CHARITY JOBS IN AFRICA

Organization: Mercy Corps
Country: Central African Republic
Closing date: 29 Nov 2014

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

Mercy Corps has been operational in the Central African Republic (CAR) since September 2007. With offices in the Bangui and in Bouar, Bambari, and Bangassou, Mercy Corps works to integrate short-term humanitarian assistance with programs to strengthen community resilience and support market-led economic development, with a cross-cutting accent on governance and gender. Mercy Corps takes a sustainable approach to its programming, seeking to change behaviors and create institutions to foster long-term development in the sectors of protection, governance, civil society capacity building, water/sanitation, and food security. Funding comes from a range of donors including the European Commission, OFDA, US Department of State, DFID, the United Nations, FIDA, and private donations. By addressing a number of overlapping and associated needs within a wide range of activities, Mercy Corps in CAR takes an integrated approach to ensure the greatest possible impact.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The GBV and Protection Sector Manager will supervise Gender-Based Violence and Protection Programme Managers and teams across five offices, and work closely with the Deputy Country Director (DCD) to ensure effective coordination and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and quality assurance of Mercy Corps CAR’s protection portfolio, which currently includes child protection, gender-based violence (GBV) and protection monitoring programs. In the absence of a full-time GBV-sub cluster co-lead, the GBV and Protection Sector Manager will spend approximately 40% of his/her time as the GBV-sub cluster co-lead at the national level, which Mercy Corps co-chairs, and will work closely with GBV sub-cluster members and the Lead Agency.

The GBV and Protection Sector Manager will focus 100% of the time of the sub-cluster co-lead through end of November 2014 and will actually start as Sector Manager on December 1^st.2014.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Strategy and Vision

• Establish a country-level Protection Program strategy streamlining all protection programs under a clear protection framework that is aligned with the Mercy Corps CAR country strategy and Mercy Corps vision for change.
• Ensure that all Protection Program managers adhere to the country level Protection Program Strategy.
• Provide technical support to the development of relevant advocacy and policy documents to address GBV in the context of broader gender (inequality), GBV and Protection issues.

Team Leadership

• Demonstrate flexibility, resilience and ability to maintain positive relationships and composure.
• Maintain high ethical standards and treat people with respect and dignity.
• Demonstrate an awareness of his/her own strengths and development needs.

Representation

• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
• Establish close and productive relationships with national government authorities and cluster members (UN and NGO) in CAR working on protection, in close coordination with the Deputy Country Director.
• Coordinate with other NGOs working in the protection sector in CAR to consolidate Mercy Corps’ comparative advantage, while identifying new strategic partnerships
• Coordinate with the Mercy Corps Policy and Advocacy department on media and other external statements or advocacy produced in-country.

External Coordination

• Co-facilitate the inter-agency, multisectoral GBV coordination mechanism at the national level – the CAR GBV Sub-Cluster in partnership with UNFPA.
• Mainstream and integrate GBV across the humanitarian response through the inter-cluster coordination and among the different clusters.
• Support and expand use of the Gender-based Violence Information Management System (GBV IMS) to ensure safe and ethical data collection and management.
• Support day-to-day activities of the GBV Sub-Cluster to develop and strengthen multi-sectoral and inter-agency GBV prevention and response interventions including operationalization of referral and reporting mechanisms, information sharing, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, development of national Standard Operating Procedures, supervision of thematic Working Groups, strategy development, media relations, advocacy and technical support to partners where necessary.

