The Ugandan Jobline

Job Title:      Program Officer

Organization: Mercy Corps

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Program Manager

About US:

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. Working in
Uganda since 2006, Mercy Corps has applied market-driven solutions to
communities across the country, equipping individuals and households with the
knowledge, skills and confidence to generate improvements in their access to
markets, livelihoods, health, nutrition, and security, in order to improve
their overall resilience.

Program Summary

Mercy
Corps Uganda has secured funding from the US Department of States’ Bureau for
Population, Refugee and Migration (PRM) in a consortium with the International
Rescue Committee (IRC, as the lead agency), Urban Refugees and Young African
Refugees for Integral Development (YARID) to implement a 34-month program
entitled “Enhancing the Resilience of Urban Refugees and Vulnerable Host
Communities in Kampala through an integrated Protection and Livelihoods
Approach”. Mercy Corps is leading on the livelihoods component of this program,
which includes activities such as basic need cash transfer grants for three
months for extremely vulnerable households, micro-enterprise development grants
for entrepreneurs, development of structured apprenticeships that lead to
employment, harnessing ICT skills to improve employability and employment and
to leverage social networks for information and opportunity exchange, and
business mentoring.

Job
Summary: The
Program Officer will be responsible for the implementation of activities to
ensure participants including Urban Refugees and host communities have a smooth
pathway to livelihoods. The interventions will work almost exclusively through
private sector actors, seeking to crowd in provisions for basic needs of
participants through initial transfers to address basic needs and linkages to
markets including micro enterprise grants and ICT platforms for networking and
information sharing. The program officer is expected to push forward
market-driven approaches in all stages of programming, promote and capture
learnings to inform program decisions, drive results and produce scheduled
outputs at deadline and to expected quality.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

Planning,
developing and implementing activities

·       Introduce the program to
relevant stakeholders including local business owners, local authorities,
refugee protection centres and refugee led organizations.

·       In coordination with the
program team and partners, plan, implement and monitor livelihood initiatives
for Urban Refugees and host communities according to the work plan.

·       Mobilize targeted
beneficiaries/participants to fully engage in the program to realize the
intended objectives.

·       Work closely with
private sector actors on designing models for social networking with focus on e
learning content around financial literacy, entrepreneurship and agri business
working through ICT.

·       Participate in
assessments to determine participants’ profiles and current situations,
livelihood options available and potential to scale, existing opportunities to
leverage on based on needs as well as challenges.

·       Make routine field
visits to refugee centers within the program areas in Kampala to ensure good
implementation of activities as well as partners’ activities.

Collaboration/Networking
with partners

·       Establish and maintain
good coordination and working relationships with division authorities,
representing Mercy Corps and soliciting participation in activities where
appropriate and as guided by the Program Manager

·       Work closely with the
consortium partners, share and request for relevant information on the program.

·       Conduct himself/herself
both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy
Corps Uganda and to not jeopardize its humanitarian and development mission.

Documentation,
Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

·       Work closely with the
Senior MEL officer to capture data for measuring output and impact of the
program; and to ensure accurate and timely flow of information from the field.

·       Prepare and submit
timely weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports and work plans that will be
indicative of program progress during implementation. Respond to queries if and
when necessary.

·       Maintain a proper filing
system of all activities implemented in the program.

Accountability
to Beneficiaries

·       Mercy Corps team members
are expected to support all efforts towards 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.

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.

Ethics and
Integrity:

·       All Mercy Corps staff
member are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate highest integrity in
their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any
form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our
policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to
termination.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

·       The ideal applicant must
hold a Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, development studies,
entrepreneurship or any other relevant fields.

·       At least three years of work
experience with the private sector or market facilitation approaches.

·       Experience on social
networking platforms through ICT with focus on e learning content on financial
literacy, entrepreneurship and agri business is desirable.

·       Experience working with
marginalized communities in peri urban or urban settings is desirable. 

·       Strong interpersonal,
writing and oral presentation skills in English is a requirement. Knowledge of
other languages including Kiswahili and French is an added advantage.

·       Experience in building and
maintaining strong/productive relations with implementing and strategic
partners is required.

·       Strong leadership and
proven team building experience is a must.

·       Demonstrated attention
to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently
and cooperatively with team members.

·       Strong computer literacy
with a full knowledge of office applications

·       The successful Program
Officer will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development
assistance.

·       S/he will be creative
and flexible, contributing to developing and encouraging new and innovative
solutions, but at the same time will not have any difficulty in adhering to
systems and procedures.

·        S/he will strictly follow all protocols
related to safety and security, and holds self-accountable for making
decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Mercy
Corps’ values.

How to Apply:

All
candidates should send their applications online through the Mercy Corps
recruitment portal at the link below.

Click
Here

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