EJO 2 PROJECT OFFICER

Position Description

Location: Yarpah Town, Rivercess County

Position Status Full-time, Regular

Salary Level 5

Current Team Member: N/A

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.

About PLAY International

PLAY International was born in 1999 from the idea that sport could be a catalyst for social change. Since then, the NGO has developed and managed education projects in some fifteen countries for the benefit of more than half a million children. This action in the field, often in precarious contexts, has enabled the NGO to develop an approach to sport that makes it possible to transform its practice into a concrete response to an educational, social or health problem. PLAY International has thus invented new ways of learning, growing, or overcoming trauma. Today, the NGO has reinvented itself to respond to an ambition: to multiply the social impact of sport in France and around the world with a common thread: social innovation.

Program / Department Summary

With funding from the French Development Agency (AFD) and in partnership with PLAY International, Mercy Corps leads the field-level implementation of the Ejo 2 Liberia program, targeting Grand Bassa and Rivercess counties for a period of nineteen months. The Ejo 2 program seeks to facilitate access to active and inclusive education for children in Liberia using participatory pedagogical techniques that leverage social-sport programs as a platform. The project’s goal is to promote and maintain access to and retention of children and adolescents in an active and inclusive education program.

The program further aims to strengthen the provision of non-formal education activities to children and young adolescents aged 6-15 through the development of socio-sports activities in non-school settings. The program aims to promote access to formal education, reduce discrimination and work with institutional and community stakeholders to improve the ecosystem for inclusive education through sports.

mercycorps.org

General Position Summary

Under the direct supervision of the Ejo Project Coordinator, the Project Officer, based in Yarpah Town will lead the Ejo2 Project Activities in Rivercess County. He/she will lead the implementation of the pedagogical strategy, adaptation, co-creation, dissemination, and evaluation of the pedagogical contents in collaboration with the local partners. This position requires regular field visits to provide coaching and mentorship support to animators and teachers in the project intervention schools and communities.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Organize and contribute to the facilitation of information meetings on the program with local institutional authorities to ensure their involvement and strategic validation of the progress of the project in Rivercess.
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment for alternative viewpoints.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Support the coordination of Ejo2 activities in Rivercess together with the program team, and partner staff, ensuring high-quality performance and program delivery focused on planned results.
• Conduct assessments of partner organizations using the Mercy Corps Organizational Capacity index.
• Under the guidance of the Ejo Project Coordinator, roll out capacity-building training for partners based on defined training plans and capacity-building needs.
• Ensure that beneficiaries are effectively targeted according to established vulnerability criteria.
• Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity, and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.
• Document and file accurate monitoring reports to ensure the program can track its progress against Key Performance Indicators
• 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.
• Initiate and collate all CBOs’ monthly progress reports and submit them to Ejo Project Coordinator
• Manage good relationships with project stakeholders, including local NGO partners, GoL officials, community officials, and colleague agency officials.
• Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations for the Ejo2 project. ● Ensure partners and CBOs are aware of Mercy Corp’s financial and compliance regulations.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Manage collaborative partnerships with the schools, CBOs, local governments, and other stakeholders, as required.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership. ● Keep abreast of the security context in the areas of implementation and flag any potential concerns to the senior management.

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 always and in all in-country venues.

Supervisory Responsibility

N/A.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Ejo Project Coordinator

Works Directly with Other Project team members including Senior MEAL Officer, Big Dreams and YAPQUE staff, CBO staff, and all relevant Mercy Corps support staff (e.g., finance and operations for the conducting of activities)

Knowledge and Experience

• Associate degree/ or equivalent in Education, Social Work, or a related field
• Minimum of 2-3 years working on a project in a similar capacity in an NGO, or in the private sector,
• Professional experience working with issues related to children (disadvantaged), teachers, and school administrators.
• Experience in planning and executing complex programs.
• Experience in adult training on themes of education/sports is desired.
• Competency in pedagogy and didactics of sports
• Demonstrated ability to interact with project partners and stakeholders.
• Ability to use basic Microsoft Office programs (including Microsoft Excel)
• Demonstrated experience in taking initiative in a work setting.
• Excellent skills in spoken and written English; excellent facilitation skills would be an added advantage
• The ability to ride a motorcycle is a plus.

Success Factors

A clear understanding of finance and procurement ethics, as well as the willingness and ability to enforce compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures, is essential. The ability to

interact effectively with international and national staff members. A demonstrated ability to work quickly, accurately, meet deadlines, and process information in support of changing program activities is necessary.