LEAD MOBILIZER – ILA

Position Description

Location: Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County. Staff will later be assigned to District if necessary. Position Status: Full-time, Regular

Salary Level: Grade 06

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 has been working in Liberia since 2002.

Mercy Corps Liberia began operations in 2002 in response to the humanitarian crisis brought about by the two Liberian civil wars that ended in 2003. Mercy Corps’ interventions have evolved based on the context and needs of the Liberian people. With funding from the European Commission, French Development Agency, Irish Aid, the Embassy of Sweden and US Department of Agriculture, among others, Mercy Corps Liberia focuses on Food Security, Peace and Good Governance and Economic Opportunity. Mercy Corps Liberia works closely with the Government of Liberia (especially the Ministries of Youth and Sports, Health, Labor, and Education), the private sector, civil society, international, and local NGOs to implement its programs from its Head Office in Monrovia and two sub-offices in Buchanan and River Cess. Mercy Corps is one of the foremost development actors in Liberia implementing strategic and systems driven programming in youth employment and entrepreneurship, market systems development, and good governance.

Program / Department Summary

USAID has awarded Mercy Corps a grant to implement the Incentivize Learning Activity (ILA). ILA is a five year program, July 2023 – June 2028. The goal of this program is to increase enrollment and attendance for vulnerable and underserved school-aged children while contributing to improved Learning outcomes and addressing the food insecurity that had become more acute in Liberia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The activity will achieve this by incentivizing school enrollment and reducing absenteeism via the provision of school meals, targeted financial incentives, community and parental engagement, and social and behavior change communication.

General Position Summary

Mercy Corps is recruiting a Lead Mobilizer to work on the Incentivize Learning Activity (ILA). The successful candidate will lead a team of mobilizers in planning and implementing program activities in assigned schools and communities. The Lead Mobilizer will monitor, support, supervise, and build the capacity of the mobilizers to engage with schools, Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), and communities during implementation.

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Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to countrywide strategy development.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Support Mobilizers to facilitate the mobilization of responsible community structures to participate in ILA Program activities and oversee the election of PTAs and Food Management committees (FMCs)
• Plan and oversee the orientation and trainings of community resource persons and committees (ex. PTAs and FMCs) with support from ILA technical staff
• Oversee, facilitate, and ensure the timely execution of community action plans with PTAs and FMCs
• Support the Mobilizers to work with the FMCs and PTAs to ensure that schools have the necessary cleaning supplies to maintain safe food preparation and storage
• Support field staff in organizing community members to provide equipment or materials, not provided by ILA, prior to the start of school feeding activities
• Liaise and work with community groups and the schools to ensure accountability and best use of project resources
• Support responsible staff to document and report on the loading, transporting, off-loading, storing, and distribution of commodities and other program materials to ensure adherence to policies and donor regulations
• Provide supervision and leadership for the gathering and sharing of information to relevant staff related to damaged commodities or Program materials that occurred while under the transporter’s control
• Lead Mobilizers to document and report on the cleanliness and maintenance condition of warehouses

holding ILA Program commodities. This includes conducting inspection to determine if the warehouses are being kept in functional order (no leaking roofs, damaged walls, windows and/or doors, etc.) and if all necessary equipment as per donor regulations are in place.

• Ensure all safety and security protocols are being followed. For example, that warehouse keys are kept properly.
• Supervise the routine checks on commodity stock in comparison with records (stock register) including a physical count of the warehouse.
• Using required Program tools, observe and report on appropriate food preparation and distribution methodologies in schools to legitimate recipients/beneficiaries according to the approved school feeding plan and as per agreed ration sizes
• Ensure timely monitoring of school cooks and timely monitoring during lunchtime distributions to students and school staff in order to ensure that all actions adhere to policies and donor regulations and to minimize the risk of damage, loss, theft and/or misuse of commodity.
• Support field staff to monitor all schools in order to ensure the availability of equipment and materials such as cooking utensils, scales, tarpaulins, and pallets.
• Provide support to Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Officers and Assistants to perform their duties with high quality.
• Regular reporting on ILA program progress
• Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan.
• Perform other tasks as required

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles, and assist with career development.
• Assist team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to financial transactions and programming.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Identify, build, and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, Program contractors, donors, local governments, and other stakeholders of the ILA Program.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall program targets and donor obligations are met.

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 policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Supervisory Responsibility

Mobilizers

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Program Manager

Works Directly With: Program Coordinator, ILA Partner Staff (Education Advisor, SHN Advisor, and others), Finance/Admin Officer, Logistics Officer.

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Rural Development, International Development, Social Work or a related field.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in community mobilization activities with 1-2 years’ experience in supervising a team, preferably with an international organization.
• Proficiency in Word and Excel
• Previous experience in planning and community facilitation skills
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills
• Written and verbal fluency in English

Success Factors

The Lead Mobilizer should pay attention to details, have the ability to work in a diverse team, be approachable, supportive, willing to learn and apply new ideas, have time management skills, be able to multi-task, set priorities, and be willing to travel to and work in remote areas.Click the apply button below.