PROGRAM MANAGER – AHLEN SIMSIM- IRAQ (AS-I)

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 works in places of transition, where conflict, disaster, political upheaval, or economic collapse present opportunities to build more secure, productive, and just communities. Providing emergency relief in times of crisis, we move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to future shocks and promote sustainable change by supporting community-led and market-driven initiatives. Recognizing both the great potential and the complex challenges faced by the Middle East, since 1989 Mercy Corps has been implementing a range of humanitarian assistance and development programs tailored to the specific needs of the region and of those communities where we work. Mercy Corps has worked across Iraq’s 18 governorates since 2003, implementing relief and development programming, more than a third of which has focused on the specific needs of refugees and displaced persons. Mercy Corps Iraq current goal is to work with new and existing civil society, public and private sector partners to meet immediate and long-term needs by strengthening communities’ ability to rebuild amidst increasing crises. Mercy Corps Iraq focuses on (1) a relief-to-resilience pathway to meet the needs of conflict-affected communities leveraging agency expertise in conflict management and civil society development (2) a humanitarian response that empowers conflict-affected populations to meet their own needs (3) partnering with conflict-affected adolescents to address their diverse needs, promoting leadership and linkages with civil society.

Program Summary:

Mercy Corps, Ahlan Simsim Program is a 24-month, partnership with Sesame Workshop to implement Strategic Objective 3 of the Ahlan Simsim Iraq program across Baghdad, Anbar, Salah Al-din, Basra, and Ninewa governorates of Iraq. In line with Ahlan Simsim’s results framework, the proposed intervention will focus on Ahlan Simsim’s Strategic Objective 3 in which youth (15-29) have increased assets, agency, contributions, and access to an enabling environment through (1) improved soft skills, (2) improved skills in storytelling and media capacities and (3) increased meaningful and inclusive engagement within their communities across religious, ethnic, and sectarian groups. Under this Strategic Objective. To achieve this Strategic Objective, the intervention will coordinate with the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and its directorates in targeted governorates, to establish four youth centers in existing community buildings targeting conflict-affected and vulnerable youth.

The main objectives and intermediate Result of the program are:

• Youth (15-29) have increased assets, agency, contribution, and access to an enabling environment.
• Improved soft skills (to be determined by assessment findings).
• Improved skills in storytelling and media capacities.
• Increased meaningful and inclusive engagement within their communities and across religions, ethnic and sectarian groups.

General Position Summary:

The Program Manager position will provide overall leadership, technical oversight, management, and strategic vision for Mercy Corps’ two-year Ahlan Simsim program in Iraq. The Program Manager will work directly with Deputy Director/Head of  Peace, Good Governance and Youth Portfolio to ensure the successful implementation of Mercy Corps’ work in good governance  and youth across Iraq. The Program Manager will be responsible in ensuring the program team in each governorate is implementing their respective activities on-scope, on-time, and on-budget, in line with the program’s objectives. The Program Manager will supervise key program staff and ensure high program performance and quality. The Program Manager will be responsible for ensuring strict adherence to internal Mercy Corps policies, procedures as well as donor rules and regulations. The Program Manager will also have representation duties with relevant government entities, partners, other implementers, and external stakeholders.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
• Work with Deputy Director/Head of Peace, Good Governance and Youth Portfolio to ensure the successful implementation of the program.
• Oversee program start-up and ongoing program management, activities, and administration of teams across various field locations, ensuring mechanisms for effective adaptive management are in place and utilized regularly.
• Lead the development of detailed implementation plans, flowing from annual strategic work plans, and ensure the delivery of the same.
• Structure team to ensure that all program aspects are implemented to the highest standard (adhering to industry norms/regulations).
• Ensure program objectives and deadlines are tracked and met. and collaborate with program, finance, and administrative staff to ensure program implementation in compliance with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Ensure grant agreements are monitored and comply with Mercy Corps policies and procedures and donor/government/external rules and regulations.
• Ensure program implementation is on time, target, and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Design and assign work packages of work to program team, monitor their performance, and check the interfaces between them and other work packages and ensure they understand what they need to do
• Ensure that program implementation is conducted with the respect to the security protocols, responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan.
• Supervise the day-to-day activities to ensure proper implementation of program work plan.
• Build and oversee strategic partnerships with MoYS, and Directorates of Youth and Sport.
• Identify and propose strategies for improving program implementation and technical assistance delivery.
• Revisit work plan periodically to ensure the program is on the right track and study Influence of external factors.
• Guarantee the program meets the accountability commitments to beneficiary communities, donors, and other key stakeholders.
• Coordinate internally with other Mercy Corps department to support and facilitate procurement and logistics processes, including coordination of tender processes and monitoring to ensure proper procurement practices.
• Maintain relevant program and correspondence files.
• Oversee all aspects of design, monitoring, evaluation, and learning, and ensure documentation system in place for all activities implemented including meeting minutes, photos, case studies as well as progress reports and archived according to internal/donor requirements, in close coordination with the Program Performance and Quality Departments.
• Oversee all aspects of gender, equity and social inclusion are mainstreamed into the project.
• Ensure all program management minimum standards are met (including risk management, issues management and change management), including those for complex programs.
• Develop transition strategy and detailed capacity building plans for national team members.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Create and sustain a work environment conducive to professional growth and of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Set a team culture valuing learning and adaptive management in support of an ongoing resilience approach in programming.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews with direct supervisees, and ensure that supervisory staff do the same.
• Implement and ensure all staff members are effectively using the performance planning and management system, establishing performance expectations, and regularly providing constructive feedback.
• Supervise and manage all program staff to ensure day-to-day activities are implemented in a coordinated fashion according to schedule, budget and quality.
• Manage and help with professional development and ongoing training of staff to ensure they are of the quality and technical capacity necessary to ensure the successful implementation of activities.
• Supervise, hire, and orient new team members as necessary.
• Provide team members with information, tools, and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.

