Program Officer/Mso- DREAMS Tanzania

Position Description
Location: Tabora and Katavi

Position Status: Full-time, Regular

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Reports to: Deputy Team Lead

Current Team Member: New Position

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps was established in Tanzania on 9th June 2011 and registered under Non- Governmental Act, 2002 and issued with registration number 00NGO/00004646 by Registrar of NGO’s. Since its establishment, the organization implemented number of programs ranging from food and security, livelihood, and peacebuilding includes AgriFin which worked to address the inclusion gap for smallholder farmers (SHF) who lack access to affordable, accessible, demand-driven financial products and services that drive higher productivity and income for farm families. CREATE – Collective Resilience Against Extremism- aimed to mitigate the drivers, enablers, and narratives of violent extremism in Tanzania through support to policy initiatives, engaging local and national government, local civil society organizations and communities in preventing violent extremism; REDP2 – Rural Electrification and Densification Project, Phase 2A- aimed to improve the livelihoods of rural entrepreneurs through the provision of business skills training and the stimulation of productive uses of energy; and, GRUNDFOS – a Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience In Least Developed Regions in Tanzania, with the aim of improving food security and agricultural resilience of small holder farmers by promoting the uptake of the Grundfos Small-Scale Solar Irrigation (SSSI) pumps and providing targeted business development support services. And currently, DREAMS -Delivering Resilient Enterprise and Market Systems aiming at addressing the entrenched and extreme poverty among naturalized Tanzanians and their host communities in Western Tanzania resulting from protracted displacement and limited livelihood opportunities in settlements.

Program / Department Summary

The Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems (DREAMS) program is a collaboration between three leading organizations in the field of global poverty alleviation: Village Enterprise, Mercy Corps, and Dignity Kwanza. The DREAMS program aims to improve the well-being of 150,000 women, children, and men over the course of the four years. Targeting naturalized Tanzanians and host community members in the West Tanzania, our innovative approach will layer two evidence-based models which are poverty graduation and market systems development – to achieve increased household income, savings, and assets; improved food security and wellbeing.

General Position Summary
Reporting to the DREAMS Team lead, the Program Officer will work at the community level, in collaboration with local government and private sector structures, to support implementation of program activities. She/he will provide technical and operational support to the Program Assistants ensuring that activities are implemented according to scope and timeline. She/he will help to ensure the interventions are on time, on scope and on budget and identify opportunities to operationalize recommendations from ongoing context analyses.

Essential Job Functions:
Provide leadership and daily oversight for planning and implementation of activities including; mentorship and support to program assistants in the respective areas of implementation.
Support the Team Lead in the development of activity plans, budgeting and reports ensuring that established objectives and targets are met.
Support the Team lead in advocacy and maintenance of partnership with the relevant departments of community leaders and local government.
Support the Senior MEL Officer and Team Lead in coordinating the needs and market assessments and regularly monitoring and evaluation of the program activities, in accordance with DREAMS objectives.
Contribute in the development of training curriculum, project tools, and IEC materials; facilitate trainings for community level staff as well as support with staff capacity building process.
Supports the activities and performance of Local implementing partners; conduct routine team meetings, adhere to performance reviews timelines, troubleshoot challenges and standardize implementation approaches.
Identify and document best practices and failures in DREAMS programming and provide timely feedback to the Team Lead
Ensure timely and consistent submission of project reports, success stories and other relevant data to the Program Manager (i.e. weekly, monthly and quarterly reports)
Work closely with the implementation and technical overall teams to coordinate day to day operations and logistics to maximize miss-use of resources and ensure complementary programming.
Communication and coordinate with Program Officers and Assistants at the Local partner organizations, as guided by the Team Lead and Program Manager.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting
Provide ongoing mentorship to Local Partner organizations’ staff and Private sector Partners staff on data collection processes for completeness, accuracy and timely submission.
Responsible for the assigned data collection including gender and age disaggregated data, data validation, assuring quality control measures, timely data submission and communicating to MEL Specialist.
Support and conduct the Program data collection and entry to regularly update any MEL tools for measuring output and impact of social cohesion and livelihood activities
Responsible for drafting timely weekly, monthly, and quarterly progress reports and work plans.
Influence and Representation:
Support and coordinate visits from government, regional and HQ based staff and external visitors, such as donors and media, in collaboration with other Program Officers/Assistants, the Team Lead, and Program Manager.
Support the Team lead in coordination and communication of field activities with other NGO and local government partners to avoid duplication of services and support an enabling environment for livelihood activities.
Establish and maintain a productive working relationship with other NGO and local government partners, working in unison to develop complementary joint monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management structures where possible.

PROGRAM SUPPORT OPERATIONS:

Coordinate and with support of finance, operations and administration staff to ensure operational systems are in place to facilitate field activities including logistics (transport, warehousing and asset management), procurement, security, administration and human resources.
Accountability to Program Participants
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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. All Mercy Corps staff are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate highest level of integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination

Reports Directly To: Deputy Team Lead

Works Directly With: Program Manager, Senior MEL Officer, Senior Gender Officer, Program Officers/Assistants, Field Operations Team, Country Operations Manager, Country HR Manager and Country Finance Manager

Knowledge and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, social sciences, Microfinance, Entrepreneurship, Economics or any other relevant fields.
At least 3 years of related professional experience. Work experience with NGOs or Private Sector/For profit business organizations with focus on market facilitation, Value chain program interventions, or private sector led approaches or interventions preferred.
A dynamic, “outside-the-box” attitude is required, with proven ability to think and act creatively in challenging environments.
Demonstrated skills in data collection, verification and documentation
Excellent reporting, communication and representation skills
Proven skills in networking, team-building, community consultations and organizational development.
Ability to ride a motorcycle and he/she should be in possession of a valid driving/riding license or willing to obtain one.
Strong interpersonal, writing and oral presentation skills in English is required. Fluency in languages used in the Tanzanian settlements-Swahili is preferred.
Knowledge and experience working in settlements settings and polices.
Success Factors
The successful Program Officer will be bright, energetic, hard-working and eager to learn. S/he will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development assistance. S/he will be attentive to detail and able to carry out assigned tasks in a timely manner and according to a very high standard of quality. S/he will be creative and flexible, contributing to developing and encouraging new and innovative solutions, but at the same time will not have any difficulty in adhering to systems and procedures. S/he will strictly follow all protocols related to safety and security, and holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Mercy Corps’ values.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is not accompanied and is based in the West Tanzania travel to domestic sites. At times evening and weekend work may be required to meet deadlines and at times of shocks and stresses. 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.

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 eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.