Governance & Public Health Delivery Manager - DRC

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.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps is an international humanitarian and development Non-Governmental Organization which has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of about 200 people. Mercy Corps' country office is located in Goma with field offices in Katwe, Mweso, Butembo (North Kivu) and Bukavu (South Kivu), and a representative office in Kinshasa.

Current Mercy Corps activities in DRC focus on the provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in camps of internally displaced persons (IDP), and also on large-scale WASH infrastructure and the development of service delivery in urban centers. Mercy Corps also implements food security, good governance and economic recovery programs, with an increasing shift towards transitional and integrated development programming.

IMAGINE program seeks to simultaneously improve availability of, access to, management of, and proper utilization of WaSH resources in selected urban centers in Eastern Congo to ensure sustained health impacts. In support of this Mercy Corps has recently completed a number of assessments as part of the IMAGINE Inception Phase to define key needs around WASH infrastructure, water governance, market development and hygiene practice and better understand the environmental, socio-economic and gender issues that affect WASH needs and delivery.

IMAGINE identifies critical and inter-related outputs to address these causal factors preventing sustained improvements:

• Improvements to Infrastructure to increase availability of basic WASH services from source to tap
• Improved market-based WASH Service Delivery to engage and incentivize market actors and create more viable, efficient and sustainable WASH markets
• Enhanced Governance and Accountability structures to ensure effective feedback loops among consumers, providers, and regulators of WASH services
• Behavior Change interventions to improve knowledge and practice essential health practices
• Gender integration across all IMAGINE teams and activities; and Targeted gender interventions aimed at ensuring equitable access to, and control over, WASH resources.

General Position Summary

The Governance and Public Health Delivery Manager is responsible for managing governance activities, including providing technical and managerial oversight on all governance objectives, strategies, and activities in the IMAGINE program. Mercy Corps DRC and its partners will work with community stakeholders and local and provincial authorities to ensure responsive government structures and participatory governance mechanisms for effective WaSH service provision. Upon request, the Governance and Public Health Delivery Manager will provide technical advice and support to BCC, including follow up on MoU with health zone partners, coordination of activities to improve knowledge and practice essential health practices for the BCC component of IMAGINE program in Bukavu. Upon request from the Program Director, s/he may be involved to facilitate communication and information sharing with Infrastructure and Water Service Delivery Managers in Goma. Close coordination and collaboration with Service Provision, Behavior Change, Gender and Infrastructure Delivery Managers will be crucial in developing and maintaining an integrated and multi-sector approach.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Demonstrate visible leadership and adherence to Mercy Corps' core values, principles and strategy
• Oversee all governance and community mobilization/engagement program and institutional capacity building activities, ensuring that team members are following work plans, that activities are on schedule, and that project deliverables are completed as planned.
• Coordinate with program team and other departments to ensure operational systems are in place to support Governance activities including logistics, administration and human resource
• Plan, coordinate and oversee the implementation of the Governance strategy for the five year implementation phase of the IMAGINE program
• Ensure Governance is delivered on budget and to schedule
• Oversee all aspects of design, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and ensure that all program aspects are documented
• Manage collaborative partnerships, providing effective donor liaison. Identify, build partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met
• Ensure all program management minimum standards are met including risk management, issues management
• Upon request, advise the BCC team in Bukavu in strategic development, and representation and coordination, especially with the health zones.
• In collaboration with Delivery Managers and other Imagine staff, oversee information management and communication as necessary.

Program Management

• Work closely with the Service Provision Delivery Manager to ensure that the Governance and Service Provision strategies are closely aligned and in coordination at all times.
• Work closely with Governance Gender Advisor to oversee GBV complaint mechanism and ensure staff and partners have completed gender training.
• Work in collaboration with BCC Program Manager in support of health zones to promote public health trough behavior change activities in the communities.
• Oversee the establishment of CEQs (Community WaSH Committees) and collaborate with infrastructure team to facilitate proper communication and coordination.
• Oversee program start-up and ongoing program management and administration of teams across the three project sites.
• Develop partner MoUs and contracts & oversee a training program for program partners integrating community approaches, gender sensitivity, and capacity building into all activities as appropriate
• Develop program implementation plans including partnership frameworks, beneficiary targeting focused around WASH and capacity building of partners as needed
• 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.
• Develop work plans in collaboration with national staff, as well as monitor implementation, program quality, and impacts of these activities
• Develop monitoring systems (with technical support from the M&E team) and provide regular reports on program activities as required by the program
• Collaborate with evaluators and advise on evaluation and research questions relevant to Service provision, Governance and Behavior Change

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
• Supervise, hire and orient new team members as necessary
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives
• 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

Finance & Compliance Management

• Ensure partner compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to implementation of all subgrant activities

Security

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

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 beneficiaries 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.

Supervisory Responsibility

Governance teams, consultants, program staff, field officers

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Program Director

Works Directly With: BCC team, Governance team and other Delivery Managers, Gender Manager, monitoring and evaluation, partner organizations DRC team members, and members of the Mercy Corps Technical Support Units

Knowledge and Experience

• College degree in one of the following: Public Policy, Governance, Behavior change, International Development or other related field. Master degree preferred.
• 3-5- years of experience focused on governance and/or civil society programs at community and/or national levels. Experience and knowledge of governance systems in DRC preferred
• Experience designing and implementing programs related to governance, participation, and accountability particularly in Africa
• Demonstrated understanding of systems approach and/or systems thinking
• Experience recruiting, training, and managing program teams
• Experience collaborating with local authorities and leaders, community capacity building, and community mobilization
• Previous experience working with international organizations required and history with DFID-funded initiatives desirable
• Proven ability to work effectively in multi-cultural teams and with technical and administrative staff and consultants
• Strong communication skills in English and French, conversational Swahili a plus

Success Factors

A successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in project planning. S/he will demonstrate flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving, and have a proven ability to learn quickly and achieve stated results and objectives. S/he will combine strong collaborative working skills with an ability to implement programs successfully. S/he will demonstrate adaptability, flexibility in approach and a strong sense of equity. In DRC, patience, diplomacy, tenacity, compassion, determination and a sense of humor are all success factors.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in (Bukavu, DRC) and it requires up to (40%) travel to Goma and/or Kinshasa.

This position is as an unaccompanied post based in Bukavu, DRC. Travel to field sites up to 40% will be required where living conditions are clean and secure, but basic. Exceptional work schedules may be required occasionally (e.g., evenings and weekends).

Bukavu is a provincial capital of over 1,000,000 inhabitants, with travel to Goma, and Kinshasa. Living in Bukavu is comfortable, although water and electricity can be unstable. Outside Bukavu, travel can be dangerous and unpredictable due to armed forces and rebel activity.

While conditions in the country are improving, and security is quite stable in Bukavu, there are still pockets of violence and insecurity. Mercy Corps' sub-offices experience variable levels of insecurity, with the situation closely monitored by UN peacekeepers. Air travel is necessary to get from one end of the country to the other. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses. There's reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of 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 MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

PI101959317

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