About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of around 200 people working in North and South Kivu, with the overall country goal to support vulnerable communities through crises, while fostering programs that build resilience and promote long-term change. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in North Kivu and South Kivu. Mercy Corps’ key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs in order to: 1) Improve water service delivery and ensuring equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas; 2) Improve food security and nutrition; 3) Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development. Mercy Corps DRC’s humanitarian programs aim specifically to assist populations affected by the conflict and crisis in Eastern Congo. With funding from humanitarian donors including OFDA and UN-donors, the humanitarian portfolio continues to expand in order to provide multi-purpose cash assistance and emergency WASH to displaced and host populations. Mercy Corps plans to scale up and expand its humanitarian response to reach more beneficiaries with additional and varied assistance in a wider geographic area. All Mercy Corps interventions in DRC are implemented in a conflict and gender sensitive manner.
General Position Summary
The Rapid Response & Cash Program Manager is responsible for the implementation of the cash component of Mercy Corps’ response. The position includes coordination between a variety of internal and external stakeholders and daily management of program activities and program staff ensuring appropriate systems and support mechanisms are in place to track, analyze and report on results. The Rapid Response & Cash Program Manager is a strong team leader, able to develop and mentor field team members. S/he is responsible for managing relationships with local partners and international colleague agencies, beneficiaries, local authorities and donor representatives. S/he contributes to achievement of agency goals through innovation, program development and expertise in humanitarian programming. This role requires astute skills in relationship building and coordination to facilitate program expansion.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategy & Vision
- Develop a global strategy for the implementation of Cash & Voucher Assistance (CVA) Programs
- Lead programmatic expansion of cash and livelihoods in the mission.
- Identify new strategic opportunities and position Mercy Corps for high-impact humanitarian response.
- Set program direction by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve objectives and contribute to country and regional-wide strategy development.
- Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.
Program Management
- Provide cash advice for the Mercy Corps – DRC mission;
- Develop a global strategy for the implementation of Cash & Voucher Assistance (CVA) Programs, systems, methods, technical tools and materials;
- Supervise and manage the implementation of CVA by ensuring that quality and technical standards are taken into account and respected throughout the interventions;
- Represent Mercy Corps at coordination meetings and Cash Working Group meetings;
- Participate in the recruitment of the technical team staff (development of organizational charts, ToR, development and revision of tests, interviews, etc.);
- Develop/written SOP’s and ensure that each member of the Emergency Program team knows and understands them;
- Carry out market analysis and Multisectoral Rapid Assessment within the framework of the CVAs;
- Analyze initial response options to make decisions on the programs to be implemented and the types and combinations of assistance (voucher fair, cash transfers, E-voucher, etc.);
- Ensure quality control, value-added and impact analyses, identification and capitalization of best practices and lessons learned and make relevant feedback for the development of new projects;
- Ensure that the implementation of the program is adapted to communities, authorities and partners and in line with the relevant guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan of Mercy Corps programs (such as gender policy, Do No Harm principles and beneficiary accountability standards);
- Provide support the designing, budgeting, implementation planning, programme implementation and execution;
- Contribute to the drafting of reports on CVA activities, in accordance with the requirements of Mercy Corps and donors.
- Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget.
- Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.
- Provide leadership developing and enhancing the quality of the livelihoods programs implemented by MC DRC, and analysis to determine appropriate interventions
- Work closely with other MC programs to ensure a holistic approach, especially ensure a close collaboration with protection to facilitate protection mainstreaming and referrals between Livelihoods and Protection teams
- Proactive coordination with other livelihood actors including consortia partners, and other actors implementing similar or complementary interventions
- Proactive coordination with the Nutrition/Food Security/Livelihoods sector, other relevant sectors, national authorities,
- Develop and lead needs assessments around feasible solutions for IDPs and villages in terms of livelihoods and social cohesion, including development of village savings and loan association
- Ensure the quality of the monitoring, evaluation and learning process for the Livelihoods Programme as well as strengthening the effort to document the impact of Livelihoods activities, in collaboration with the MEL team
Team Management
- Develop and facilitate training sessions and capacity building on CVA for emergency program staff, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
- Carry out regular team evaluations and monitor career management;
- Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
- Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
- Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
- Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.
Finance & Compliance Management
- Manage financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
- Oversee the program budgets, project cash flow and expenditures.
Representation & Coordination
- Represent Mercy Corps as co-leader of the CWG for North – Kivu
- Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with donors, local authorities, group and other stakeholders.
- Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
- Liaise with selected financial service provider(s) on operational planning to ensure that program participants receive assistance as smoothly as possible.
Security
- Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
- Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
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
Senior Program Officers (direct supervision), rapid response team (indirect supervision)
Accountability
Reports Directly to: Emergency Programs Deputy Director
Works Directly with: WASH Program Manager, Food Security & Agriculture Program Manager, Logistics and Finance teams, Protection and Gender teams, Cash Working Group
Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
- BA/BS or equivalent in international studies, economics or other relevant field; MA/S preferred.
- 5-7 years of international relief and development program management experience, in emergency program management.
- Previous demonstrated experience in cash or voucher programming, market analysis and coordinating implementation with service providers.
- Demonstrated ability to manage and communicate effectively with ethnically diverse team members of varied work styles.
- Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving.
- Proven ability to learn quickly, lead a program to achieve stated results and objectives.
- Experience with the development, implementation & compliance of USAID (OFDA and FFP)/DFID and ECHO funded programs.
- Ability to effectively represent Mercy Corps and its interests to key stakeholders.
- Experience working with local authorities, national and international NGOs.
- Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational and prioritization skills.
- Previous experience in insecure environments.
- Internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.
- Knowledge of Sphere standards and other training in humanitarian response preferred.
Success Factors
The successful Rapid Response & Cash Program Manager will combine exceptional management skills and experience in maintaining donor and partner relationships. S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the region. S/he will also have proven experience with cross-cultural team and capacity building, individual staff development and strong mentoring skills. S/he will possess a high level of adaptability and be able to adjust to the constantly changing working environment. S/he will have previous experience in implementing large scale emergency programs in insecure and conflict context. Prioritizing, problem solving, ability to seize opportunities, 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.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in (Goma, DRC) and it requires frequent travel and long stays in field sites in Eastern DRC. Work on weekends and evenings may be required periodically based on the demands of the program.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside 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.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.