Mercy Corps BRACED Programme Director Job in Nairobi, Kenya

Position Title: Programme Director, BRACED
 

Primary Location: Nairobi, Kenya with Significant Travel to Karamoja (Uganda) and Wajir
 

Program / Department Summary: Mercy Corps’ goal in Kenya is to strengthen and sustain capabilities of Kenyan society and stakeholders to be agents of positive change in their communities.

  

It achieves this goal through four objectives:
 

1) Increase the effectiveness of public service at the county government level;
 

2) Strengthen adolescent & youth leadership, livelihoods, & ability to influence government policy,
 

3) Reduce levels of in-country and cross-border conflicts that threaten to destabilize development gains; and
 

4) Increase the capabilities and assets of households to adapt and recover from shocks and stresses.
 

The BRACED Programme Director will be responsible for the overall management, implementation and reporting of the DFID-funded, multi-year Building resilience and adaptation to climate extremes and disasters programme (BRACED) program. 

BRACED, a 4.5 million GBP programme, is a Mercy Corps-led program that includes four consortium partners poised to build the absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of more than 200,000 individual households in northern Kenya (Wajir) and northern Uganda (Karamoja). 

The Programme Director is the lead team member responsible for quality, timely and on-budget program delivery and demonstrating program impact. 

This position helps Mercy Corps in Kenya achieve objective #4 while helping to advance Mercy Corps’ resilience strategy for East Africa.
 

General Position Summary: The Programme Director will provide overall leadership, management and strategic vision for BRACED, managing staff and resources to ensure that the program meets its targets and deliverables on-time and within budget. 

The Programme Director will supervise key program staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations. 

He/she will be the primary program representative to donors, relevant government entities, partners, other implementers and external stakeholders for BRACED. 

Involvement of and communication with four consortium partners will be key in maximizing partners’ programme contributions and ensuring programme success.
 

Essential Job Functions:
 

Program Implementation

• Provide leadership and strategic vision in all aspects of program implementation, development and management.


• Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities, government strategies and partners, and aligned with Mercy Corps principles and strategic plan.


• Ensure adherence to the DFID/KPMG grant agreement and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.


• Oversee the workplans, schedules and performance of consortium partners and sub-grantees.


• Conduct frequent field visits to all project sites.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) and Reporting

• Facilitate the achievement of program targets and objectives and lead efforts to design effective M&E systems with consortium guidance.


• Ensure timely and quality formal and informal reporting on all aspects of the program that includes feedback loops with team members and consortium partners.


• Ensure BRACED monitoring staff lead the process of converting monitoring information to useable forms for program managers and staff to act on it and make management decisions.


• Ensure that M&E staff focus on assisting programs to generate practical information that can be used for ongoing program decision-making while also capturing results at the impact level.

Coordination and Representation

• Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with the Country Director.


• Coordinate activities with consortium partners, sub grantees, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.

Staff Management, Professional Development and Team building

• Create a work atmosphere conducive to professional growth and development of excellent personnel at all levels.


• Implement, and ensure all staff are effectively using, the performance planning and management system, establishing performance expectations and regularly providing constructive feedback.


• Promote accountability by conducting staff annual performance reviews with direct supervisees, and ensuring that supervisory staff do the same.


• Contribute to country and regional team-building efforts and strategies, and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

Program Support Operations

• Coordinate with program and finance and administration staff to ensure operational systems are in place to support field activities including logistics (transport, warehousing and asset management), procurement, security, administration and human resources.


• Propose the design of new local policies as needed and in accordance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations.

Security

• Work closely with the country teams’ security focal points to develop and maintain systems that ensure the safety and security of the team in all aspects of its work.


• Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security management priorities.


• Ensure BRACED staff members adhere to all Mercy Corps security protocols.

Accountability: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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.

Organizational Learning: As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.
 

Supervisory Responsibility:

• Direct supervision of: Programme Managers (1 Wajir-based and 1 Karamoja-based), BRACED Coordinator and Learning Manager (Nairobi-based).


• Reports Directly To: Country Director, Kenya (with a dotted line to Uganda Country Director)


• Works Directly With: Kenya and Uganda Country Directors, finance and operations personnel, other Programme Managers in both countries (where multiple programs operate), HQ RPT members, and TSU team members.

Knowledge and Experience:

• MA, MSc or equivalent in social science, management, international development or other relevant field.


• Eight years of overseas experience including four years in a senior management position, including at a regional/cross-country level.


• Previous experience with and strong understanding of DFID rules, regulations and compliance issues. Experience working with a Fund Manager is a plus.


• Strong written and oral communication skills in English, including report development, writing and editing.


• Strong management skills, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues.


• Experience managing Resilience and/or Climate Change Adaptation projects


• Proven understanding of both urban and rural livelihoods systems, climate change adaptation strategies, and resilience programming.


• Experience implementing activities in East Africa, and specifically Kenya and Uganda – with a strong understanding of the current political, economic, cultural and historical context of both countries


• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.

Success Factors: The successful Programme Director will possess demonstrated management skills and experience in maintaining donor and partner relationships. 

He/she will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage innovative programs within the parameters of the BRACED grant and Mercy Corps’ regional strategy. 

S/he will also have proven experience working with cross-cultural teams, mentoring staff, and staff development. 

Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. 

The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

The successful Programme Director must be comfortable operating and traveling in a sometimes volatile security environment and therefore, changing plans and program tactics accordingly.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions: The Programme Director role is based in Nairobi. The location is accompanied and secure. Housing is individual accommodation with freedom of movement beyond the house/office. 

There are seven reputable international schools in Kenya. Staff have a high degree of access to medical, electricity, water, etc. This position requires 50% travel to field offices in both secure and insecure environments.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. 

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 in all in-country venues.

Interested candidates who meet the above required qualifications and experience should follow the following link to apply for the position http://bit.ly/1RzdRKA on or before Wednesday, 10th February 2016.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. 

Only Shortlisted candidates will be contacted.