Program manager – Market systems for employment (MS4E)

Promoting resilience, opportunities, professional employment and learning (PROPEL) program

Organization: Mercy Corps
Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Position status: Full-time, regular
Salary level: Level 6
Application deadline: 22 June 2026

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization driven by the belief that a better world is possible. In times of disaster and hardship, Mercy Corps works in more than 40 countries around the world to put bold solutions into action, helping people overcome adversity and build stronger communities from within, now and for the future.

About the PROPEL program

PROPEL is a multi-country youth employment and market systems development program implemented across Uganda, Senegal, Liberia, and Tanzania.

The program uses a market-driven and private sector-led approach to address youth unemployment and underemployment. It places deliberate emphasis on reaching young people who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET).

PROPEL addresses systemic constraints to youth employment and supports the development of scalable and sustainable livelihood pathways. The program is implemented by Mercy Corps in partnership with Junior Achievement Africa.

About the position

The Program Manager – Market Systems for Employment (MS4E) will provide overall leadership for in-country implementation of the PROPEL program.

The role ensures that program delivery is adaptive, market-driven, and results-oriented. The Program Manager will translate regional strategy into context-specific implementation while embedding Political Economy Analysis (PEA), advancing private sector-led models, and applying targeted youth segmentation approaches, with a strong focus on NEET populations.

The position also ensures that interventions respond to local incentives and constraints, align with labor market demand, and generate sustainable employment outcomes at scale.

Essential responsibilities

Strategy and planning

The Program Manager – Market Systems for Employment (MS4E) will lead the development and execution of country-level strategies by translating regional priorities into context-specific interventions.

The role ensures that planning is grounded in a strong understanding of local market systems, institutional dynamics, and labor market realities to support adaptive and results-oriented implementation.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the development of annual and quarterly work plans aligned with PROPEL’s regional strategy and country context.
• Conduct and continuously update Political Economy Analysis (PEA) to understand incentives, power dynamics, and constraints affecting youth employment systems.
• Integrate PEA insights into program design, partner selection, and adaptive management processes.
• Align program interventions with labor market demand and private sector needs.
• Ensure strategic coherence between youth employment pathways, market systems development, and program outcomes.

Program implementation and private sector engagement

The Program Manager will oversee implementation of program activities with a strong emphasis on private sector leadership as the primary driver of sustainable employment outcomes.

The role ensures that interventions are demand-led, market-oriented, and designed to crowd in rather than substitute private sector participation.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead day-to-day implementation of all PROPEL activities in-country, ensuring quality, timeliness, and delivery of results.
• Identify, engage, and manage partnerships with lead firms and private sector actors to co-create employment opportunities.
• Facilitate private sector-led models, including apprenticeships, job placements, and business service provision.
• Promote co-investment and ownership by private sector partners to ensure sustainability.
• Support a shift from supply-driven training approaches to demand-driven employment pathways.

Youth segmentation and inclusion

The Program Manager will ensure that program delivery is informed by clear youth segmentation frameworks that enable targeted and effective interventions, particularly for NEET populations.

The role emphasizes differentiated pathways that respond to varying levels of vulnerability, readiness, and opportunity among young people.

Key responsibilities include:

• Apply structured youth segmentation frameworks to categorize target groups based on employability and vulnerability.
• Design and implement tailored pathways for NEET youth, including foundational skills, job readiness, and enterprise development.
• Prioritize inclusion of women, marginalized groups, and displaced populations where relevant.
• Establish systems to track youth progression across employment pathways and outcomes.
• Ensure interventions respond to barriers faced by NEET youth, including access, mobility, and skills gaps.

Partnerships and ecosystem development

The Program Manager will play a central role in building and strengthening partnerships and market systems that support sustainable youth employment.

The role goes beyond individual partnerships and focuses on improving the overall functioning of the employment ecosystem.

Key responsibilities include:

• Serve as the primary in-country representative of PROPEL in engagement with stakeholders.
• Build and manage strategic partnerships with government, private sector, training institutions, and financial actors.
• Strengthen ecosystem functions such as skills development systems, market information flows, and access to finance.
• Facilitate coordination with implementing partners and align interventions across stakeholders.
• Promote collaboration and alignment with national priorities and sector strategies.

Monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning

The Program Manager will ensure that robust MEAL systems are in place to track performance, measure system-level change, and inform adaptive management.

The role promotes continuous learning and evidence-based decision-making.

Key responsibilities include:

• Oversee implementation of MEAL systems that capture both program outputs and systemic change.
• Track changes in private sector behavior, youth employment outcomes, and effectiveness of intervention models.
• Integrate learning loops informed by ongoing analysis, including updates from Political Economy Analysis.
• Ensure timely and high-quality reporting to regional teams and donors.
• Promote a culture of learning, reflection, and continuous improvement within the country team.

Financial and operational management

The Program Manager will oversee all financial and operational aspects of the program at the country level.

• Budget management.
• Procurement processes.
• Administration of grants and sub-awards.
• Compliance with donor requirements.
• Compliance with Mercy Corps policies.
• Promotion of efficiency, accountability, and value for money in resource use.

Risk management

The Program Manager will proactively identify and manage risks associated with program implementation.

The role will use key stakeholder views and Political Economy Analysis to anticipate market distortion. Appropriate mitigation strategies will be developed and implemented to safeguard program integrity and ensure interventions remain inclusive, transparent, and aligned with intended outcomes.

Safeguarding responsibilities

The Program Manager will actively integrate safeguarding principles into all aspects of program delivery.

The role ensures that the dignity, safety, and well-being of participants and staff are prioritized. It also promotes a culture of openness, accountability, and adherence to Mercy Corps values, while encouraging the use of established reporting mechanisms for any concerns.

Supervisory responsibility

The Program Manager – Market Systems for Employment (MS4E) will provide leadership and management of the country program team.

This includes supervision of program and MEL officers to ensure clear accountability and strong performance management.

Accountability

Reports directly to

• Regional Program Director – PROPEL

Works directly with

• Country Director.
• Regional technical teams.
• Finance and operations teams.
• PROPEL program lead at Junior Achievement Africa, the major consortium partner.

Accountability to participants and stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, especially to program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and international standards guiding relief and development work.

Mercy Corps is committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of field projects.

Minimum qualifications and transferable skills

Applicants should have:

• Master’s degree in economics, development studies, business administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7–10 years of progressive experience in market systems development, youth employment, or livelihoods programming.
• Demonstrated experience engaging and partnering with the private sector to design and implement market-driven interventions.
• Strong experience managing multi-partner, donor-funded programs, including implementation oversight and reporting.
• Solid understanding of labor market systems and youth employment dynamics, particularly barriers affecting NEET populations.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing multidisciplinary teams and coordinating diverse stakeholders.

Success factors

The successful candidate will demonstrate strong systems thinking and the ability to navigate complex and dynamic environments with a high degree of adaptability.

They will be skilled in building and managing partnerships, particularly with private sector actors, and will have a results-oriented mindset focused on achieving sustainable employment outcomes for youth.

Living conditions and environmental conditions

The position is based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The role requires up to 70% travel to support field-level implementation programs. This may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.

Ongoing learning

Mercy Corps believes that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities they serve.

Team members are empowered to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that support their personal and professional growth and development.

Team engagement and effectiveness

Mercy Corps recognizes that achieving its mission begins with how the team is built and how team members collaborate.

By bringing together people with diverse experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, Mercy Corps strengthens its ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation.

The organization fosters a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

Mercy Corps recognizes that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process and remains committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal employment opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants.

Employment opportunities are provided without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

Safeguarding and ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals encountered through its work, including team members, community members, program participants, and others, are treated with respect and dignity.

Mercy Corps is committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and IASC. The organization has also signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.

Mercy Corps will not tolerate:

• Child abuse.
• Sexual exploitation.
• Abuse.
• Harassment by or of team members.

As part of the commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to:

• Conduct themselves professionally.
• Respect local laws and customs.
• Adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct policies and values at all times.
• Complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and annually.