producing bi-annual master budgets, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and financial guidelines. 

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES  

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work  
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members  
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options 

Supervisory Responsibility 

• Supervises a TA Manager and TA Technical Advisor. Will lead the strategic development of the TA Center of Excellence in partnership with the VP People Team and COE leads.  

Accountability 

• Reports Directly To: Chief People Officer 
• Works Directly With: People Team Leaders, Organizational Leadership, COE Directors & Regional HR Leads 

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 Qualifications & Transferable Skills 

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, or a related field; advanced degree preferred. 
• 8+ years of progressive experience in talent acquisition, including at least 5 years in a leadership role within a global organization or NGO. 
• Experience personally managing executive/senior level recruitment within the past 5 years. 
• Demonstrated success in developing and implementing talent acquisition strategies that support organizational objectives and foster a diverse and inclusive workforce. 
• Experience developing and improving talent acquisition systems and tracking talent metrics. 
• Deep understanding of recruitment best practices, including candidate sourcing techniques, assessment methods, and employer branding strategies. 
• Demonstrated experience and expert ability to create, implement, maintain, and improve recruitment strategies and systems in a high-volume context. 
• Strong leadership and team management skills, with the ability to inspire and empower a diverse team of professionals. 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization. 
• Ability to communicate and problem-solve effectively across diverse cultures with sensitivity. 
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate senior-level conversations. 
• Strategic mindset with the ability to think analytically, solve complex problems, and drive continuous improvement. 
• Commitment to Mercy Corps' mission and values, with a passion for humanitarian aid and sustainable development. 
• Experience leading and advocating for a diverse team of high performers.