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Partnerships and Capacity Building Manager

• The Partnership and Capacity Building Manager will be responsible for spearheading USAID Nawiri program’s localization strategy through nurturing partnerships with local organizations and community groups involved in nutrition and resilience initiatives. The role involves assessing partner capacities, designing tailored capacity development programs, and providing ongoing support to enhance their skills and capabilities. The manager will promote collaborative efforts among stakeholders, integrates partner activities into the program’s strategy, monitor progress, and facilitate resource mobilization to ensure effective and timely support is provided to the local CSO to improve their contribution and impact to the program’s goal of sustainably reducing persistent acute malnutrition as well as their long – term capacity. This position demands a seasoned individual proficient at fostering relationships, driving capacity development, and orchestrating cohesive initiatives to enhance nutrition resilience within local communities.

Essential Job Responsibilities

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

• Identify, establish, and maintain strategic partnerships with local organizations and community groups involved in nutrition, food security, and resilience programs.
• Cultivate strong relationships with partners to ensure alignment with program goals and foster collaboration.

COORDINATION

• In collaboration with the Snr Director, Program Performance and Quality, Director of Implementation and Nutrition Resilience, Systems Strengthening lead and Field Directors organize quarterly program performance meetings with program implementation partners.
• Submit quarterly performance reports to program leadership on partnership activities, achievements, challenges, and lessons learned.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

• Collaborate with the program team to integrate partner activities into the overall program strategy.
• Monitor and evaluate the performance of partners through joint field visits, data quality audits, performance review meetings to assess the impact of capacity building initiatives and identify areas for improvement in line with the program goal and objectives.
• Develop and maintain a database of formal and informal civil society organizations.
• Oversee the capacity assessment of identified organizations using Mercy Corps Organizational Capacity Index Tools.
• On the basis of the findings, provide strategic program guidance and technical support for the CSO capacity building portion of the program, through provision of support to field staff and partner organizations as required to effectively engage in resilient activities, in coordination with the PM.
• Develop and/or refine existing CSO capacity building curriculum to fit local context and capacity and oversee its delivery in collaboration with program staff.
• Refine organizational development tools and recommend best approaches for the staff and partner capacity development, building on existing Mercy Corps knowledge and experience.
• Facilitate peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and support during field visits, training and other forms of staff capacity-building activities in coordination with the program team.
• Provide inputs in refining the existing organizational development, monitoring and evaluation by incorporating conflict sensitive approaches and gender sensitivity, based on field feedback, effectiveness in the field, and appropriateness to ensure civil society organizations are being strengthened to meet program objectives.
• Identify and support mechanisms for effective project monitoring and evaluation efforts and systems for information sharing internally and externally.
• Support the development and implementation of civil society advocacy plans.
• Abide by all security protocols and assist in ensuring their implementation by other staff.
• Maintain professional conduct at all times to ensure Mercy Corps reputation and its humanitarian mission is upheld.

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.
• 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.

Supervisory Responsibility: None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Implementation and Nutrition Resilience

Works Directly With: DCOP, Snr Director Program Performance, Governance Lead, Finance Manager, CARM Officer

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S or equivalent in social sciences, program management, international development, organizational development or other relevant field; MA/S preferred.
• 5 – 7 years of experience with at least 3 years of progressive experience working in partnerships and capacity building development and/or program management for INGOs in humanitarian, development sectors or related fields. Experience in institutional capacity development, gender and/or working with a consortium of partners in similar contexts would be an added advantage.
• Good understanding of capacity assessment methodologies and capacity building frameworks including ability to inform training content and method of organizational development.
• Ability to coordinate with internal and external actors to facilitate capacity building, when needed.
• Conversant with the local context, culture, and dynamics of the communities in Samburu and Turkana Counties.
• Excellent written and oral communication, negotiation, interpersonal skills, to build and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability in design and delivery of capacity building initiatives and training programs for local civil society organizations (CSOs)
• Proficiency in monitoring and evaluation techniques to assess program impact and effectiveness.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work independently in a fast – changing environment as well as part of a multidisciplinary team, manage time and execute tasks effectively.
• Proven track record in staff and stakeholder training and capacity building and TOT training.
• Strong leadership and project management skills. Relevant certification is desirable

