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.
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps Liberia began operations in 2002 in response to the humanitarian crisis brought about by the two Liberian civil wars which took place from 1989-1997 and 1999–2003. Since then, Mercy Corps’ interventions have evolved based on the context and needs of the Liberian people. With funding from the Swedish Embassy, European Commission, French Development Agency, Irish Aid, and US Department of Agriculture, among others, Mercy Corps Liberia has implemented a range of programs focused on renewable energy, food security, agricultural livelihoods, financial inclusion, nutrition, water and sanitation, infrastructure, and youth economic empowerment. 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 three offices/sub-offices (Monrovia, Buchanan, and Rivercess). 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.
General Position Summary
Mercy Corps Liberia is implementing PROSPECTS IV, a 45-month Swedish Embassy funded programme that aims to directly benefit 6,182 young people through improved employment opportunities with an overlapping impact on 14,856 young people. The programme applies a Market System Development (MSD) approach to facilitate systemic change. It builds on previous Government of Sweden’s investments through PROSPECTS I – III but aims to move away from a direct delivery model to place systems change at the heart of the programme. Understanding the structural and systemic challenges that young people face in securing employment is crucial to the programme’s success. PROSPECTS IV is implemented in four defined urban and peri-urban areas – Monrovia (Montserrado County), Ganta (Nimba County), Buchanan (Grand Bassa) and a pilot in Gbarnga (Bong County) – with potential expansion to secondary locations and counties contingent on the results uptake and learnings from initial implementation phase, with insights of result uptake trajectory informed by the recently conducted midterm review of the opening portfolio.
Reporting to the System Manager as assigned by the Team Leader – MSD, the Senior System Officer will oversee all aspects related to one or multiple interventions under a specific market system. PROSPECTS IV has successfully developed, negotiated, finalized, and launched strategic intervention partnerships with key market actors in targeted sectors. Most of these intervention partnerships have yielded positive outputs and shown early signs of systemic change and impact trajectory warranting partnership extensions or engagement to broaden and deepen intervention impact in currently five targeted sector interventions with scope for expansion.
The Senior System Officer will be responsible for day-to-day implementation of all aspects of assigned interventions including implementation of all activities, management of the team, negotiation, and management of partnerships with private sector, government stakeholder engagement and budget management. Senior System Officers will be expected to coordinate closely with one another and System Managers to ensure strong collaboration and quality program implementation.
Essential Job Responsibilities
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
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Provide effective leadership in the management of assigned intervention(s), ensuring the activities in the intervention are delivered on-time, on-scope, and on-budget.
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Contribute to setting the programme’s strategy together with the Team Leader, System Managers, the Director of Programs, and the Senior Management Team.
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Quickly orient, learn, and support team in learning Mercy Corps’ approach to MSD for urban/peri-urban employment.
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Coordinate short-term consultants, research aides, team members to conduct detailed market research, intelligence, assessments, and feasibility studies from Inception Phase and throughout implementation to ensure that program keeps up with changes and shifts in the market.
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Liaise and partner with labor market actors (private sector, government, etc.) to find strategic leverage points for co-investment, ensuring that activities are appropriately carried out and monitored.
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Contribute to the design of systemic interventions in response to root causes of market ineffectiveness and exclusion of young people.
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Follow intervention and investment plans and implement interventions effectively.
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Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team to roll out monitoring and learning systems used by the PROSPECT Program.
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Prepare monthly and quarterly project reports in collaboration with the program teams.
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Develop work plans and budget forecasting for implementation activities.
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Ensure cross learning from other Mercy Corps programs in Liberia,
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Ensure all internal and external commitments, deadlines are tracked and met,
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Discharge any other duties as assigned by the Team Leader.
FINANCIAL AND BUDGET MANAGEMENT
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Plan and Manage Program Budgets for activities under his/her direct supervision.
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Routinely review, revise and reforecast budget based on actual expenditures.
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Work collaboratively with support departments (finance, logistics, and HR) to ensure compliance with internal and donor policies and communicate support needs in advance to ensure timely delivery of program support functions.
ADMINISTRATION AND DOCUMENTATION
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Ensure that all procedures and processes are properly defined and followed.
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Ensure that documentation is organized, secure, confidential, and always ready for audit.
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Ensure shared drive is up to date as per Mercy Corps record retention policy, PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT
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Based on approved intervention plans, ensure partners are delivering on their commitments to the partnership and our program participants, with the spirit of MSD.
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Ensure partnership development and management follows standard operating procedures.
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Support partners with orientation, onboarding, and training to ensure that expectations are set clearly.
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Represent Mercy Corps in meetings with local and external stakeholders, beneficiaries, host businesses and others.
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.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Officers, assistants, interns, research aides and assigned short-term consultants.
ACCOUNTABILITY: to System Manager as delegated by the Team Leader – MSD)
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: System Managers, Team Leader, Program teams, Partnerships Coordinator, finance, MEL, CARM and operational staff
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 QUALIFICATIONS AND TRANSFERABLE SKILL:
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Minimum of bachelor’s degree equivalent in Economics, Management, Business Administration or other relevant field (required).
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At least a years’ experience in leading a dedicated intervention or managerial position (managing a team or budget).
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At least 3 years’ relevant experience in market systems or markets development in either training and capacity building for employment (Labour Supply), Micro-enterprise or SME development, Job- matching, and employment promotion. Relevant experience may include but is not limited to: financial institutions; private sector/large-scale employers; NGOs working in youth employment; trade; manufacturing; entrepreneur/leading a business; entrepreneurship development and ecosystem building, etc.)
o We are looking for a diverse set of experiences to round out our System/Intervention team.
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Ability to think quickly, unlearn, innovate, learn new skills quickly and apply new analytical frameworks.
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Demonstrated attention to high quality and ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines, and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
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Fluency in written and oral English is required.
SUCCESS FACTORS:
Successful candidates will be creative problem-solvers, understanding that the economy of Liberia needs new ideas and a new ways of thinking to increase diversity of employment experiences. Successful candidates will have strong instincts and solid analytical decision-making skills. They will enjoy working with youths, a
somewhat ambiguous environment and bringing structure to a team to ensure a team is well-supported. They will enjoy learning the MSD framework and principles – and apply those principles to real life, adapting and communicating to their supervisor as they go. Our System Officers together with System Managers will form the heart of this MSD program. We are looking for a well-balanced team with a variety of work and life experience and diversity of backgrounds.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening, and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we meet through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.