Sub-Awards & Partnership Senior Program Officer at Mercy Corps Nigeria

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. In Nigeria, Mercy Corps has worked since 2012 focusing its programming on adolescent girls’ empowerment, economic development, conflict mitigation, and humanitarian response.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Sub-Awards & Partnership Senior Program Officer

Requisition Number: SUBAW003773
Location: Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Full-time, Regular
Job Category: Finance & Compliance

Program / Department Summary

• The Mercy Corps Subaward Unit is responsible for managing the programmatic, financial and operational aspects of sub-awards issued under all programs across Mercy Corps Nigeria.
• Working with an increasingly wide and diverse set of local and international partners at all levels of public, private and civil society, there is a need to strengthen programmatic and financial support to partners to enable more robust growth and development of sub-grantees.
• Compliance with the donor regulations and Mercy Corps internal policies and procedures is a critical part of the capacity-building process and essential to enable sub-grantees to develop strong systems that will help in the delivery of programmatic interventions.

General Position Summary

• The Sub-award & Partnership Senior Program Officer is responsible for managing the programmatic and operational aspects of sub-awards issued under the program in Mercy Corps Nigeria.
• Working with the sub-award team, identifying new sub-grantees & participating in the due diligence process and drafting subaward agreements.
• S/he will also lead efforts to build the capacity of local sub-recipients to meet finance and compliance requirements of the relevant program’s prime donor and other donors, so that these local organizations develop professional personnel and systems.
• Work closely with consortium-level sub-recipient organizations to ensure they are issuing, managing and monitoring subawards in accordance with the sub-award agreement.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Sub Awards Management:

• Participate in the design of new initiatives that require partnership strategies and manage the relationships with prospective partners.
• Prepare Request for Application (RFA) or call for proposal for competitive processes that clearly define and communicate steps for selecting, negotiating and awarding sub-awards.
• Develop & prepare program-specific sub-awards procedure manual, when needed
• Conduct pre-award Programmatic capacity review and other due diligence of apparently successful applicants. Facilitate with HQ & partners in developing draft sub-award agreement.
• Review & refine the Sub-grantee program description & milestones in sub-grant agreements. Support partners in identifying activities & developing their budget.
• Develop sub-recipient monitoring plans, and conduct programmatic monitoring of sub-recipients. Visit sub-recipients and produce regular programmatic monitoring visit reports.
• Review sub-recipient programmatic reports for correctness and completeness in line with financial reports and ensure that reports are submitted on time. Follow up on the resolution of program & finance performance report issues.
• Organize coordination meetings & programmatic correspondence with the sub-recipient for creating smooth relationships.
• Process the request for procurement for grants & sub-grants, assist in developing forecast & activity plan & review Actual versus budget variance analysis together with finance
• Maintain & update programmatic report on PM@MC folder file for program and follow up on Programmatic sub-award files in soft & hard copy,
• Assist sub-award close-outs & evaluation, including ensuring that all requirements of the sub-award agreement have been met and that sub-award program reports are submitted.

Partnership Management:

• Provide program guidance and technical support for sub-grant award capacity building through the provision of support to partner organizations as required and in coordination with the relevant program team.
• Conduct the capacity assessment of identified organizations using Mercy Corps’ Organizational Capacity Index (OCI) tool and using OCI findings to support partner organizations to create capacity development plans.
• Refine organizational development tools and recommend best approaches for partner capacity development based on existing Mercy Corps knowledge and experience.
• Deliver training to build partner capacity and technical competencies as well as start-up monitoring and evaluation training
• Support peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and peer mentorship opportunities, including field site visits and learning events.
• Provide technical guidance to develop/strengthen partner organization’s administrative and financial management systems and structures.
• Work closely with consortium-level sub-recipient organizations to ensure they are issuing, managing, and monitoring subawards in accordance with the sub-award manual.
• Other duties as assigned

Influence & Representation:

• Interface with the (donor) representatives to convey information about programs as appropriate.
• Participate in sharing best practices with NGOs and governmental agencies.
• Consistently demonstrate flexibility, resilience and ability to maintain positive relationships and composure, even under difficult circumstances.
• Maintain high ethical standards and treat people with respect and dignity.
• Demonstrate an awareness of his/her own strengths and development needs.

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.

Accountability:

• Supervisory Responsibility: Sub-awardees, Sub-Award Monitoring Officers
• Reports Directly To: Chief of Party (CIPP) with a dotted line to The Senior Sub award manager and the Director of Finance (CIPP)
• Works Directly With: Program Managers, Sub-award compliance officers, Operations department, and Finance

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S or equivalent in Social Science, Management, International Development or other relevant fields; MA/S preferred.
• At least 3 years of progressive experience and proven high level of competence in working in NGOs/INGO capacity building programs, ideally in relief and/or post-conflict settings and strong gender background.
• Strong knowledge of, and experience with organizational development of CSOs in challenging environments, and ability to inform the content and method of organizational development training.
• Proven track record in staff and stakeholder training and capacity building and TOT training.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of conflict mitigation, peace-building and negotiation and ability to translate them into capacity-building elements for peace actors.
• Strong knowledge of gender, vulnerable groups and human rights theory, including the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and their implementation process with civic and government counterparts.
• In-depth knowledge and direct exposure to gender-related activities.
• Strong leadership, communication, and project management skills.
• Ability and interest to work with a multi-ethnic team in a culturally appropriate manner.
• Internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.
• Knowledge of Sphere standards and other training in humanitarian response is preferred.

Success Factors

• The successful Operations Assistant will assist logistics and warehousing tasks in delivering successful programs while demonstrating excellent stewardship of donor funds and compliance with Mercy Corps and donor regulations.
• They will maintain strong cooperative relationships with other departments and interact effectively with international and national personnel both in a managerial and training capacity while demonstrating the ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing program activities.
• The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a solid commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions:

• The position is based in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, which is relatively a challenging location with potential security threat.

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 a 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, colour, 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 come into contact with 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 the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.
• 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 adhere to the Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times.
• Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

Application Closing Date
9th June, 2023.