Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.
In September 2021, Mercy Corps (MC) and Energy 4 Impact (E4I) merged with the goal of increasing access to climate-smart, sustainable energy for communities in greatest need, globally. Against a backdrop where 800 million people globally lack access to energy, 8 in 10 of whom live in โfragileโ states, there has never been a more urgent time to help these communities build back better with access to clean, sustainable energy, leveraging our organizationsโ collective strengths. The merger unlocks a tremendous opportunity to place sustainable energy at the heart of development, humanitarian, and climate imperatives.
The Team
Mercy Corpsโ Energy 4 Impact platform is implementing a range of regional and country-based energy programmes, with a current focus on Africa. We aim to increase access to clean energy through venture building and advisory, sector strengthening, catalysing capital flows, and research and learning. We achieve impact through innovations and scaling of business models and technologies that improve access, affordability, reliability and service delivery for unserved and underserved communities.
The Position
The Assistant Programme Officer (APO) will work with the E4I Programme Team to support the administration of Mercy Corpsโ E4I portfolio. The APO is primarily responsible for administrative support and assisting the E4I Programme Lead with proposal development, donor reporting and communications. This includes providing assistance with new and existing programmes, directing internal and external programme information flows, liaising with other departments within Mercy Corps, and providing administrative support to the country programmes. S/he plays a key role in managing information and data from the country teams to facilitate use and access of it by other HQ departments and for retention of institutional knowledge.
Essential Responsibilities
ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATIONAL SUPPORT
โ Support the Programme Lead to maintain adequate records of all documentation and correspondence of grants, ensuring that grant information is entered into the Grant and Information Tracker (GAIT) database, the shared drive, the Digital Library and donor tracking systems as requested. Responsible for implementing HQ file retention policy.
โ Track donor requirements for programmes by reviewing grant agreements, tracking reporting requirements and deadlines, and sending regular reminders to the Programme Lead about reporting deadlines.
โ Provide logistical support for field and headquarters teams including processing invoices, consultancy requests, and travel. This includes maintaining a consultancy tracker and supporting the collection of documentation.
โ Ensure that requests from field staff, including invoice fulfillment, are accurately completed and submitted to corresponding HQ teams.
โ Work with the Programme Lead to help ensure that programme quality standards are maintained and that programmes adhere to Mercy Corps and donor requirements, including retention of relevant documents
PROGRAMME AND AWARD ADMINISTRATION
โ Review content, edit, assemble, format, and support to ensure timely submission of donor reports, at the direction of the Programme Lead.
โ Participate in and maintain record/notes of bi-weekly check-in calls with country teams to track implementation challenges, upcoming new business opportunities, and other various support requests from field teams.
โ In coordination with the Programme Lead, prepare and communicate new award initiation summaries to the field teams.
โ Support the Programme Lead in donor portal reporting and content uploading for timely submission.
โ Provide โgap fillingโ as necessary to cover responsibilities, portfolios, country support and donor communications in collaboration with the Programme Lead and Africa Senior Programme Officer.
PROPOSAL SUPPORT
โ Provide administrative support for proposal development such as drafting Past Performance Reports, capacity statements, prior approval letters, waiver request letters and other required documents, copy-editing, formatting and final compilation for submission.
โ Track upcoming proposal opportunities with potential donors in the region and notifying country teams of opportunities, at the direction of the Programme Lead.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
โ Maintain up-to-date country and grant information in Mercy Corpsโ online knowledge management tools, e.g., GAIT, Digital Library, Hub
INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
โ Respond to requests for information from other HQ departments, particularly Resource Development and International Finance, at direction of the Programme Lead.
โ Liaise between field offices and HQ departments, including Recruiting, Human Resources, Resource Development, Finance and Operations to provide support in the areas of recruitment and procurement as needed
Supervisory Responsibility
None.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Programme Lead, E4I
Works Directly With: E4I Programme team, Africa Regional Programme team, Programme and Technical Support Units staff; Finance, Resource Development; Mercy Corps counterparts at Mercy Corps HQ offices in the USA; Mercy Corps donors.
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
โ BA/S in International Development or related field is highly preferred.
โ Two years of demonstrated experience in providing administrative/coordination support required.
โ Proven ability to communicate effectively with colleagues overseas from various backgrounds.
โ Strong understanding of complex challenges faced by field teams in difficult operating environments.
โ Proficiency with MS Office software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Microsoft 365, and Google Suite tools (Google Docs, Sheets, Forms) required
โ Prior NGO or international development experience.
โ Preference given to candidates with prior work experience in Africa.
โ Knowledge of the energy sector and Africa is a plus.
Success Factors
The Assistant Programme Officer must be a detail-oriented multi-tasker who is able to communicate clearly, work under pressure and manage time and prioritize tasks effectively. They must demonstrate patience, flexibility, and taking initiative to independently solve problems with competing deadlines. Vital skills include communication (both written and verbal), organization, time management, and building and maintaining effective internal and external relationships. They must demonstrate the ability to understand and follow agency procedures, meet deadlines, and work both independently and as part of a complex distanced-based, multi-cultural team. An exposure to and interest in international development and/or humanitarian issues is important, and an understanding of the complex challenges faced by programme