DIRECTOR – INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH (INTERNAL)

About Mercy Corps

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 — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
Now, and for the future.

Program/Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been operating in Ethiopia since 2004. In partnership with civil society organizations, academic institutions, private sector, and the government, Mercy Corps Ethiopia has reached more than five million Ethiopians with interventions to save lives and build secure livelihoods. Our programs emphasize market-driven solutions, reinforce social bonds, and help communities build resilience to the impacts of climate change. Currently in six regional states – Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, Somali, and South Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR), and in Dire Dawa Administration and the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa – Mercy Corps Ethiopia is driven by the mission to contribute the emergence of a peaceful, resilient, and prosperous Ethiopia which is inclusive of youth and women. Our strategic directions focus in promoting inclusive and dynamic markets; promoting peace and social cohesion through strengthening formal/informal governance structures and citizen engagement; improved natural resource governance; and integrated humanitarian response.

Mercy Corps is currently seeking a qualified Inclusive Economic Growth Director to manage Market System Development (MSD) Programs/Projects and lead new business development in the areas of Economic Growth (MSD) and livelihood development to support strengthened resilience among vulnerable households through increased public and private investments.

General Position Summary

The Director of Inclusive Economic Growth will provide strategic direction and lead all technical, managerial, and representational aspects of Mercy Corps Ethiopia’s economic opportunity, market systems development, financial inclusion, and employment programming. S/he will lead the design, implementation, and evaluation of existing economic growth programs/projects, as well as all efforts to attract new sources of funding for the program. S/he will also provide technical support to ensure that economic and market-related issues are integrated across other parts of the Country Office programs/projects. Beyond Mercy Corps Ethiopia, s/he will contribute to advance strategy, programming, and capacity on market development programs globally, including by sharing learnings from Ethiopia to other country offices in Africa and other regions. The Director will play a key role in establishing and maintaining strong relationships with relevant donors, private sector entities, government actors, and other relevant stakeholders. S/he will directly supervise Program/Project Managers, Team Leaders or Coordinators and other key staff supporting the portfolio.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGIC DIRECTION, PORTFOLIO QUALITY AND GROWTH 

• Provide overall strategic direction and vision, leadership, technical and operational management of the economic growth, market development, and financial services portfolio.
• Lead the development of MC Ethiopia’s strategy for economic growth, market development, and financial services programming.
• Adapt and integrate market systems development approaches across the Country Office portfolio.
• Drive a growth strategy and lead the establishment of partnerships and development of concepts and proposals that attract new funding for the economic growth program.
• Maintain expert awareness of facts and trends affecting Ethiopia’s Economic Growth profile.

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP and PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Oversee programs/projects implementation to ensure that delivery is on-scope, on-time, on-budget, and meeting quality required by donors and Mercy Corps standards.
• Cultivate links at the strategic and activity-levels within the economic growth program and across the Country Office portfolio.
• Serve as technical quality assurance focal point, ensuring quality standards, and working with leadership to improve plans and deliverables of Market Systems Development (MSD) and economic development/growth programs/projects.
• In partnership with the global TSU teams, lead training/capacity building efforts aimed at Program/Project Managers and program/project staff to implement MSD and economic development programs/projects, ensuring they are equipped to analyze incentives and behaviors of businesses and other market players – public, private, formal, and informal – and design lasting and scalable initiatives beneficial to target groups.
• Ensure the integration of crosscutting themes of youth, gender equality and empowerment, technology, employment especially for youth and women, and climate smart and resilience practices are integrated in the economic growth portfolio.
• Ensure robust monitoring and evaluation, quality data collection and analysis systems are in place, adhered to and used as a decision-making tool by Project/Program Managers.
• Strengthen existing management and information systems to document the achievement of milestones and measurable impacts for economic programming.
• Ensure appropriate attention to program learning and integration of lessons learned.
• In collaboration with Mercy Corps Economic Growth global teams, identify bold solutions that leverage innovations to improve programmatic and operational implementation and support its integration when appropriate.
• Ensure Code of Conduct, Child Safeguarding Protocols, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Policy, Gender Policy, and Community Accountability Response Mechanism (CARM) guidelines are applied to programming.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Recruit and supervise Program/Project Managers and related staff to implement high-quality programming.
• Ensure that teams fully adhere to international, technical, and organizational minimum standards, including adopting gender, conflict sensitive, and participatory approaches to ensure that Do No Harm and other principles of Mercy Corps programming are fully respected.
• Supervise and mentor program/project staff to effectively manage projects, including workplan monitoring, budget forecasting and monitoring, accurate and timely reporting, and efficient use of resources; communicate clear expectations, set performance objectives, provide regular and timely performance feedback, and conduct annual performance reviews.
• Build technical capacity of Program/Project Managers on market systems approach, economic development, and livelihoods programming.
• Ensure compliance with financial and operational policies, procedures, and systems to deliver compliance with Mercy Corps and donor requirements.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE

• Ensure compliance with donors and Mercy Corps’ regulations.
• Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with program, donor, and Mercy Corps’ needs.
• Ensure sound financial management, including programmatic budgeting, spending projections, and monitoring of payments in compliance with donors’ standards.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO, working group meetings and other relevant events, in close coordination with the Director of Programs.
• Coordinate activities with consortium partners, subgrantees, local government, and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.

RISK MANAGEMENT

• Collaborate with country leadership to support preparedness and response to major disruptive events.
• Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.
• Ensure that programs/projects are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

COORDINATION 

• Cultivate strategic partnerships and maintain effective working relationships with key Government NGO, civil society, and private-sector stakeholders to advance organizational sector strategies vis-a-vis economic development and livelihoods.
• Liaise with key stakeholders to coordinate responses and identify strategies to facilitate market-based interventions with programmatic links.
• Work with Regional Economic and Market Development Advisor and Mercy Corps’ Technical Support Unit to strengthen programming and to promote Mercy Corps’ thought leadership on economic and market development.

Supervisory Responsibility: Supervises the Project/Program Managers/Coordinators/Team Leads of the Economic Growth Sector

Accountability:

Reports directly to:  Director of Programs

Works directly with:  Program/Project Managers under the Economic Growth portfolio; Director of Program Performance and Quality (PAQ) and staff in the PAQ team; Chief of Party, Staff in Operations, Finance, and Human Resources departments; Ethics and Assurance Manager, Regional Technical Support Unit and HQ support teams, as well as partner organizations.

Knowledge And Experience 

• Experience in economic and market development programming; specialized background in microeconomics, labor market and value chain assessments, financial services, vocational training, small and medium enterprise development, Market Systems Development preferred.
• Strong strategic thinker with demonstrable capacity to translate concepts into action.
• Demonstrated experience leading diverse teams towards a common vision.
• Proven experience assessing markets and working with private sector partners
• Strong organizational and management skills, including previous experience managing staff and teams.
• Ability to build strong systems that enable timely and quality program delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to implement programs with rigorous deliverables and timelines in accordance with timeframes and donor regulations.
• Demonstrated ability to respond to multiple priorities in a timely manner, producing high-quality outcomes.
• Strong verbal and written communications and organizational skills in English, including proposal and report development, writing and editing.
• Proven track record in staff and stakeholder training and capacity building, as well as coaching and mentoring.
• Strong ability to understand and manage multiple stakeholders and complex relationships at multiple levels of the organization.
• BA/S or equivalent in economics, management, international development, or other relevant field; master’s degree in economics, business administration, or another relevant field is strongly preferred
• 5-7 years of progressive experience and proven record of achievements in designing, implementing, or providing technical support to integrated economic and market development -related programs.

Success Factors

The successful Inclusive Economic Growth Director will have extensive experience in leading teams, in both management and technical fields, with a proven track record of strategic planning, programmatic achievements, management competence, diplomacy and interpersonal skills. S/he will be a decisive leader, exercise sound judgment, possess excellent communication, interpersonal and analytical skills and have a high level of integrity and flexibility to adapt to conditions of ongoing change. S/he can prioritize among competing tasks while also filling in gaps as needed to ensure success of the overall economic and market development sector portfolio. The Inclusive Economic Growth Director is a strategic and solutions-driven thinker with the ability to articulate and translate innovative ideas into solid programming and to build positive relationships with his or her team, and with key stakeholders at various levels.

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.

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 world’s 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 based on 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 encounter 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. 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 always adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.