Program Manager, Resilient Communities – Caribbean Resilience Initiative – Jamaica

The Position

Mercy Corps is embarking on a three-year program aimed at strengthening livelihoods and economic empowerment for women across the Caribbean. To achieve this, Mercy Corps will work with 12 community service organizations (CSOs) across the region to pilot innovative approaches and strengthen capacity. The Program Manager will lead implementation of this program, which will work with CSOs in the following jurisdictions: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the 5 Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The program cycle will include a six month assessment process to understand the socio-cultural attitudes and systemic barriers in the Caribbean that prevent women from accessing the resources that enable economic growth and reduce their agency to make economic decisions. The assessment will examine differential vulnerability and consider how factors like age, ethnicity, economic status, migration status, gender identity, or sexual orientation may limit economic empowerment of women (age 16+) across different Caribbean geographies.

Following the assessment phase, the Program Manager will design a training series and small-grant challenge for community service organizations (CSOs) who already work with women in the Caribbean. The grants will be used to pilot innovative approaches to improving economic empowerment and outcomes for women and adolescent girls (16+).

Strong and collaborative partnerships are at the core of Mercy Corps strategy in the Caribbean. This position will cultivate and champion Mercy Corps community service organization (CSO) partnership network of over 30 organizations across the region. The Program Manager will work to strengthen capacity for Mercy Corps’ Caribbean CSO network, leveraging the resources available through the program, other resources available through the Caribbean Resilience Initiative portfolio, and the global organization.

Essential Responsibilities

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Manage and oversee the implementation of the Caribbean United Women’s Economic Empowerment (CUWEE) program, in cooperation with key project stakeholders, including local community service organizations, non-governmental organizations, local government officials, and donors;
• Collaborate with program, finance and administrative staff to ensure systems are in compliance with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures;
• Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts;
• Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures;
• Implement and model Mercy Corps’ philosophy of social entrepreneurship and leverage Mercy Corps’ best practices.
• Promote learning and knowledge management through documentation and knowledge sharing around best practices and lessons learned;
• Provide leadership and oversight in all aspects of program implementation, management and evaluation.
• Provide technical leadership to the program in the areas of inclusion and economic empowerment and organizational capacity building.
• Ensure adherence to Mercy Corps program management minimum standards.
• Monitor adherence to program donor grant agreements, as well as Mercy Corps’ and donor policies and procedures for procurement and compliance.
• Oversee program staff performance and quality of program implementation.
• Communicate frequently with program partner network

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP and GUIDANCE

• Ensure program is designed and implemented with consideration for technical recommendations from Mercy Corps’ global livelihoods and resilience technical teams as well as industry best practice.
• Ensure that cross-cutting aspects of gender, equity, and social inclusion (GESI) are included in the design of program activities.
• Participate in the development and implementation of program research and learning agenda, to build evidence and support the production of robust thought leadership on GESI and Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE).
• Support field monitoring and conduct periodic qualitative reviews on the strategic direction of GESI-related activities

REPORTING, MONITORING and EVALUATION

• Establish and oversee effective program monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems for both internal and external use and ensure high quality input is obtained from team members.
• Use reporting results to monitor program success, measure impact, and calibrate program strategy accordingly.
• Ensure documentation of achievements and lessons learned to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated in quarterly and final program reports.

REPRESENTATION and COORDINATION

• Act as main focal point for network of CSOs partnering with Mercy Corps across the Caribbean, connecting CSO partners with resources available through the regional portfolio and global organization.
• Liaise with local government officials including the government ministries, local NGOs, project partners, local religious leaders, and other community members to ensure support for and acceptance of Mercy Corps projects in relevant geographic areas.

STRATEGY AND PLANNING

• Ensure that the CUWEE program strategy is clear and communicated to team members, local partners and communities.
• Work with the Caribbean Resilience Initiative leadership team to develop and support the CRI strategy.
• Lead on measurement and analysis of regional key performance indicators to inform strategic decision making.

HUMAN RESOURCES, SAFEGUARDING AND DIVERSITY

• Support Mercy Corps global and regional initiatives for human resources, including safeguarding and diversity, and talent development;
• Collaborate with the people team to promote staff access to high quality learning opportunities, with a special emphasis on national team member development;
• Assist with the on-boarding of senior team members, ensuring they are set up for success and familiar with agency systems, procedures, and protocols.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options

Supervisory Responsibility

None, subject to change

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director,Caribbean Resilience Initiative

Works Directly With: CRI Program Managers, Finance team, Operations team, HR team, global Gender Equity and Social Inclusion technical unit, Market Systems Development technical unit.

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 Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Minimum of 4+ years of demonstrated experience in community development programming.
• Minimum of 4+ years of progressive technical responsibility; preferred to include experience in livelihoods or market systems development, women economic empowerment, or youth entrepreneurship experience preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to working with community-service organizations (CSOs) toward mutual objectives. Experience in CSO capacity building activities strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to work and coordinate effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders, including national and local government, donors, community-based organizations, and the private sector
• Degree in a relevant academic area – e.g., economics, climate sciences, a social science discipline, etc. (7+ years relevant progressive technical experience would be considered in lieu of advanced degree)
• Experience designing and implementing training and/or capacity building activities
• Ability to travel to various program sites (up to 25%)
• Experience living/working in the Caribbean preferred
• Experience working with USG donors preferred
• English fluency required; Spanish, French or Dutch proficiency preferred

Success Factors

A successful Program Manager will be well organized and able to complete deliverables with a remote and decentralized regional team. Cultivating and maintaining meaningful relationships with our partners across the region is central to the Caribbean Resilience Initiative’s strategy. A successful PM will be a good communicator, an advocate for our partners and the communities we serve, and will be a creative problem solver. The needs across the Caribbean region are diverse. A successful Program Manager will look for opportunities to meet the needs of the communities we serve with the resources available through the global organization.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is remote though candidates must be able to work a typical AST workday. All MC employees are expected to work a five-day work week. This position requires 25% of travel by road, sea and air to field program locations.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps’ policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.