Since 1979, we have helped people grappling with the toughest hardships survive – and then thrive. That’s the heart of our approach: We help communities turn crisis into opportunity. Throughout our history, Mercy Corps has demonstrated innovation, timeliness, and the ability to adapt quickly to changing realities.
In Nepal, Mercy Corps began operations in 2005, and since then has implemented projects in the sectors of agriculture, food security and nutrition, financial services, youth engagement, and disaster risk reduction/ climate change adaptation. To date, this programming has reached over 900,000 people in 23 districts. We work with a range of donors in Nepal and have been a trusted prime partner of choice for decades.
About The Programme
The FCDO has launched a call for proposals for a lead Gender Based Violence Partner to deliver a key component of its Security and Justice Programme (SJP) in Nepal. The overall SJP will support the following outcomes - increased responsiveness of security and justice providers and increased prevention of GBV and wider security and justice problems.
This Scope of Work for the Lead GBV Partner envisages and sets out two phases:
- A preparatory project to be seed-funded by FCDO through an existing arrangement with
UNOPS for up to £75,000 GBP from about 1 September 2023 to 31 March 2024 (i.e. the Lead GBV partner will be a sub-grantee of UNOPS, selected by BEK).
- A multi-year project directly funded by FCDO for up to £8m from 1 April 2024 to 31 December 2027
If selected, the multiyear programme will involve the following elements:
1) To provide expertise and high-quality reporting on progress on the project’s results aligned with the SJPs results framework, disaggregating data based on gender, caste, disability, and other relevant parameters and intersectionalities
2) To act as a Fund Manager for downstream partners who have strong local networks and understanding, legitimacy and to ensure value for money
3) To provide Technical Assistance to downstream partners and other key organisations and agency personnel
4) To give support for downstream partners for organisational strengthening and sustainability in terms of core functions such as establishing baselines, financial management, reporting results, managing risks and other aspects of compliance
5) To ensure systematic and continuous coordination and coherence with other components of SJP
General Position Summary
Mercy Corps is seeking candidates for a Technical Manager - GBV & Social Norms Change (“Technical Manager”) who will provide technical leadership and direction for the SJP programme in Nepal during both the preparatory phase (7 months) and subsequent programme implementation. The Technical Manager will ensure overall technical quality, including designing and implementing a strategy to ensure the programme addresses the underlying drivers and norms surrounding GBV with an overall inclusion lens, advising on best practices, designing assessments and tools, and coordinating with partners and other stakeholders such as government, NGOs and CBOs, and community members. The Technical Manager will be responsible for incorporating protection principles and working with the team to ensure activities are designed and implemented with a do-no-harm approach, taking into account the sensitivities and risks surrounding GBV.
Essential Job Responsibilities
TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP
● Guide the technical development and implementation of SJP programming.
● Conduct technical assessments to identify priority needs, including staff capacity and program implementation.
● Develop relevant strategies - such as gender equality and social inclusion or protection - to guide direction, priorities, and approach across the life of the program, based on initial assessments.
● Provide ongoing technical support to SJP programming including technical oversight and field monitoring of program staff, in close coordination with the Co-Creation Program manager, to ensure high-quality implementation.
● Identify and lead key aspects for the integration of overarching SJP programs thematic areas and other components and points of collaborations to achieve larger SJP impact
● Lead the promotion of PSEA and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) principles through the planning and implementation of operations and strategies.
● Coordinates with relevant colleagues (Protection, GBV) and other Technical support units for harmonisation of standards and practices.
● Support integration of gender equality and social inclusion into the program’s M&E to ensure that GESI is reflected in output, outcome, and impact level indicators and that sex and age disaggregated data is regularly collected and reflected upon to inform adaptations to inform high quality programming.
● Help build a robust technical M&E plan as well as assessment tools for monitoring and gender analysis including GBV.
● Contributes to case studies, best practices, lessons learnt and other knowledge products.
● Work with the program team to ensure a do no harm approach to gender-focused and inclusive programming is implemented and the appropriate protections are in place for participants.
TEAM AND MANAGEMENT
● Hire, orient, and directly manage staff in day-to-day GESI and GBV activities and develop team capacity.
● Work closely with Human Resources to ensure GESI and GBV accountability is incorporated in positions descriptions of all team members.
● Ensure that program staff understand and adhere to Mercy Corps’ GESI Minimum Standards for programming.
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.
ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING
● As part of our commitment to organisational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organisations 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
● 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: The number of direct and indirect reports is to be determined.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Co-Creation Programme Manager
Works Directly With: Field/province leads, Director of Programs, Finance, and Operations teams. Coordinates with HQ Program Performance & Quality (PaQ) team and the Technical Support Unit.
Knowledge and Experience
● University Degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Health, Gender, Human Rights and Development, or other field directly related to the subject matter
● Seven years of increasingly responsible professional experience in issues related to gender equality, gender-based violence (GBV), and/or social protection and development;
● Experience with gender equality, women’s development and rights-based programming, both at field level and national levels;
● Experience in addressing gender and social equity issues in culturally sensitive programming;
● In-depth understanding of key GBV issues, drivers, and response mechanisms and actors in Nepal.
● Strong track record of technical leadership, and proven ability to produce demonstrable results;
● Experience working with a range of stakeholders and partners, at various levels;
● Strong verbal and written communications skills in English and Nepali;
Success Factors:
A successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving. S/he will have a proven ability to learn quickly, multi-task, prioritise, take initiative, be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, problem solve, work within a complex and sensitive setting, and to follow laws and security protocols. The most successful Mercy Corps team 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 /Environmental Conditions:
The Technical Manager is based in Kathmandu with significant travel required to program locations across the country.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a short-term assignment. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps' policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.