ACCOUNTABILITY/REPORTING
• 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.
• Ensure all internal control procedures are adhered to and that necessary measures are put in place to ensure high standards of accountability and compliance.
• Ensure findings from endline surveys, evaluations, and internal and external audits are used to improve programs.
• Ensure all internal/ donor /external reports are produced at a high level of quality, as required.

PROGRAM SUPPORT
• Coordinate with program, finance, and administration staff to ensure operational systems are in place to support field activities (including logistics, procurement, security, administration, and human resources).
• Work closely with country-level security focal points to develop and maintain systems that ensure the safety and security of the team in all aspects of its work.
• Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security management priorities.
• Maintain productive and strong working relationships with all program support functions.
• Conduct all the tasks/work directed by the supervisor.

FINANCE AND COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT
• In collaboration with the country program’s operations and finance departments, ensure proper financial management, procurement, administration, human resources, and logistics (including transport, warehousing, and asset management) needs of the program are conducted within Mercy Corps’ policy and with the maximum benefit to the program.
• Monitor adherence to grant agreement, Mercy Corps’ policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations.

COORDINATION AND REPRESENTATION
• Liaise with and represent the program to the donor(s), government actors, partners, and other key stakeholders.
• Represent Mercy Corps at government, NGO, and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with Deputy Director/Head of Peace, Good Governance and Youth Portfolio, and attend regular meetings with key stakeholders and partners for Mercy Corps’ youth initiative.
• Ensure close coordination and information sharing with partners, sub-grantees, local government, other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.
• Establish and maintain relationships with communities and local government.
• Ensure coordination with related Ministry of Youth and Sport (MoYS) and Directorate of Youth and Sport (MoYS) to obtain approvals from director generals to assign DoYS support team for joint activities and use the youth centers.

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.

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 toward 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. 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.

Supervisory Responsibility: 5 community mobilizers level Junior Program Officers and Filmmaking specialist and PSS specialist.

Accountability: Accountable to position description, MC HR Manual
Reports Directly To: Deputy Director/Head of Peace, Good Governance and Youth Portfolio
Works Directly With: Program support counterparts (program performance and quality, finance, operations, and human resources teams), program specific staff, headquarters operations and technical support unit team members.
Qualifications & Preferred Skills:
Knowledge and Experience
• Bachelor’s degree in related fields required .
• Fluency in English and Arabic (reading, writing, speaking) is required
• Minimum 5 years’ experience working with an international NGO or international organization.
• Minimum 3 years’ experience managing resources and understanding the need for regular support and follow-up to ensure that project objectives are being met.
• Experience and qualifications relating to media, media landscape and filmmaking, and good experience in developing training materials related to filmmaking and storytelling.
• Experience and qualifications relating to PSS and soft skill, and good experience in developing training materials related to PSS and soft skills.
• Training and mentoring experience is preferred .
• High level computer and internet skills are required.
• Strong leadership, problem-solving skills and effective listening, negotiation and representation skills and the ability to work comfortably with an ethnically diverse staff in a sensitive environment.
• Sense of creativity
• Strong multi-tasking, organizational, prioritization skills are necessary.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required
• Excellent writing and reporting skills
• Existing relationships with local government, NGO and community leaders is highly preferred (letters of recommendation will be a strong asset)
• Commitment to working with vulnerable groups in need regardless of race, religion, or gender.
• Understanding of and demonstrated commitment to the importance of gender and youth issues in system strengthening and institutionalization programming.

Success Factors:

The successful Program Manager will combine exceptional management skills and experience in maintaining donor, government, and partner relationships. S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage programs. S/he will also have proven experience with cross-cultural team and capacity building, individual staff development and strong mentoring skills. The Program Manager must have demonstrated experience managing governance programs. S/he will have demonstrated skills in managing programs in challenging, insecure, constantly changing environments. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem-solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. S/he will have the vision to transition a humanitarian portfolio to a recovery and development context, with the ability to fundraise to grow the portfolio. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions:

The position is based in Baghdad, Iraq with frequent travel to Anbar, Salah Aldin, Basra, and Ninawa. Personnel in this location are expected to follow all security protocols. Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit to 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 always and in all in-country venues.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES:

Successful candidates should meet the education and experience requirements in the position descriptions for the vacant positions and should have a strong and demonstrated knowledge to the related position, good written and spoken English, computer Skills and local languages.
S/he must be self- motivated, creative, tolerant, and able to work in difficult, stressful environments and follow procedures. S/he must respect diversity and gender equality at the workplace.
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability and transparency to its beneficiaries and to international standards guiding relief and development work.

Interested candidates should submit their CVs to the email address below:

[email protected] . Any Resume will be sent without mentioning the job and Location applied for in the subject line will not be considered.

ALL APPLICATIONS/ CVs SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY July 2, 2024 AT 4:00PM

Potential candidates for the post will be contacted for an interview and processed according to Mercy Corps Human Resources policies and procedures. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for potential interview. Any documents submitted will remain with Mercy Corps and will not be returned to candidates.

Female Candidates are encouraged to apply for This Position.  Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global Impact.

Mercy Corps Iraq offers a variety of arrangements that enable women to excel in their careers.

Mercy Corps Iraq ensures a safe and inclusive working environment for women and men through field security training and measures to provide secure working arrangements on-site and in the office.