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 โ helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
The Program
Mercy Corps has worked across Iraqโs 18 governorates since 2003, implementing relief and development programming, more than a third of which has focused on the specific needs of refugees and displaced persons. Mercy Corps Iraqโs goal is to work with civil society, public and private sector partners to meet immediate needs and reduce longer-term vulnerabilities of communities within Iraq. Mercy Corps currently implements programming in WASH, education, cash, psychosocial support, livelihoods and social cohesion funded by donors that include AFD, OFDA, BPRM, Sida, AFD, GIZ, DFID and GAC.
General Position Summary
Mercy Corps Iraq is implementing a market systems development (MSD) agriculture program that aims to improve the business environment for farmers and agribusinesses, improve access to financial services, as well as social cohesion in the area of Hamdaniya in Ninewa and Tikrit, Baiji and Samara in Salaha-din Governorates.
The Deputy Director PERMA is responsible for providing strategic leadership on intervention design, as well as managing the effective implementation of the project. This includes the management of team members and partners, as well as adherence to the project workplan and its deliverables.
The Deputy Director should be a strong relationship builder, able to motivate and engage team members and partners and have the practical experience of how to implement the approach within a complex environment.
Essential Responsibilities
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
Ensure the programme meets targets, is on time, on scope and on budget. Ensure accurate budget forecasting and analysis and oversee the programme procurement plan. Oversee day to day program implementation overseeing deliverables by team members across sectors, partners and intervention areas, ensuring quality implementation. Coordinate technical support to Mercy Corps and its partners, ensuring that the approaches are consistent with the market systems development approach and complies with donor regulations and policies. Ensure program meets Program Management @ Mercy Corps (PM@MC) minimum standards. Lead day-to-day donor communications on status of program activities. Effectively communicate program strategy to key internal and external stakeholders. Ensure partnership agreements are monitored and comply with Mercy Corps. policies and procedures and donor/government/external rules and regulations. Prepare high-quality biannual reports in collaboration with the program teams, the MEL team and the Regional Market Systems Advisor. Support the team to conduct market research, identify facilitation tactics and build partnerships. Ensure that intervention implementation is responsive to the needs of target participants and consistent with the proposal design. Ensure that intervention implementation is gender sensitive, politically sensitive, and sustainable; and capacity building, community accountability and reporting mechanisms are fully integrated into all interventions and activity implementation.COORDINATION & REPRESENTATION
Coordinate and effectively supervise the activities implemented by the consortium partners. Ensure partners are delivering activities according to the project proposal and meeting targets. Organize, define the agenda and chair the project technical working group and project Steering Committee. Work in coordination and support the Directorate of Agriculture of Ninewa and Salah al Din in developing its future strategy and policies for the agriculture sector in the governorate. Develop and maintain effective working relationships with all stakeholders โ including consortium partners, NGOs, government officials, clusters, UN agencies, and community based organizations -to enhance cooperation and coordination. Represent Mercy Corps in relevant coordination meetings and other forums with key stakeholders, including private sector prospective partners, government entities, community organisations and farmers. Support Intervention Leads in partnership negotiations, ensuring inclusive, sustainable, scalable and cost-effective interventions. Ensure that information from coordination meetings is shared internally and with other sectors, as appropriate.TEAM MANAGEMENT
Build a strong team culture, ensuring team members and partners feel a sense of collective responsibility and motivation towards a common goal of maximising program impact. Support the Agribusiness Manager and the Financial Inclusion Manager to oversee the design, planning, implementation and documentation of activities. Strengthen the capacity of team members to deliver against project goals, connecting them with training opportunities, information, tools, and resources. Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence. Ensure team members are held accountable towards their deliverables.PROGRAM MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING
Oversee all aspects of design, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and ensure that there is proper documentation and archiving according to internal/donor requirements, in close coordination with the Program Performance and Quality Department. Lead on the development and implementation of program sustainability plans. Support program monitoring, review, and adaptation on an ongoing basis.Security
Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership and agencyโs global standards. Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.Supervisory Responsibility
Financial Inclusion Manager and Agribusiness Manager.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Director of Program Operations and Standards.
Works Directly With: PaQ Team, Program Managers, Program Development and Grants Manager. Coordinates with Regional Technical Advisors and HQ Technical Support Teams.
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.
Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills
Bachelorโs degree or equivalent in agronomy, development, economics, social sciences / international studies, business or related field OR equivalent relevant practical experience. 5+ years of team management experience essential, with technical knowledge in MSD and/or agriculture programs preferable. Strong experience of working directly with local communities, local authorities and the private sector with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues. Demonstrated attention to detail, adherence to procedures, ability to meet deadlines as well as to work independently and cooperatively with team members. Effective multi-tasking, organizational capacity and prioritization skills are necessary. Previous experience living and working in challenging or insecure environments. Excellent communication, writing, critical analysis and negotiation skills.Fluency in spoken and written English. Arabic language skills preferred.Success Factors
The successful candidate will have strong leadership and relationship building skills with the ability to multi-task, set priorities, and work under tight deadlines within a complex, geographically diverse team. S/he will demonstrate strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills and be committed to the values and mission of Mercy Corps with an ability to build team spirit and support their team towards shared goals. S/he will be motivated, solution oriented and driven to ensure outstanding program success. The successful candidate will be an excellent writer with the ability to continually integrate learning into program activities, as well as documentation of such learning to shape the progress of the program.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
This position will be based in Erbil and/or Baghdad and requires frequent travel (50% minimum) to Tikrit/ Salah al din and Mosul.
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 worldโs 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 and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. 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 e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.