Program Assistant (Ojo) at Mercy Corps Nigeria Full Time

Job Title: Program Assistant

Requisition Number: PROGR004479
Location: Ojo, Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time
Job Category: Programming

Program / Department Summary

• Girls Improving Resilience through Livelihoods and Health (GIRL-H) is a three-year (Oct 2020 to Dec 2023), program being implemented in Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria (Lagos and Kano) that seeks to improve the well-being of adolescent girls, boys and young women by increasing their access to skills and knowledge, health resources, formal education, and economic opportunities. GIRL-H also fostered an enabling environment by working with communities to transform unhealthy social norms and create opportunities for girls to access education and economic opportunities.
• GIRL-H has secured a one-year bridge funding (Jan to Dec 2024) that will consolidate the work done in the last three years. The program will focus on four key pillars including Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC), Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), Financial Inclusion (FI), and research and learning.
• Key to GIRL-H is a robust learning and research agenda that reaches across three countries to contribute to the evidence base on what works to secure access to opportunities for adolescent girls within the most marginalized communities and to better understand their contribution to household resilience.
• This evidence and learning will be shared to elevate Mercy Corps’ influence in the adolescent girl space and to bolster fundraising efforts to scale the model.

General Position Summary

• The GIRL-H Program Assistant will lead the successful implementation of the GIRL-H program in each of the five implementing Local Government Areas (LGAs).
• The Program Assistants are an integral part of the project management team of GIRL-H in Nigeria and will be required to work closely with community mentors in Lagos and the Nigeria GIRL-H team.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Program Management:

• Lead program start-up (bridge) and implementation across the LGAs, including identification or retention of community mentors and other community stakeholders.
• Manage and oversee program implementation in the LGAs, in cooperation with key program stakeholders, local government officials, community-based organizations, and other international agencies on the ground.
• Support the GIRL-H Program Officer in the development of activity plans and reporting format for activity implementation and ensure that every activity reported is supported with evidence.
• Support the GIRL-H Program Officer in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the program activities.
• Supervise the activities and performance of community mentors; conduct routine team meetings, adhere to performance review timelines, troubleshoot challenges, and standardize implementation approaches.
• Identify and document best practices and lessons in the GIRL-H program and provide timely feedback to the Program Officer.
• Work with the Finance team to ensure that activity budgets are prepared, and payments processed promptly.
• Ensure timely and consistent submission of program reports, success stories, and other relevant data to the Program Officer (weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports).
• Work with identified public and private sector partners within the LGA.

Team Management:

• Develop the capacity of the community mentors, deepen understanding of their roles, and assist with career development.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one and review meetings.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where community mentors strive to achieve excellence.
• Oversee community mentors and quality of program implementation and if security context allows, conduct frequent field visits to all program sites within their LGAs.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Provide ongoing mentorship to the community mentors on quality data collection processes for completeness, accuracy, and timely submission.
• Oversee the governance structures filling system in the GIRL-H program implementation wards, districts, and communities, and ensure that information is organized according to the reporting and auditing needs of the program.
• Work with MEL and Program Officer to ensure accurate data collection including Sex and Age Disaggregated Data (SADD), data validation, assuring quality control measures, and timely data submission.

Finance and Compliance Management:

• Monitor adherence to the donor grant agreement as well as Mercy Corps and donor’s policies and procedures for procurement and compliance.
• Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with program, donor, and Mercy Corps’ needs.
• Work closely with financial and operational management to optimize resources through sound budgets, consistent financial tracking, and timely submission of reports to the donor.

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 participants 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 at all times and in all in-country venues.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• Community Mentors

Accountability:

• Reports Directly To: GIRL-H Program Officer Lagos with dotted lines to MEL Officer Nigeria.
• Works Directly With: Other GIRL-H staff, Community mentors, HR and Operations departments, and Nigeria teams.

Knowledge and Experience

• Diploma, B.Sc or equivalent educational qualification in International Development, Political Science, Gender Studies, Economics, Sociology, or other relevant fields.
• 1-3 years of experience in gender and youth development work including gender/youth mainstreaming and engaging in gender advocacy.
• Demonstrated ability to implement a program, manage a team, and develop their capacities.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead the collection, analysis, and utilization of information from a broad range of sources to ensure effective integration of gender and youth concerns throughout the project’s duration. In-depth understanding of gender, age, and other socio-cultural factors in the context of livelihoods programming.
• Strong public speaking and facilitation skills required.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• Fluency in written and spoken English required.
• Fluency in the local language (Yoruba) prevalent within the operational state of Lagos is highly desired.

Success Factor:

• The successful candidate will have an excellent team and interpersonal relationship skills, with demonstrated ability to work effectively in complex environments.
• S/he will combine strong communication skills, creativity, initiative, participatory leadership, and tactful decisiveness to assist in program implementation, multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem-solving, and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential.
• S/he must have the confidence and humility to work effectively with a diverse group of people – as well as be sensitive to political and cultural nuance.
• S/he must be able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast-changing situations while working as part of a team and coordinating with program personnel.

Living conditions/Environmental Conditions:

• The position is based in Ojo, Lagos – Nigeria with significant travels to communities within the same LGA where program is being implemented.

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
8th December, 2023.

Note

• Applicants should have their CVs and Cover Letters in one document addressing the position requirements.
• Female candidates who are qualified are strongly encouraged to apply.