Position Description 
Location: Kathmandu (with frequent field travels) 
Position Status: Full-time, Regular 
Salary Level: M3 
Current Team Member: N/A 

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. Mercy Corps  has been operating in Nepal since 2005, implementing programs in food security, agriculture, market  development, financial services, girl’s education, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. We take  a systems-based approach in our programming, with the aim of improving the lives and potential of vulnerable  individuals and communities across Nepal. 

Program / Department Summary 

Managing Risks through Economic Development (M-RED) project is a 2-year program with the goal to develop  and implement a model for integrated disaster risk reduction (DRR) and economic development activities, building  sustained and market-driven approaches to DRR that increase resiliency to multiple disasters. The program targets  vulnerable communities in Nepal and Timor Leste, building on Mercy Corps’ experience in both countries, this  program has been recently expanded in Indonesia.  

MRED promotes the system approach to preparedness, response and recovery working with stakeholder at  community, sub-national to national level. Interventions at the community and household levels will be those that  both mitigate disaster risks and increase income levels. Communities will increase their DRR knowledge and  capacity. While at the same time, increasing their economic opportunities by engaging in the production, value  addition, and sale of crops utilized for disaster mitigation with the dual purpose of increasing household incomes.  The program will reinforce new or improved economic opportunities by enabling communities and households to  access markets for inputs and sales of high-demand/ high-value commodities. By carrying out market assessments,  and by facilitating linkages between household level producers and local markets, the program will work to  overcome these obstacles. 

General Position Summary  

The Program Manager will assume overall responsibility for the management and implementation of the M-RED  Nepal program, ensures alignment with the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance 2 (ZFRA) program, and takes  leadership on program strategies, approaches and methods closely coordinating with the regional M-RED  program, particularly with Timor-Leste and Indonesia. They must be a dynamic and effective manager who has a  sound understanding of both disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and market-driven programming  (at a senior level); will be responsible to generate high quality outputs and results; and, will have strong  stakeholder management, team management, communication, and representation skills. 

As gender and social inclusion (GESI), governance and environmental compliance are cross-cutting and core  components of the all MC programs, the Program Manager is required to own these components to ensure GESI  sensitivity and integration, governance practices and environmental compliance are integrated into the MRED  program.

Essential Job Responsibilities  

The specific duties and responsibilities of the Program Manager include, but are not limited to, the following: 

Strategy Formulation and Project Management: 

• Lead the M-RED to conduct a comprehensive and participatory assessment of community vulnerability  and capacity as well as an assessment of local and sub-national markets to determine high-value/ high demand crops and livestock, services or process that are also suitable for disaster mitigation purposes.  Share learning from Nepal to regional program team to revise Participator Risk Assessment (PDRA) and  market assessments including strategy, methodology, tools, work-planning and training staff. 
• Lead the project team to develop DRR strategies with market opportunities so as to mitigate risk and build  resiliency in ways that are durable and sustainable through activities such as bioengineering and  land/watershed management and other complementary approaches both as a means of increasing  economic opportunities and for the protection of current assets and future investments. 
• Work closely with the Country Programme Director, MRED-Program Director, Regional Resilience Director  and MERL advisor to ensure synergy of strategies between the Nepal and Timor-Leste MRED and ZFRA 2 activities and to capture learning from shared approaches, and from differences pertaining to each  context. 
• Develop Influence strategies for national level private and government stakeholders and engage them to  expand the nexus interventions beyond the program area.  
• Lead the project team to work with target communities in a participatory manner to adopt durable and  sustainable approaches to disaster preparedness, with a particular focus on mitigation, and, where  appropriate, early warning and contingency planning. 
• Ensure the program strategies and research activities are in line with the program. Work with the  Directors (MRED and Regional resilience) to capture these approaches from Nepal and assure lessons are  shared with the Timor-Leste program team, and vice versa. 
• Lead the development and maintenance of all project planning documents and processes, including  detailed work-plans, engineering work plans and technical design plans, and M&E plan. Ensure  compliance with PM@MC minimum standard.  
• Ensure monitoring of project activities is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach  desired impacts in order to assess effectiveness and impact and propose recommendations for  improvements. 
• Lead and ensure all program components are working jointly; DRR, Market system development, financial  services, livelihood and CCA to increase the resilience of the vulnerable communities and systems. 

