Deputy Chief of Party, USAID-Funded Pioneers-Raedat Activity

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Program/Department Summary

Mercy Corps has worked in Palestine since 1986 and currently operates across Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Mercy Corps works to empower Palestinians to meet their basic needs and overcome the effects of the humanitarian crises, as well as contribute to improving economic opportunities in the long term to become more self-sufficient and civically engaged, to live with greater dignity and create a brighter future. We believe women and youth are vital stakeholders in this vision and we prioritize programming that empowers and enables them to be leaders in their communities. The Palestine program currently has a total budget of USD $45 million, representing 10 active grants funded by USAID, BHA, ECHO, Global Affairs Canada, SIDA, and others. The country portfolio focuses on humanitarian response with a view to aligning with the nexus by integrating sustainable development and durable solutions approaches, as well as longer term development programs focusing on Palestinian youth to ensure lasting impact.

Mercy Corps is seeking a qualified Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP) to provide technical leadership and management support to the implementation of the five-year USAID-funded Pioneers-Raedat Activity. The proposed program will contribute to women’s empowerment in the West Bank and Gaza by increasing women's access to leadership opportunities and enhancing the enabling environment to be more receptive for women's participation in civic, political, and economic decision making. This will be achieved through 1) enhancing women’s representation and leadership capabilities; 2) improving equitable and safe enabling environments for women; and 3) increasing the adoption of inclusive social norms and workplace rights.

The Position

The Deputy Chief of Party will assist the Activity’s Chief of Party (CoP) in providing technical leadership and oversight of programmatic interventions to ensure quality, timeliness, and efficiency of all products and interventions generated under the Pioneers- Raedat Activity. In the absence of the CoP, the DCOP will be responsible for technical leadership, administrative oversight, and overall coordination of the activity. The DCoP will supervise key technical and implementing program staff, and will oversee the day-to-day operations and quality of work to ensure delivery of tasks and accountability to program participants as well as Mercy Corps and donor policies, rules, and regulations. The DCoP will report to the Activity’s Chief of Party.

Essential Responsibilities
TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP

• Under the guidance of the CoP, set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve program objectives.
• Ensure program strategies and activities represent global good practice in gender equity and social inclusion, creating transformational changes in gender and social norms by strengthening the enabling environment and institutional capacity, and addressing structural barriers for women.
• Ensure program implementation in close collaboration with other programs and stakeholder commitments and priorities
• Lead the socialization of the program with key technical stakeholders to enhance buy-in and collaboration at all levels, as required.
• Serve as the primary senior program leader responsible for developing and refining an integrated program design, and for ensuring that GESI, governance, and resilience are closely integrated into all sector areas with an overarching resilience approach, in line with Mercy Corps’ global model.
• Drive outside the box thinking and exploration of technical approaches and cultivate innovative partnerships in pursuit of program outcomes.
• Supervise and/or review the work of program consultants.

  PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

  • Lead aspects of program startup, including key assessments, baseline analysis and target design, participant targeting, and refinement of clear strategy approach documentation in collaboration with program teams.
  • Support operational aspects of program startup in conjunction with HR, admin, logistics, and finance teams, to ensure program implementation needs are sufficiently met.
  • Develop evidence-based and contextually appropriate gender-inclusive strategies that promote gender equality and the advancement of women’s leadership and draw on proven approaches and results of studies, baseline data and formative research.
  • Lead the development of detailed implementation plans, flowing from annual implementation workplan, and ensure delivery of activities with technical quality and operational efficiency. Develop an implementation plan for the gender strategy and work with the Activity team and partners to ensure that a focus gender and social inclusion, is integrated throughout all activities.
  • Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.
  • Provide managerial and programmatic oversight to partners and sub-grantee(s).
  • Oversee efforts to design and implement effective program M&E systems, including linkages with Mercy Corps’ internal M&E systems.
  • Produce written reports on program activities, capturing the impacts of activities.
  • Document processes and achievements to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated. This will include the continual re-evaluation of program activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments in keeping with new insights.
  • Create and follow effective stakeholder management plans, ensuring sound and proactive communications with Mercy Corps Palestine, partner organizations, Mercy Corps headquarters, USAID, peer agencies, and other key stakeholders.
  • Conduct frequent field visits to project sites.
  • Fulfill Mercy Corps’ Program Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide.

    COORDINATION, INFLUENCE, AND REPRESENTATION

    • As directed by the CoP, represent Mercy Corps at donor, NGO, and other relevant events or field visits.
    • Coordinate activities with consortium partners, subgrantees, and other stakeholders and implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.
    • Work with colleague organizations, especially USAID implementing partners, to explore synergies in program implementation and reduce potential duplication of resources.
    • Encourage, support, and mobilize implementing partners for issue-based advocacy.

      TEAM MANAGEMENT

      • Supervise and manage, directly or indirectly, program staff to ensure day-to-day activities are implemented in a coordinated fashion according to schedule, budget, and the highest quality standards.
      • Ensure all teams members and partners have internalized the program vision and theory of change.
      • Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles, and assist team members with tools, resources, and feedback to improve performance and reach objectives.
      • Supervise and manage all program partnerships and organizations (sub-awardees), including an indirect role for partners’ staff, to ensure sound coordination in the context of an inclusive and strategic program management framework.
      • Coordinate with, and ensure the team is coordinating with, procurement, logistics, security, administration, and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities.
      • Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

        SECURITY

        • Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.
        • Ensure that activities are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

          FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

          • In coordination with the country program's operations and finance departments, ensure effective financial management, procurement, administration, human resources, and logistics (including transport, warehousing, and asset management).
          • Monitor adherence to the award agreement, Mercy Corps' policies and procedures, and relevant external rules and regulations.
          • Support the CoP in leadership of monthly Budget vs. Actual (BvA) analysis processes, with monthly forecasting tied to work plans, and help lead the process of adaptive management.