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West & Central Africa Resilience Officer

PROGRAM SUMMARY:
With the aim of increasing our impact and reach in the Sahel, the West & Central Africa team seeks to expand innovative solutions that build lasting resilience in the region; based on programs and research implemented in the region, while strengthening our evidence-base of what works. Mercy Corps’ operations in the West & Central Africa region are comprised of Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo; and are set to expand to other countries within North West, West and Central Africa. All these countries present many challenges while undergoing dramatic transitions that also create significant opportunity for development and change. Mercy Corps is well-placed to play a meaningful role in supporting forces for positive change in these countries. Our path to ensuring continued relevance and having significant impact will be through the clear identification of high leverage strategies and related resource mobilization, learning about what works in the current context and from our significant experience in the region, recruiting and developing exceptional regional team members to lead our programs.
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
Focusing on the Sahel region, the Resilience Officer will coordinate the West & Central Africa resilience efforts. In consultation with the West & Central Africa team, and in order to increase our influence, impact and reach, s/he will identify and build strategic partnerships with key peer organizations, private sector actors and academic institutions. S/he will support Country Directors and their teams to design and implement innovative, quality programs that build resilience in the Sahel. S/he will assist country teams in establishing management and monitoring & research mechanisms that support resilience. To promote learning, s/he will serve as the agency’s focal point for resilience in the Sahel, working with country teams, technical support teams and partners to build capacity and share lessons learned and best practices across programs and countries.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Program Quality
  • Coordinate the work of a Sahel resilience matrix team.
  • Keep abreast of new thinking and innovations in areas of ‘resilience’ and support their integration into programming.
  • Work closely with country teams and HQ program teams to ensure coordinated and complementary processes are in place for innovative program design and implementation.
  • Work closely with Country Directors, HQ program teams and partners to develop, test and roll out capacity building measures on resilience for country teams, including support visits, training workshops and designing/disseminating tools and resources. Identify internal and external support required.
  • Support teams to ensure incorporation of gender consideration and the inclusion of persons with disability in resilience programs.
Program Development
  • In line with country and regional strategies, develop or support development of innovative high quality concept papers and proposals to further resilience building in the Sahel.
  • Work with HQ program teams and country teams to preposition for and design and support multi-sectoral programs that build resilience.
  • Support teams to conduct systemic vulnerability and risk assessments and analyze data, on an annual basis, and to routinely conduct such assessments for new areas of programming and new target areas.
Representation, Partnerships and Outreach
  • Identify strategic partners for resilience building and work with the West & Central Africa team to engage them, build new relationships and secure new partnerships. Represent Mercy Corps and our programs to potential partners.
  • Represent Mercy Corps and Sahel resilience programs at external events and with a variety of potential donors.
Learning and Impact
  • In collaboration with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team, support monitoring, research and learning mechanisms. Design and coordinate the research agenda for this initiative.
  • Support country and HQ program teams in creating learning documents, evidence-based research, and impact studies that demonstrate the extent to which our programming is impacting the lives of our beneficiaries.
  • Produce program briefs highlighting achievements and learning.
  • Promote country teams’ work within the organization and participate in community of practice and other internal forums around resilience building.
  • Identify and disseminate best practices in collaboration with technical and country teams.
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 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.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None

ACCOUNTABILITY:
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Regional Program Director
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Country Directors, country program teams, HQ program teams (Senior Program Officers, Technical Support team, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team), partners
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
  • BA/S or equivalent experience required in agriculture, environmental management, governance or other relevant international development field required and MA preferred.
  • 3-5 years of experience in international development and humanitarian assistance, including in Africa, required. Experience in the Sahel highly desirable.
  • Proven experience coordinating teams, negotiating and influencing others to get results without formal supervisory authority.
  • Thorough understanding of Resilience thinking required, with an understanding of Mercy Corps’ approach to resilience a plus. Strong understanding of food security, youth, peace-building, livelihoods and environmental programs required.
  • Demonstrated experience designing and supporting high quality programs funded by a variety of donors required.
  • Strong representation, networking and facilitation skills necessary.
  • Fluency in oral and written English and French required.
  • Ability to work independently and to work collaboratively with a diverse geographically spread team.
SUCCESS FACTORS:
  • High capacity to deliver results under tight deadlines with multiple priorities.
  • Ability to think ahead and decide on course of action, ensuring that the required resources to implement are available to achieve high end result.
  • Commitment and openness to new practices, concepts, ideas and change for continuous improvement.
  • Ability to develop personal relationships with a variety of people in a variety of contexts, across virtual teams.
  • Ability to represent both the programs and heart of Mercy Corps to external audiences.
LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:
This position will be based in the employee’s home country if this is determined to be of strategic importance or at Mercy Corps headquarters office but will require at least 40% travel time to field locations where living conditions may be exceptionally rugged or be in volatile environments where security protocols will need to be followed. Some domestic travel may also be required. When in the field the team member will need to able to work in remote settings and possibly over weekends and/or evening as required by the schedule.
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.