Livelihood Officers - Wajir, Garissa & Turkana

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

Mercy Corps has been operating in Kenya since 2008, focusing its interventions around four objectives: 1) Peace and Conflict Management; 2) Livelihood/Market Systems; 3) Governance (particularly at the county level); and 4) Youth Employment/Employability (including the social and economic development of adolescents). The four objectives serve to increase community resilience to drought and other shocks and stresses, and to decrease fragility with a particular focus on Kenya’s Arid Lands. Mercy Corps’ vision for change requires the private sector, government and civil society to work together to create meaningful and sustainable change.

Mercy Corps is recruiting two Livelihoods Officers to support human capital development for resilient individuals for a commercial engagement for a five-year USAID-funded Feed the Future (FtF) Livestock Market Systems (LMS) Development Activity for northern Kenya. This position will support the ‘Expanding and Diversifying Economic Opportunities’. This project will support USAID’s Feed the Future Initiative and specifically will improve households’ income, productive assets and resilience to drought and other shocks. Specific areas of focus include, diversifying livelihoods, improving access to financial services, strengthening the policy environment, institutions and governance for livestock and private sector development, improving employability and work readiness skills for young men and women, improved and sustained health, nutrition, and hygiene practices; improved literacy, numeracy, and life skills; and collaborative action and learning for community empowerment.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Livelihoods Officer will be responsible for technical oversight and management of the Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP) a two year women poverty graduation model aimed at supporting human capital development for resilient individuals who are then placed in a commercial engagement. S/he will define implementation strategies in coordination with the County Project Coordinator, Deputy Chief of Party, BOMA project and leadership team. The Livelihoods Officer will train staff and partners, providing them with technical assistance; and ensuring that common strategies and approaches are applied consistently in all communities. S/he will coordinate closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team and BOMA Project to ensure that systems are in place to track, analyze and report results. S/he will keep abreast of changing contexts and integrate new ideas and approaches as appropriate, seek additional technical assistance as needed and ensure effective working relationships with collaborating agencies. S/he will work closely with our partner ACDI/VOCA, who will be leading the implementation of the LMS, and look for opportunities to link programming and clients with their programming and programming across the LMS.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUCNTIONS:

• Contribute to team work plans and guide successful implementation of REAP activities, ensuring teams follow work plans so activities are on time, target and within the approved budget, and program deliverables achieve desired impact;


• Provide technical guidance on the poverty graduation model and ensure that interventions are responsive to stakeholders and consistent with Mercy Corps’ and BOMA project relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan. Ensure that interventions are evidence-based and adhere to adaptive management principles;


• Identify most vulnerable girls/women in the village through community based wealth ranking, Participatory Rural Appraisal and scoring through Participant Targeting Tool for inclusion in the project;


• Train and mentor Field Facilitators to mentor the girls/women to write a business plan of chosen viable businesses and provide two years mentoring during monthly visits;


• Facilitate disbursement of cash grants in two instalments for girls/women to enable them to buy stock and equipment for their business;


• Train girls and women how to run a business, supply and demand, profit and pricing, marketing and record keeping including other trainings such as: life skills, family planning, nutrition, WASH, girls’ education, rights of women and leadership;


• Facilitate girls and women to form savings associations of 5 to 7 businesses that meet monthly to deposit savings which will enable members and village residents access credit for long term expenses and business growth;


• Link women to other traders, markets, financial institutions, public and private institutions;


• Generate and implement monitoring and evaluation tools;


• Play a key role in the development of intervention designs, sector strategies and M&E frameworks.


• Coordinate assessments, evaluations and monitoring surveys in area of operation. This will entail development of Scopes of Work, development of survey tools, trainings and management of data collectors, report write and facilitating results discussion;


• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate including certifying all interventions to adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards;



• Facilitate planning meetings and workshops with government, NGO, private sector, and community partners to revise plans and promote partner acceptance/buy-in;




• In coordination with the MEL team, monitor the implementation of activities through regular field visits and assessments to ensure program quality and impact. Document approaches, successes and lessons learned;

· Coordinate with procurement, logistics, security, administration and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities;

• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance and reach objectives;


• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one and performance review;


• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence;



• Work closely with the HR department to orient and lead team members as necessary;




• Represent Mercy Corps at government, NGO and other relevant community events, in close coordination with the Deputy Chief of Party and County Program Coordinator;




• 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.

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 Beneficiaries

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.

Supervisory Responsibility: REAP Village Mentors

ACCOUNTABILITY

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: County Project Coordinator with a dotted line to BOMA Project focal person

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, GIRL project officer, Community Facilitators, Technical Advisors, finance and operations teams, HQ Regional Program Team, HQ Technical Support Unit, Partner Organizations, and broader LMS team.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• Degree in Community Development, Economic Development, Business, Agriculture, Livestock, Monitoring and Evaluation or related field or diploma with over 3 years’ hands on work experience;


• Minimum of 3 years’ experience working with NGOs/CBO’s in civic engagement, livelihoods and education;


• Should have knowledge of quantitative and qualitative data collection, reporting techniques. S/he should understand and be able to apply basic measures of central tendency and spread;


• Demonstrated computer competency of Microsoft Excel and knowledge of at least one data management software including Ms Access, SPSS, STATA;


• Commitment to working with Women, Girls, youth and vulnerable groups in need, regardless of race, tribe, religion or gender;


• Understanding of working with local partners and commitment to working with the greater Boma Project and LMS team;


• Good problem solving, written and oral communication skills;


• Strong written and spoken English and Swahili;


• Local language skills required


• Ability to work without constant supervision and as part of a mixed team;


• Good knowledge of MS Office software such as Excel, Word, and Access;

SUCCESS FACTORS:

S/he will combine exceptional management skills and capacity to manage relationships with different stakeholders including the greater LMS team. The position requires an ability to think creatively about improving opportunities for women and adolescent girls. The Officer will have the capacity to spark innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to programming and to inspire groups to collaborate closely to implement high-quality programs. S/he will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level. 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.