Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.
Mercy Corps implements a variety of programming throughout the Middle East, and it continues to respond to humanitarian and development needs across Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen by forging meaningful and trusted partnerships and designing impactful programming. The country programs face humanitarian crises and significant development challenges, and operate in fragile and conflict-affected areas, displacement settings, emergency responses, as well as more stable developed settings. Mercy Corps’ focus in the Middle East has been in promoting good governance and conflict resolution, enhancing resilience, supporting market systems development, as well as gender and inclusion, and youth employment. Mercy Corps investment in thought leadership, continual learning, and adaptive programming allows us to make changes that are essential in a fluid context, with significant ambitions to learning and sharing through building an evidence base, investment in program quality, including MEAL and additional specific research, to enhance adaptive and responsive programming in the Middle East.
The Position
The Program Officer (PO) supports strategic, impactful, high-quality programming in the Middle East region. They support Country Directors in aspects of their country program and grant administration, play a key role in connecting the country offices to HQ resources and represent the country/regional interests internally with various HQ teams as well as with external stakeholders. This position will support Mercy Corps’ USAID portfolio, providing award management and compliance advice to the program teams as well as new business support to the wider country portfolio as needed.
PROGRAM & AWARD MANAGEMENT
● Serve as HQ point of responsibility for overall monitoring on grants/programs for both external/donor requirements as well as Mercy Corps’ internal policies and requirements for a portfolio of awards for the Middle East region. Main portfolio will be for USAID cooperative agreements but may include BHA, US Department of State (PRM, DRL), and other donors as assigned.
● Provide ongoing monitoring of the status of programs and complete regular check-ins on award requirements (co-financing/match, BVA, data aggregation)
● Review and submit award agreement deliverables, such as donor narrative reports, to ensure overall quality and adherence to donor requirements
● Serve as first point of contact for country office teams and provide guidance and support on matters related to donor compliance and communication, particularly for USAID cooperative agreements
● Participate in regular meetings with country offices to provide support and collaborate with country program teams on issues related to donor compliance, submissions of reports and other post award deliverables, and/or monitoring/awards management.
● Serve as HQ point of contact to donor representatives
● Support country team’s adherence to Mercy Corps internal policies and Program Management minimum standards. As identified, support adherence to Mercy Corps’ Complex Programs management standards.
● Support country programs with planning and implementation challenges, and coordinating with other Global departments, including Technical Support, Compliance, Finance, to provide additional support
PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT
● Lead HQ coordination for proposals as needed. Throughout the proposal process, monitor the timeline, status of proposal and communicate to the relevant parties as appropriate.
● Provide input to proposals, ensuring alignment with donor priorities and requirements, as needed.
PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT
● Support country team as needed on partnership negotiation and development, ensuring the necessary teams are engaged, to help further program, country and regional interests
EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION
● Liaise with donors on ongoing and future opportunities
● With guidance from the SPO, represent regional interests and programs with external stakeholders, in concert with the country office teams.
STRATEGY, PLANNING & LEARNING
● With guidance from the SPO, support country teams with strategy development and planning.
● Facilitate learning across country portfolios and regions and share lessons learned and knowledge of agency resources/tools/best practices/etc.
RECRUITMENT
● For senior management country office positions, participate in Mercy Corps’ recruitment process and support the onboarding process
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
● In coordination with the APO, support internal communications and ensure knowledge management systems are up to date and accurate to support communication with other teams.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT:
● In coordination with the APO, ensure management of agency systems and adherence to HQ-related Program Management minimum standards, etc.
None.
Reports Directly To: Senior Program Officer – Middle East
Works Directly With: DRD and other HQ Program units and other departments, including Resource Development, Finance, Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness, Legal, Policy and Advocacy, Grants & Contracts, Mercy Corps Counterparts at MC HQ offices in Europe; MC Country Offices; MC donors and partners
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.
● BA/S in relevant field required; MA/MS/MBA or equivalent preferred.
● 4+ years of experience in international development or humanitarian assistance; demonstrated knowledge of relevant sectoral and/or operational areas.
● 3-4 years of professional experience managing the development, implementation, administration, and compliance of U.S. Government-funded awards
● Demonstrated understanding of U.S. government rules and regulations for grants and cooperative agreements (2 CFR 200)
● Experience with proposal development including support and writing with various donors, particularly U.S. Government.
● Experience with monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts.
● Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media, and the public – preferred.
● Proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
● Preference given to candidates with prior work experience in the Middle East.
● Proficiency in Arabic preferred.
The successful candidate is a problem solver, who is adept in successfully dealing with issues of complexity and demonstrates the ability to serve as a mentor for the Assistant Program Officer. They are a skilled communicator, able to develop and utilize strong relationships with staff, partners and donors. They will coordinate with their supervisor, the SPO, and be effective at building working relationships with stakeholders. They will collaborate with Mercy Corps’ diverse program support teams, including members of the TSU, Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness and Social Innovations teams to support impactful partnerships with country programs and the region at large. The Program Officer is part of a team that works with country teams to ensure that we learn from experience, thoroughly research and analyze context and develop high impact strategies. They will be a skilled writer and synthesizer of diverse and complex information, helping teams generate new insights into their work, the needs of their countries and the region, and how program impact can be scaled. A robust sense of humor is greatly appreciated.
The position can be based in Portland, Oregon or Washington, DC and is expected to travel up to 25% of the time - sometimes on short notice - to areas with limited access to medical facilities and amenities. Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a country office posting or on a visit/STA to a country office 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.
Ongoing Learning