Coordination & Representation: 

• Develop good collaboration with the other Program Manager and tea, and develop synergistic effect on  the implementation of both the program and develop harmony among field team member. 
• Develop program document to meet the SWC compliance and maintain good relation with national level  government and private stakeholders.  
• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with implementing partners, private sector  partners, donors, local governments and other stakeholders. 
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met; including  among stakeholders in Nepal but also across the regional program in Timor-Leste. 
• Participate in external meetings as requested by the Director of Programs/Country Director, and on behalf  of the M-RED represent Mercy Corps’ learning from the ‘nexus’ approach of DRR, flood resiliency and  economic development. 
• Take active role in strategic decision-making among the regional program team at all team events  including annual program management workshops, assessment design workshops, cross-visits and other  relevant meetings. 
• Work closely with Finance & Compliance Director to 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. 
• Share good practices from MRED with other program e.g. BHAKARI, contribute to overall organization  learning process on Resilience.  
• Participate in country level coordination and Manager’s meeting as needed.

Monitoring, Evaluations, and Reporting: 

• Ensure M&E system is in place to capture regular program data and impact. 
• Ensure quarterly data review process is setup and analysis from data used for program redesign. 
• Provide leadership for the application of research methods with the external research partner during  Nepal site visits, ensuring rigor of research approach while maintaining feasibility for the local context. 
• Take lead, working with country M&E team and MRED M&E Advisor/Officer, to design and coordinate  needs assessments, data and information collection for on-going monitoring. 
• Coordinate closely with all project personnel, including partner staff, other similar projects within and  outside agency and other related stakeholders to ensure all objectives of the proposal and activities are  met, and project outputs are clearly documented and results used to produce high-quality, well written,  donor and internal progress reports. 
• Organizes site-visits to the projects sites and host visitors including donor representatives and  consultants, as needed. 
• Regularly monitor implementation of program activities in terms of environmental compliance. Identify  problems, create and implement solutions, track progress and document learnings on a regular basis. 

Team Management: 

• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve  excellence. 
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular  performance reviews. 
• Recruit and supervise staff members, including setting program tasks to ensure the fulfillment of program  goals. 
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem-solving options and  ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes. 
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance & reach  objectives. 

Finance and Compliance Management  

• Ensure all internal control procedures are adhered to and that necessary measures are put in place to  ensure high standards of accountability and compliance.  
• Work closely with finance/compliance to mitigate fraud, conflict of interest and legal ramifications of  Mercy Corps activities.  
• Support and orient on MC Code of Ethics and uphold Mercy Corps’ Zero tolerance of corruption policy.  

Security  

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.  
• Proactively ensure that team members and community operate in a secure environment and are aware  of policies. 

Accountability To Program Participants 

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our  program participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work,  while actively engaging participating 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.

Others  

• Mercy Corps as a humanitarian agency is expected to respond as and when crisis and humanitarian  situation engulfs. As an MC employee all staff are expected to be part of humanitarian and emergency  response in addition to their regular roles and responsibilities. 
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve  excellence. 
• Conduct themselves both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps  and not to jeopardize its humanitarian mission. 
• Other duties as assigned by their supervisor and or Country Director. 

Supervisory Responsibility: M-RED Team 

Reports Directly to: Director of Programs (DoP) for all, specifically MRED Regional Program Director for MRED 

Works Directly with: Local implementing partner(s); private sector partner(s); and Mercy Corps DM&E,  Finance/Compliance, and Operations team members.  

Knowledge and Experience  

• BA/S is required or MA/S is preferred or equivalent in disaster risk management/Climate change, social  sciences, international development or other relevant field. 
• At least 5-7 years of relevant, professional experience in progressively responsible positions. At least 3  years in a senior leadership role for DRR in Nepal. Experience in managing or senior technical advisor roles  specifically in Disaster Risk Management, Climate Change, Market System/Livelihood development.  
• Strong management skill including supervising technical/field teams and implementing partners.  
• Strong team training/workshop facilitation and experience in strategy development.  
•  Experience leading the implementation of DRR work with a vision of longer-term, multi-sector integrated  projects, with a strong understanding of resilience approaches as well.  
• Experience managing large scale community based DRR and DRR systems strengthening including  institutional capacity building for government and civic society actors. Relevant DRR experience should  include: 
  - Familiarity with National DRM policies, strategies and working with Provincial and municipal  government structures for DRR, EWS and climate and weather information and integration of DRR  into formal planning processes and budgeting procedures. 
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently  and cooperatively with team members.  
• Excellent negotiation and representation skills and the ability to work comfortably with culturally diverse  staff under tight deadlines and often stressful situations. 
• Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local stakeholders, private  sector actors, Government and partners. 
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to develop good relationships with a wide range of  actors required. 
• Effective writing and organizational skills for report development, complete analyses and make  presentations. 
• Proficiency in computer skills;

Success Factors  

The successful Program Manager will combine exceptional management skills and technical skills with a focus  on innovative interventions to institutionalize market development approach. They should also have proven  experience with providing technical inputs in market development programming, individual staff  development, and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous  attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have  a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and  make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.  

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 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 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 e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.