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 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 projects 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 projects 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 crisis. 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.

The WASH Assistant will support the implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects in informal settlements in Baghdad and Anbar. This includes filling operation and maintenance gaps in water infrastructure, supporting community committees, and ensuring the provision of safe water and sanitation services. The WASH Assistant will work closely with local authorities, community members, and other stakeholders to achieve project goals. Mercy Corps’ WASH program is expanding into new areas where gaps exist while reinforcing operational presence in locations that continue to host vulnerable populations. Program interventions include out-of-camp settings such as informal settlements, infrastructure installation and rehabilitation, and hygiene awareness-raising, alongside distribution of hygiene-related non-food items. The WASH Assistant will be essential to facilitating smooth implementation of all program activities by supporting the WASH Program officer through organization and documentation of essential procurement paperwork, official governmental authorizations, and supporting on-site implementation follow-up as needed, including field visits. The WASH Program Assistant will also work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Department to ensure proper documentation of monitoring activities, sufficient data collection, and ongoing tracking of program progress against indicators.

Essential Job Responsibilities: 

• Assist the WASH officer in all tasks that facilitate the achievement of program deliverables and to ensure that all activities are implemented smoothly, effectively, and make the best use of project resources for beneficiaries.
• Assist in identifying and addressing gaps in the operation and maintenance of water infrastructure in informal settlements.
• Collaborate with the Department of Water (DoW) to monitor water quality through chemical, physical, and biological tests.
• Assist in taking corrective measures based on water quality test results to maintain standards.
• Lead the drafting of Handover Plans in collaboration with government authorities (DoW, DoS, municipality) and Community Committees.
• Promote gender-balanced participation in all community committees.
• Support the Hygiene Promotion Committee in leading awareness campaigns on public hygiene and water conservation/storage best practices.
• Actively participate in developing appropriate Hygiene promotion (training) tools and methods for data collection.
• Ensure that all hygiene promotion methods are properly followed by WASH staff (Peers and casuals)
• Travel to all areas of WASH in respective AOR work and carry out surveys and conduct both training and distribute the maintenance kits in target areas of work.
• Be up to date on the Hygiene promotion methodologies used by Mercy Corps internally. Integrate these methodologies in work carried out for this program.
• Conduct water, sanitation and hygiene assessments, develop BoQ, scope of work, work plans for all rehabilitation and hygiene promotion activities,
• Collaborate with existing community committees (Youth Empowerment, Women Empowerment, and Community Learning) to form WASH-specific committees for Solid Waste Management, O&M, and Hygiene Promotion.
• Support the establishment and training of an O&M committee in Anbar focused on water supply systems, including solar units.
• Ensure committees maintain gender balance, with around 50% women in leadership roles.
• Provide training and materials (kits, oil, fuel for generators, chlorine) to enable committees to conduct WASH activities effectively..
• Support the WASH Program officer to document daily monitoring of WASH infrastructure work and track progress towards program targets, keeping all team members apprised of achievements, delays, and issues.
• Coordinate with the MEL Department to collect beneficiary data and technical program output data (e.g., FRC test results), conduct program implementation data entry, and maintain program databases.
• Manage the program filing system for all activities and ensure that information is organized according to the reporting and auditing needs of the program. Ensure required levels of confidentiality.
• Work closely with the WASH Program officer to ensure internal weekly and monthly reports are submitted on time to the WASH Program Manager and are of an acceptable standard.
• Utilize a training of trainers (ToT) approach to build the capacity of community members to sustain WASH services.
• Conduct training sessions to ensure community committee members fully own their tasks within the handover structure. Collect and share with the WASH officer any and all relevant external reports regarding humanitarian needs in Iraq.
• 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.

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.

Supervisory Responsibility: N/A 

Reports Directly To: WASH officer.

Works Directly With: WASH officer, Program Manager, and local partners, (if any).

Knowledge and Experience 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Administration, Public health, social sciences or related degree
• Preferred at least one year of professional experience in implementing emergency response WASH. Programs in a humanitarian setting.
• Excellent organizational skills and knowledge of filing systems for hard copy and digital files
• Strong report-writing skills in Arabic and English.
• Excellent spoken and written English and Arabic
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to achieve cooperation and agreement amongst diverse groups with competing priorities
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and tasks efficiently and with a calm attitude.
• Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness with strong attention to detail.
• Physically able to spend long periods of time in the field in harsh conditions.
• Ability to think independently and problem solve, able to suggest solutions and mitigations with minimal guidance.
• Honest and committed to compliance with all policies and procedures in all aspects of work.
• Good strategic thinking and planning skills with eagerness for innovation.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will have an ability to interact effectively with international and national personnel both in a technical advisory and training capacity and will also have an ability to support programmatic objectives with timely and meaningful information. A demonstrated ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing program activities is essential, as is an impeccable, professional standard of M&E and reporting and a willingness and ability to ensure compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures. Multi-tasker with the proven ability to organize and prioritize competing priorities. Proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and be accountable for results. Demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied experiences and work styles, follow procedures, and meet deadlines, The MEL Manager must be willing to travel regularly to Mercy Corps project sites

Living /Environmental Conditions

This position is based in Erbil, Iraq. Travel within Iraq is required to support Mercy Corps Iraq’s offices and programs. 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.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES:

Successful candidates should meet the education and experience requirements in the position descriptions for this vacancy.

S/he must be self- motivated, creative, tolerant, and able to work in difficult, stressful environments and follow Mercy Corps procedures. S/he must respect diversity and gender equality at the workplace.

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 14, 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.