Team Management

• Provide leadership in all aspects of program coordination for the protection programs portfolio to ensure consistent quality, including the incorporation of cross-cutting themes, quality data analysis, lessons learned and best practices.
• Ensure that protection program implementation is responsive to communities and partners and aligned with Mercy Corps’ principles, values, global strategic roadmap, and CAR country strategy.
• Work with Protection Program Managers to monitor adherence to grant agreements, Mercy Corps’ policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations;
• Support Protection Program Managers to oversee performance of partners, sub-grantees, and technical contractors and adhere to MC’s Minimum Standards for Program Management.
• Build capacity of protection team members and ensure effective and quality program implementation

Program Coordination

• Coordinate the use of the GBVIMS across all program sites: Collect, compile, and analyze monthly GBV report data with an emphasis on identifying trends and patterns. Develop monthly report formats that capture relevant information and that support the analysis and evaluation of program progress and outcomes.
• Develop and expand a Protection and GBV Toolbox including CAR-specific training programmes for different target groups, and develop and expand Standard Operating Procedures for Listening Centers and other GBV program aspects. Research avenues for continued donor funding of GBV and Protection programs and develop concept notes and proposals
• Ensure that donor reports produced by the protection programs team effectively demonstrate the impact of Mercy Corps’ protection program interventions.
• Ensure that robust monitoring and evaluation, quality data collection and analysis systems are in place for the protection portfolio, adhered to and used as a decision-making tool, encouraging consistency across programs and effective program design.
• In coordination with the Monitoring and Evaluation department, develop CAR-specific, meaningful evaluation and assessment tools and ensure their ethical and effective implementation.

Security

• Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems and training that ensure the safety and security of the team.

Organizational Learning:As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve - we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries:Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: All Protection Program Managers

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Deputy Country Director

MANAGES: All protection programs PMs and staff, both national and expatriate in CAR;

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, Field-based Finance Manager, Operations Manager, other PMs, and other MC team members; local government and sub-cluster member organizations.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• MA/S or equivalent in management, social science, international development, or other relevant field.
• Minimum 5 years’ NGO experience in progressively responsible positions, including at least 2 years in a senior management position.
• Prior experience or training in gender issues and their application in international humanitarian settings.
• Awareness and demonstrable knowledge of gender-based violence and protection issues.
• Knowledge of humanitarian emergency operations and roles/responsibilities of humanitarian actors.
• Experience working in remote emergency settings is essential. Experience in Africa and particularly working in conflict-affected zones is compulsory.
• Strong understanding of donor compliance issues.
• Strong management skills, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues.
• Strong communication skills in English, including report development, writing and editing.
• Demonstrated financial management skills.
• Ability to build, manage, and lead a team of professionals and the ability to function as a team player among peers.
• Demonstrated proficiency with the MS Office software (i.e., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) is required.
• Fluent French and English are essential; familiarity with Sango is an advantage.
• Patience, flexibility and excellent diplomatic skills are critical.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful candidate will have proven experience working in difficult environments and emergency contexts. S/he will have effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational, and prioritization skills with an attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines, and work independently and cooperatively with team members. Essential qualities for this position are 1) an ability to travel and work independently in very remote environments; 2) an ability to cope with insecurity; 3) sensitivity to multi-cultural development work; 4) an ability to train and facilitate dialogue among a diverse group of individuals with various skill sets and working styles; and 5) a commitment to working with community members to make concrete improvements to their livelihoods and living conditions.

LIVING/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

The Central African Republic is a nation of 4.6 million people, ranked as one of the poorest nations in the world, with an average life expectancy of only 39 years. Bangui is a capital city of about 700,000 inhabitants. It has grown more insecure following the overthrow of the previous government by the Séléka coalition last March. In previous years, Bangui was generally free of any serious threats towards international or national staff, outside of petty theft. However, carjacking and targeted looting do occur on occasion. Hospitals and access to quality health care is very limited. Malaria is prevalent. It is estimated that 7-8% of the population may be HIV positive. Suitable group housing is available, but electricity and clean water are sometimes sporadic.

This position is unaccompanied for spouses and/or children and includes hardship allowance and R&R benefits.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps' policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues

How to apply:

Please apply directly at:
http://mercycorps.silkroad.com/epostings/submit.cfm?fuseaction=app.dspjo...