Team Leader (TFTIIN & WEE) - Dollo Ado

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.

Mercy Corps has been operating in Ethiopia since 2004. In partnership with civil society organizations, 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, Gambella, Oromia, Somali, Amhara and South Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR) – 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.

General Position Summary

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Programs, the team leader will oversee the coordination and management of WFP program at field level. He/she will be responsible for managing all IFTIIN and WEE team members and guide them to develop and implement appropriate strategies to optimize impact in line with donor priorities and program objectives. S/he will lead on ensuring that the program generates learnings on how the program model can most effectively transform livelihoods and food security for refugees and host community in intervention area.

The team leader is expected to play a leading role in maintaining close working relationship with government stakeholders at the Regional, zonal and woreda level and represent Mercy Corps’ and WFP program at any event related to that program.

Mercy Corps is seeking an experienced leader with experience of managing diverse teams, livelihoods and market systems development programs.

Program Summary

The team leader is expected to oversee the following projects within the Dollo Ado Program Area which are led by Mercy Corps:

Climate proofing food security in Ethiopia’s Drought-Prone Lowland Areas project (IFTIIN) - the objective of this project is to enhance the livelihood, resilience, and food security of vulnerable communities, strengthen the adaptive capacities of communities, ecosystems, and systems, to reduce aid dependency by enabling program participants to become more self-reliant; and to demonstrate the effectiveness and impact of this integrated approach to bring it to scale. this project funded by World Food Program (WFP), with duration of one year in the inception period.

The Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) - under this component, will carry out activities aimed at promoting women's economic empowerment through capacity building and skills training, mobilizing, and supporting women to form business cooperatives in which women will engage in various socio-economic activities as outlined in the technical proposal.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy and vision

• Support the Program Director to develop a vision and strategy for supporting food security, livelihoods and market systems development approaches to refugee and host community contexts.
• Strategically selects areas of work, partnerships, and methodologies that contribute to effective delivery of the WFP funded program in Dollo area.
• Coordinate efforts on the development of partnership strategy, ensure coherent and consistent approach to partnership and decision making.

Program management

• Lead the implementation and continual improvement of Mercy Corps’ WFP-funded program at field level.
• Establish and maintain systems for work planning, implementation of activities, monitoring progress, reporting and capacity building of team members.
• Develop and maintain detailed work plan for the project and corresponding budget on an annual and quarterly basis.
• Lead and coordinate WFP program human and financial resources in Dollo field office
• Improve relations and coordination with government and WFP team in Dollo for collaborative and effective implementation.
• Ensure project implementation is on time, target and with budget allocated.
• Ensure the benefit of women and youth in all sectors of the program.
• Ensure strict compliance with Mercy Corps policies, and procedures.
• Coordinate, manage and motivate the program team, ensuring they have clear objectives / individual work plans as part of performance management, and receive meaningful feedback on their performance.
• Ensure that the program is managed adaptively, through periodic reflection exercises and use of MEL data.
• Monitor work and targets closely to ensure that the program can provide maximum benefit to our beneficiaries within its timeframe.
• Work closely with the program team and partners ensuring we adhere to humanitarian principles, Mercy Corps’ gender policies, Do No Harm principles and beneficiary accountability standards.
• Support enforcement of guidelines for safety and security of staff and assets. Ensure a proper phase-out and plan for transition to full operations.

proposal development

• Assess program area contexts and suggest new business ideas to the Program Director
• Support writing/review of concept notes and proposals
• Support the design of new proposals working on livelihood and market-based approaches in refugee and host-community contexts, including participating in design workshops.
• Work closely with field teams to influence their engagement and support of program pre-positioning, development, and implementation.

 Team Building and Management

• Jointly with the Program Director the position holder will actively participate in staff recruitment for the program.
• Build the capacity of the program team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback to team members under his/her supervision.
• Team leadership and motivation, ensuring a cohesive and harmonious team.
• Establish a culture of excellence in which the team strives for constant learning and improvement, where success is celebrated, communication is open, and everyone’s contribution is valued.
• Conduct annual performance evaluations and organize capacity building events for team members under his/her supervision.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

 Finance and Operations Management

• Ensure program field expenditures are in accordance with approved budgets.
• Closely work with field Finance team for smooth budget utilization
• Lead teams in annual work-planning and budgeting
• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps’ regulations related to programming and operations.
• Ensure proper logistics, administration, human resources, and transport needs of the program at field office level.
• Strictly follow Mercy Corps’ Fraud and Prevention guidelines.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Ensure preparation and timely submission of high-quality quarterly and annual program progress reports using donor template and share with the Program Director.
• Ensure the development of clear M&E plan and timely collection, analyses, and reporting of program data in coordination with MEL manager, including success stories, case studies and outcome reports.
• Ensure that the program team continually develop monthly work and budget plans and submit activity reports timely.
• Ensure field teams are holding frequent activity review sessions to continually re-examine the relevance and impact of their programming.
• Working with the MEL team, develop a Learning Agenda for the program, and support successful execution of learning and impact studies.
• Ensure program teams have community complaint and feedback mechanisms in place and that complaints and feedback being received are responded to within a timely manner.

policy, advocacy, Representation

• Identify and nurture strategic partnerships with other organizations and institutions working on livelihoods and food security.
• Represent Mercy Corps’ and WFP program in all events, meetings, and gatherings in the program area.

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 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.

Supervisory Responsibility

Program team from WFP projects at Dollo field office

Accountability

Reports Directly To:  Director of Programs, Mercy Corps Ethiopia

Works Directly With: Field program team members; WFP projects team members; Field-level Finance, Operations, and HR team

Knowledge and Experience

• BSc or MA, MSc or equivalent in a field related to Agriculture, Livestock, NRM, economics, development studies, international development, business management or other related fields.
• 8 years for BSc and 6 years’ experience for MSc holders and among these 4 years in senior-level leadership and team management experience
• Experience of working in international development organizations
• Experience of leading and working on market systems development programs
• Practical field experience working in refugee contexts or fragile contexts is preferred.
• Knowledge on Ethiopian Compressive Refugee Response Framework /CRRF/
• Excellent team building, management and leading experience.
• Strong report writing and communication skills,
• Excellent coordination and representation experience is needed,
• Strong analytical skills
• Experience in managing divers’ program team.
• Excellent MEL data analytics and quantitative skills are strongly preferred.
• Strong financial management experience required.
• Willingness and ability to frequent field travel to DREAMS woredas and refugee camps.
• Fluency in English and Somali is required.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will possess excellent leadership skills, with the ability to maintain a broad perspective. He/she will undertake innovative approaches, be agile in the conceptualization of new program ideas, and will be well versed in strategic thinking and planning. The ideal candidate will have a strong curiosity for understanding and working effectively within the complex cultural, political, security and social environment of Ethiopia. He/She will be an excellent communicator, multi-tasker, and able to work in ambiguous situations. He/She will be a tolerant and flexible individual able to work in difficult and stressful environments and follow procedures. The successful candidate will be focused on team building and capacity-building of team-members; be a strategic thinker, have strong skills in design monitoring and evaluation of development programs and maintain a sense of humor.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position holder will be based at Dollo ado, Somali Region, Ethiopia, and will require frequent travel to Dollo bay, Bokolmayo and Dollo Ado woredas.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside 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 Corps’ 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 development.

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 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. 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.