Mercy Corps is an international development organization that works in over 40 countries to promote community-led and market-driven development. With a strategic focus on countries in transition, Mercy Corps takes a progressive approach to supporting communities, entrepreneurs, governments and the private sector from relief to long-term economic growth. With a network of over 3,700 experienced professionals around the world, we are uniquely positioned to respond to complex environments and the needs of local communities.
In Uganda, Mercy Corps has been in operating since 2006 in Karamoja specifically in Kotido, ,Abim, Amudat, Kaabong and Moroto; in Northern Region in Gulu; West Nile in Yumbe and Central region specifically Kampala district. Mercy Corps offers technical expertise in Market Development, Gender, Peace and Conflict Management, Economic Empowerment, Food Security Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Agriculture and Agribusiness.
Mercy Corps has implemented and still implements multiple donor-funded projects within and outside the West Nile region with her major donors including but not limited to DANIDA (Danish Government Overseas Aid), Austrian Development Agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Private foundations among others.
Program Summary
The SUSTAINED consortium (Mercy Corps, CARE, and Oxfam) is a gender integrated intervention to increase access and use of quality, reliable, affordable, and clean energy sources for refugees and surrounding host communities. The SUSTAINED programme will adopt a Market Systems Development (MSD) approach, responding to the clear need for linkages to facilitate the entry of quality private sector actors into displacement settings, whilst ensuring that vulnerable populations can access quality products and services, in a safe, supportive environment. In this context, SUSTAINED will work with energy service companies (ESCOs), Financial Service Providers (FSPs), refugee and host communities, to address both demand and supply side barriers. The SUSTAINED programme will also take an ecosystem approach, supporting the development of an enabling environment required for a clean energy marketplace for refugees in Uganda.
General Position Summary
The Senior Program Officer is responsible for project implementation, designing interventions, managing partnerships and resources and will support M&E activities. The SPO will ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations. He/she will report to and work with the Program Manager to engage in program representation to stakeholders, relevant government entities, partners, other implementers, and external stakeholders.
The primary focus of the Senior Program Officer will be to support the community level teams in adapting and scaling integrated activities in respective Districts in collaboration with local government and private sector structures. S/he will be responsible for oversight of quality activities in the assigned District and supervising the Program Officer. The SPO will ensure the day-to-day implementation of the diverse Pump-up activities in consultation with the other program management team members and work closely with the partners. He/she will provide technical and operational support to the other Program staff, ensuring that activities are implemented according to scope and timeline.
S/he will work at the community level, in collaboration with local government and private sector structures, to support implementation of program activities. She/he will provide technical and operational support to the Program Assistants ensuring that activities are implemented according to scope and timeline. She/he will help to ensure the interventions are on time, on scope and on budget and identify opportunities to operationalize recommendations from ongoing context analyses.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Safeguarding Responsibilities
• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work ·
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members ·
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options
Technical Responsibilities
Program Implementation
• Provide leadership and daily oversight for planning and implementation of Pump-up Activities including mentorship, support supervision and managerial support to the program team in the respective two districts.
• Support the program management team in the development of activity plans, budgeting and reporting formats
• Support in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the program activities, in accordance with Pump-up objectives.
• Supervise the activities and performance of Program Officer; participate in routine team meetings, adhere to performance review timelines, troubleshoot challenges and standardize implementation approaches.
• Identify and document best practices and failures in Pump-up Activity programming and provide timely feedback to the program team.
• Assist with ensuring timely and consistent submission of project reports, success stories and other relevant data (i.e. weekly, monthly and quarterly reports).
• Provide oversight to the program assistant regarding adhering to procurement, finance and security policy and procedures, ensuring proper documentation of processes.
• Work closely with the overall program team to coordinate day to day operations and logistics to maximize use of resources and ensure complementary programming.
Monitoring and Evaluation
• Provide ongoing mentorship to the Program team on data collection processes for completeness, accuracy and timely submission. And entry to regularly update the Activity Tracker.
• Responsible for leading with the MEL team on data collection including gender and age disaggregated data, data validation, assuring quality control measures, timely data submission and communicating to MEL sector focal person.
Influence and Representation
• Lead on the support and coordination of visits from district and sub-county government, regional and HQ based staff and external visitors, such as donors and media.
• Support the program manager in coordination and communication of field activities with other NGO and local government partners to avoid duplication of services.
• Establish and maintain a productive working relationship with the local Government and Sub Counties, working in unison to develop complementary joint monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management structures where possible
Program Support Operations
• Coordinate and with support of finance, operations and administration staff to ensure operational systems are in place to facilitate field activities including logistics (transport, warehousing and asset management), procurement, security, administration and human resources.
Knowledge and Experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies Development Studies, Energy, Environmental Science, Engineering, Business Administration, Economics, or related degree.
• At least 3 years of related professional experience. Work experience with NGOs with focus on market facilitation or private sector led approaches or interventions preferred.
• A dynamic, “outside-the-box” attitude is required, with proven ability to think and act creatively in challenging environments.
• Demonstrated skills in data collection, verification and documentation.
• Excellent reporting, communication and representation skills
• Proven skills in networking, team-building, community consultations and organizational development.
• Ability to ride a motorcycle and he/she should be in possession of a valid driving/riding license or willing to obtain one.
• Strong interpersonal, writing and oral presentation skills in English is required. Fluency in languages used by Refugees (Baari, Juba Arabic, Lugbara, and Ki) is preferred.
Supervisory Responsibility
The Senior Program Officer directly supervises the Program Assistant
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Program Manager
Works Directly With: Program Manager, Senior MEL Officer, Program Assistants, Field Operations Team, P&C Team and y Finance Team
Accountability to Participants & Stakeholders
• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our participants 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.
• All Mercy Corps staff are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate the highest level of integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination
Job application procedure
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More Information
- Address Yumbe, Uganda, East Africa