County Resilient Livelihoods Coordinator-Turkana

The Position

• USAID Nawiri Resilience Livelihoods County Coordinator is an innovative and creative leader responsible for the overall implementation, technical oversight and coordination of all resilience livelihoods work areas of crop and fodder production, off and non-farm interventions through a resilient market systems approach while working with Government, private sector and local communities to bring about transformative sustainable change in nutritional resilience among target communities of Turkana county. S/He will provide in-depth technical guidance and mentoring program teams in agricultural production (crop, fodder and livestock), financial inclusion, alternative livelihoods and support coordination with both county government, private sector and key community actors to ensure inclusive growth in food secure households, improved market connectivity to bring about increased incomes and employment opportunities among vulnerable households to cope with shocks and stresses.
• This position requires a person who has both technical and managerial experience in implementing integrated nutrition programs that seek to achieve sustained reduction in malnutrition in arid and semi-arid lands.  S/He will be responsible for translating and leading field teams to roll out the USAID Nawiri resilient livelihoods strategy and implementation plans as well as making any adjustments based on lessons learnt during implementation.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Support the Field Director by providing vision and operational strategy for the implementation of the USAID Nawiri program’s resilience livelihoods interventions in the target county. 
• Lead in planning, strategic visioning and coordination of all resilience livelihoods interventions in the county while integrating with other purpose areas and in collaboration with the Samburu County coordinator and Nairobi based Advisors.
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed and promote a culture of learning and adaptive management among the resilience livelihoods teams and wider Nawiri program.
• Lead in coordination and operationalization of all agriculture, livelihoods, financial inclusion, market-based interventions and priorities across all implementing partners, identifying opportunities for integration and synergies within other sectors such as nutrition, health, alternative livelihoods, and governance.
• Ensure that cross-cutting aspects of the program such as gender equity, social inclusion, youth, and water systems are included and well-integrated into the agriculture and resilient livelihood activities.
• Collaborate with different program components including research, M&E and the learning teams to drive collaborative learning and adaptations of interventions.
• Lead in reviews and contribute to the development of resilient livelihoods strategies and standard operating procedures that guide implementing teams to deliver quality interventions that demonstrate impact among targeted households.
• Lead in the operationalization of the program quality standards and ensure that the program teams are delivery quality impactful interventions in line with the developed standards on implementation.

PROGRAM IMPACT, MONITORING AND EVALUATION AND LEARNING

• Lead strategies in strengthening the capacities of market actors including government and private actors to conduct outreach and advance business models that provide goods and services to last mile communities in shock-affected environments.
• Lead in strengthening shock-responsive approaches for all market-based interventions, including plans for how to support market actors and local food systems in the event of drought, floods or other hazards.
• Introduce and facilitate access to appropriate technology to support market-based approaches, including digital vouchers, solar, etc. that contribute to the overall wellbeing of targeted households.
• Regularly guide and mentor resilient livelihoods and implementation teams in identifying effective business models and assessing the viability of income generating and return on investment across all livelihood activities at the county for diverse gender and age groups, ensuring links to food and nutrition security.
• Collaborate with the resilience technical lead, Implementation Lead and deputy field director to ensure consistency of high quality, technical approaches across all resilient livelihood’s components – production, financial services, entrepreneurship and employment, and identify additional technical support where required.
• Lead in resilience livelihoods evidence gathering for program impact through robust agency standard procedures for data gathering, reporting, and evaluating program outputs and outcomes.
• Lead Resilience livelihoods county teams to strive for impact at county and program level leading to sustained change based on solid systems and incorporation of learnings into programs.
• Fulfill Mercy Corps Program Management Minimum Standards (Ensure compliance with PM@MC Policies).
• Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and program participant accountability standards, including an effective Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism and safeguarding mechanisms across all programs.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Ensure effective management of the resilient livelihood’s component, including adhering to all established program management processes related to work planning, implementation, review and reflection meetings, adaptive management and reporting.
• Ensure all required submissions from the resilient livelihoods team are on time and of high quality.
• Facilitate effective sequencing, layering and integrating of activities within and across the program components. LEARNING, ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AND REPRESENTATION
• Monitor and report on implementation progress of resilient livelihoods activities.
• Regularly partner with the MEL and Strategic Learning teams to identify and track progress against results pathways.
• Ensure team is effectively supporting data capture and monitoring of activities, in line with MEL and SLA plans and systems.
• Regularly support team to reflect on progress of resilient livelihood activities and progress against outputs, outcomes and milestones
• Represent Mercy Corps at conferences, government forums, and other events; contribute to thought leadership in last mile market-based approaches to resilient livelihoods.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Build effective relationships with the resilient livelihoods team, based on mutual trust, collaboration, urgency and curiosity.
• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives. Regularly conduct performance reviews and provide constructive feedback.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Adhere to all principles related to gender equality and social inclusion and create an inclusive team environment.
• Model Mercy Corps key leadership competencies, including “be curious,” “be collaborative,” “listen actively,” and “be inclusive.

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 both abiding by and aware of policies.

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervision of all county-based resilient livelihoods team members

Reports Directly To: Deputy Regional Director

Works Directly With: Livelihoods technical lead, climate smart advisor, alternative livelihoods and inclusive markets advisor, BOMA Nawiri project manager, Save the children household economic advisor.

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.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• BA/S or equivalent in Agriculture, Agribusiness management, economics or relevant field required; MA/S preferred.
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in a technical role on an international development program related to livelihoods, market systems development, food security and nutrition.
• Demonstrated expertise and ability to lead and coordinate a diverse team drawn from consortium implementing partners.
• Demonstrable familiarity with Kenya’s ASAL, agriculture crop and livestock, resilient livelihoods, and natural resources sectors political and policy environment.
• Proficient analytical skills that demonstrate an understanding of the current concepts, priorities, and issues in program monitoring, data collection, and evaluation.
• Excellent oral and written English skills required.
• Ability to work effectively with a diverse team in a sensitive environment.
• Capacity to respond to emergency and disaster situations as appropriate.
• Advanced computer skills and experience developing data management systems.
• Team player who takes initiative and is a problem-solver.
• Effective verbal and written communication, multitasking and organizational skills. 

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