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.
Department Summary
Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of approximately 400 people working in Eastern DRC. Mercy Corpsโ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Mercy Corpsโ 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 DRCโs humanitarian programs aim specifically to assist populations affected by the conflict and crisis in Eastern Congo with multi-purpose cash assistance and emergency WASH support to displaced and host populations. Currently, the DRC program represents one of Mercy Corpsโ largest country programs world-wide.
Mercy Corps DRC's humanitarian programs aim to assist populations affected by conflicts and crises in Eastern Congo. With funding from BHA, FCDO and ECHO and an expanding portfolio of over USD $60 million, Mercy Corps currently delivers multi-sectoral cash and voucher assistance and emergency WASH to displaced populations and host communities in North Kivu and lturi as well as a second-line response in more stable areas with complementary agriculture and financial inclusion activities to support early recovery of affected communities. Mercy Corps is the lead agency for the SAFER Consortium (Strategic Assistance for Emergency Response). The Consortium, funded by BHA, FCDO and ECHO, is composed of ACTED, Concern Worldwide, Mercy Corps, NRC and Solidarites International. SAFER has the overall goal of allowing the population affected by conflict and shocks to cover their basic needs. The program supports the specific outcome of delivering a coordinated humanitarian response that enables vulnerable households affected by conflict and shocks to have safe and equitable access to multi-sectoral emergency assistance and basic WASH services to reduce reliance on negative coping mechanisms. All Mercy Corps interventions in DRC are implemented in a conflict, protection and gender sensitive manner.
General Position Summary
Mercy Corps is seeking an Emergency Program Performance Manager. The Program Performance Manager will be a critical member of the Emergency Program leadership team, reinforcing the department in terms of internal performance management. The role will oversee adherence with the Program Management @ Mercy Corps (PM@MC) minimum standards throughout the program lifecycle for all emergency grants, working closely with the Emergency Grants Manager and Emergency MEL Manager to conduct quality assurance for standard outputs and providing trainings and resources to team members in line with the Program Management Learning Pathway. They will develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for operational processes, ensure sound internal communications, and act as a hub for knowledge management within the program. They will be responsible for record management and archiving and the maintenance of the programโs quality assurance charter (QAC) process. In addition, they will oversee external program communications, working closely with the country communications team, and will play a critical role in oversight of the sub-recipient programmatic monitoring process for all Mercy Corps partners.
Essential Responsibilities
STRATEGY AND VISION
Help to facilitate a culture of curiosity, learning and adaptive work planning and implementation with program teams.
Contribute to knowledge-sharing, lessons learned and best practices documentation for the Emergency program to build an understanding of our results, impact, and contribution to outcomes, and when relevant support creating bridges in terms of shared learning agenda with the development portfolio.
Maintain regular communication with country-level PaQ focal points to identify opportunities for innovative collaboration with other departments and programs and advise senior leadership on ways to drive forward quality programming and leverage cross-program learning.
Support in representing Mercy Corps in key internal and external meetings where requested by the Emergency Programs Director.
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
Maintain Emergency program management dashboard in line with Mercy Corps PM@MC minimum standards to track and improve performance and quality.
Ensure that program team members are trained in required Program Management Learning Pathway curricula (PM@MC, Project D Pro certification) as applicable.
Development and maintenance of online quality assurance charter (QAC) system, ensuring compliance with Mercy Corpsโ deliverable quality assurance check process.
Work with teams to develop program management tools and guidelines including standard operating processes, workflow process design, complex Gantt program tools, risk tools etc.
Oversee the implementation of team coordination mechanisms such as shared calendars, internal communications and meeting schedules, ensuring effective communication between all bases and between program and support departments (including logistics, procurement, Crisis Analysis Team, security, administration and human resources).
Provide support / lead (as required) internal comms and meetings such as partner check-in meetings, regular meetings, 90-day end of program transition meetings.
Ensure compliance with Mercy Corps document retention and archiving practices (Program Record Management & Retention policy) through maintenance of the program file and of the Record Retention Schedule & Inventory.
Support the Emergency Programs Director in maintaining strong and transparent communication with all partners.
Oversee programmatic monitoring of sub-recipients โ both current and future โ ensuring that monitoring and quality assurance is conducted across performance, quality and organizational aspects of implementation.
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Work closely with the DRC Sr. Media & Communications Advisor to ensure that external communications products are regularly developed and disseminated with relevant stakeholders in languages, formats and media that are appropriate for, accessible, and can be understood by the target population.
Support the Emergency Program Director and Sr. Communications Officer to implement the Emergency Communications Plan in addition to delivering on donor communications and visibility requirements.
Supervisory Responsibility
Sr. Communications Officer (dotted line for administrative supervision)
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Emergency Programs Director
Works Directly With: Deputy Emergency Programs Director, Emergency Grants Manager, Emergency MEL Manager, Program Managers (Cash, WASH, Food Security & Livelihoods), DRC PaQ Unit (including the PM@MC Advisor and the Sr. Media & Communications Advisor), DRC Crisis Analysis Team, and other associated support departments.Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program 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 and transferrable skills
Equivalent practical experience or BA/S in management, social science, political science, international development, or another relevant field.
At least 5 years of experience in international development programming, preferably in Africa or in a protracted crisis environment.
At least 3 yearsโ experience with managing US and/or European institutional donors, including strengths in grant management, coordination and donor reporting
Certified in program management.
Patient and committed to capacity building, training and coaching of a team with diverse skillsets.
Experience in implementing and managing programs including work-planning, risk management, governance and resource management.
Demonstrated practitioner level capability in time-based planning tools โ such as Microsoft Project or similar โ or an in-depth understanding in how to approach their use.
Demonstrable ability to produce high quality deliverables at speed and with minimal direction
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, and the capacity to work at a strategic level with senior leaders (both internal and external) is essential
Ability to multi-task and juggle several tasks and relationships at one time, with little to no direction
Proven ability to work effectively in multicultural teams and with technical and administrative staff and consultants
Fluent English required and fluent French desirable
Ability to work in a sometimes solitary environment with moderate to high levels of insecurity and significant restrictions on personal movement
Prior work experience in the DRC and demonstrable understanding of the context a significant advantage
Success Factors
The successful Program Performance Manager will combine exceptional strategic thinking skills with an ability to focus on minute details. S/he will approach the position with a systems-thinking lens, possessing a high level of adaptability to creatively find solutions when things donโt go to plan, and continuously pushing for systematic improvements and growth. The ability to demonstrate exceptional interpersonal, relationship and cross-cultural communication skills especially in high stress environments is essential for success.The Program Performance Manager will have proven experience with cross-cultural team and capacity building, individual staff development and strong mentoring skills. S/he will provide the space and support for the team members to realize their full potential in a high pressured environment. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail as well as 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
This position is an unaccompanied position. Shared accommodation will be provided in Goma according to Mercy Corps DRC housing policy.Goma is a provincial capital of over 700,000 inhabitants. Living in Goma is mostly comfortable, although water and electricity can be unstable. Outside Goma, travel can be dangerous and unpredictable due to armed forces and rebel activity.
While conditions in the country are improving, and security is quite stable in Goma, there are still pockets of violence and insecurity. Mercy Corps' sub-offices experience variable levels of insecurity, with the situation closely monitored by UN peacekeepers. Air travel is necessary to get from one end of the country to the other. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. Travel to field sites will be required where living conditions are clean and secure, but basic. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses. Thereโs reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive.
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.
Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corpsโ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.
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 developmentDiversity, 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 elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.