Mercy Corps Nigeria’s humanitarian program aims to provide assistance to populations affected by the crisis in Northeast Nigeria. With funding from humanitarian donors including OFDA, FFP, EU, and ECHO the humanitarian programs engage in several interventions including but not limited to food assistance, non-food items (NFI), protection, livelihoods, cash transfers, WASH and capacity building of humanitarian response actors. Mercy Corps is scaling-up and expanding its humanitarian response in Northeast Nigeria to reach more beneficiaries with additional assistance in a wider geographic area.

POSITION :  Senior Program Officer - Gender and Protection

General Position Summary

• The Gender and Protection Senior Program Officer is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of Protection sector activities including the mobilization of women’s groups, training on topics such as psychological first aid, and sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), and the validation of referral pathways in three (3) states in Northeast Nigeria (Gombe, Adamawa and Borno).
• The Senior Program Officer will also advise other sector teams on gender and protection mainstreaming and best practices.
• The Gender and Protection Senior Program Officer will work closely with the Team Leader, Head of Office, and support staff (including finance, operations, and administration) to ensure that activities are implemented according to schedule, budget and required quality.
• The position includes the daily management of program staff. The Gender and Protection Senior Program Officer reports directly to the Team Leader and will work closely with the I-SING Programme Manager.

Essential Job Functions
Strategy and Vision:

• Recognize opportunities to evolve the current humanitarian portfolio into a more effective and impactful portfolio addressing the changing needs of conflict-affected populations.
• Contribute to country-wide strategy development.

Representation and Coordination:

• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with communities, local authorities and other stakeholders.
• Ensure effective coordination with relevant working groups, UN, ICRC and colleagues I/NGO agencies.

Program Management:

• Oversee the implementation of protection sector activities and administration of the teams across three field locations;
• Develop activity workplans and manage day-to-day activity implementation;
• Ensure that program implementation is responsive to community needs, meets targets, and is carried out in line with best practices;
• Ensure that beneficiaries are effectively targeted according to vulnerability criteria;
• Establish and maintain effective program reporting, and monitoring and evaluation systems (to track, analyze and report on results) for both internal and external use;
• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate;
• Ensure program filing system is in place, adheres to internal and donor regulation and filing is regularly maintained;
• Adhere to all MC policies related to security, operations and transport/ logistics information related to programming.

Team Management:

• Supervise, hire and orient team members, as necessary;
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence;
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews;
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives;
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Identify any gaps or capacity needs within the team and ensure training and capacity building is incorporated into program planning.

Finance & Compliance Management:

• Ensure compliance with all donor and Mercy Corps regulations;
• Oversee the protection sector activity budgets and project monthly cash flow.

Security:

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership;
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

Other:

• Promote portfolio-wide adherence to Gender Minimum Standards.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility: Program Officers and Program Assistants
Reports Directly To: Team Leader
Works Directly With: Head of Office, MEL, Finance, Program and Operation teams

Knowledge and Experience

• MA/MS/MBA in relevant field required.
• Minimum 4-5 years of experience working on the development, implementation, administration and compliance of a field-based international development or humanitarian program; specifically in economic recovery.
• Prior experience implementing livelihoods programs is essential, preferably in conflict settings.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders to identify beneficiaries according to criteria required.
• Experience with running assessments, monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts required.
• Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media and the public.
• Commitment to renewing and maintaining knowledge of best practices
• Demonstrated training and facilitation experience
• Ability to work under pressure
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is required.

Success Factors:

• Must be able to work independently and show initiative. Strong leadership, communication, and management skills are essential.
• Understanding of humanitarian principles and their application to program implementation is required.
• Ability to supervise, mentor and coach a diverse team.
• Must be able to problem solve and multi-task on a range of administrative and programmatic issues.

How To Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should submit CV's and Cover Letter in one document, addressing the position requirements to: recruitment.nigeria@ng.mercycorps.org

Note

• All applications must include the position title in the subject line and not more than 4 pages.
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
• We are an equal opportunity organization and we strongly encourage women to apply for this position.