Team Lead, Building Peace and Stability in Iraq (BPSI) At Mercy Corps

**Pending funding

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.

The Program / Department / Team

Mercy Corps has worked across Iraq’s 18 governorates since 2003, implementing relief and development programming, more than a third of which has focused on the specific needs of internally displaced persons. Mercy Corps Iraq’s goal is to work with new and existing civil society, public and private sector partners to meet immediate and long-term needs by strengthening communities’ ability to rebuild amidst increasing crises. Mercy Corps Iraq focuses on (1) a relief-to-resilience pathway to meet the needs of conflict-affected communities leveraging agency expertise in conflict management and civil society development (2) a humanitarian response that empowers conflict-affected populations to meet their own needs (3) partnering with conflict-affected adolescents to address their diverse needs, promoting leadership and linkages with civil society.

The Position

The Team Lead for the anticipated five-year, FCDO-funded Building Peace and Stability in Iraq (BPSI) programme will have overall responsibility for successful delivery of the programme in close cooperation with all consortium partners. The Team Lead will provide leadership, management and strategic vision to the implementation of BPSI, managing staff and resources to ensure that the programme meets its targets and deliverables on-time and within budget. The Team Lead will supervise key programme staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations. S/he will be the primary programme focal point for FCDO, as well as the main representative to relevant government entities, partners, other implementers and external stakeholders.

Essential Responsibilities

Technical Oversight

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight for Mercy Corps’ BPSI activities in cooperation with other consortium members, key project stakeholders, including national and international partner organisations, local civil society organisations, local and national government officials, and other international agencies on the ground;
• Oversee effective programme start-up, implementation and close-out;
• Ensure programme implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts, ensure programme is safe, diverse and inclusive, and develop mechanisms for targeted research to inform programme design and implementation;
• Manage the program budget for all consortium partners and complete financial forecasting to inform cost-efficient, on-budget programming;
• Develop and oversee systems to monitor monthly spending;
• Promote learning and knowledge management through documentation and knowledge sharing around best practices and lessons learned;
• Ensure that programme implementation is responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy Corp’s relevant programme guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan;
• Integrate community approaches, gender and conflict sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate;
• Coordinate with procurement, logistics, security, administration, infrastructure and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities;
• Ensure implementation and modelling of safeguarding policies and procedures in all interactions with team members, partners and programme participants;
• Integrate gender, social inclusion, and the Centrality of Protection, ensuring the programme is sensitive and responsive to different opportunities and barriers faced by women, elderly and youth; and
• Ensure all reports are submitted on time and consistently maintain high standards of quality in reporting.

Consortium Management and Partnerships

• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners and sub-grantees;
• Support partner capacity assessments and ensure strong capacity building plans for consortium partners are in place to support the success of the consortium and the sustainability of effective social cohesion interventions after project close;
• Maintain good working relationships with FCDO, the host country government and local leaders, partner agencies, and other key stakeholders;
• Develop and maintain working relationships and coordinate with relevant international and local agencies active in the governance sector, including donors, UN agencies, other governance and research organisations, local authorities and local partners, including representing Mercy Corps at local and national coordination meetings; and
• Lead and develop high-quality reporting from Mercy Corps and consortium partners for timely submission to the donor.

Team management

• Supervise, hire and orient new team members as necessary;
• 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 performance reviews; and
• Increase staff capacity by ensuring high quality technical training on governance programming for Mercy Corps staff and consortium partners, and providing ongoing coaching and mentoring.

Security

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership; and
• Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

Supervisory Responsibility

The Team Lead will be based in Baghdad, Iraq, with travel to project locations. S/he will report to the Mercy Corps Iraq Deputy Director of Social Cohesion.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Mercy Corps Iraq Deputy Director of Social Cohesion

Works Directly With: Social Cohesion Programme Team; MEL Team; Finance Team, Operations Team, Human Resources Team, Deputy Country Director, Technical Advisors, Program Development and Grants Management Team, and Program Assurance and Quality Team.

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

• BA degree or equivalent in International Development or related field;
• 7+ years’ experience working in international development programming;
• Experience working on social cohesion/conflict management-related programming in the Middle East, preferably in Iraq;
• Experience as Chief of Party/Team Lead for a large donor-funded development programme and experience managing large FCDO-funded grants preferable;
• Demonstrated experience with consortium management, including knowledge of innovative ways to ensure participatory and dynamic engagement and institutional capacity development of partner organisations;
• Demonstrated experience with adaptive management, integration of research into programme design and strategy, and innovative approaches to program monitoring and evaluation;
• Demonstrated experience providing budget management and oversight for a large project, preferable on behalf of the lead agency of a consortium;
• Demonstrated experience in managing effective relationships with external stakeholders, including government entities, UN agencies, research institutes, donors and peer agencies;
• Strong facilitation and consensus-building skills;
• Demonstrated experience mainstreaming gender equality, social inclusion, and protection into the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of development programming;
• Familiarity and experience with FCDO regulations; and
• Professional fluency in written and spoken English with Arabic highly desirable.

Success Factors

The successful Team Lead candidate will demonstrate the capacity to lead a multi-dimensional effort in a complex and fluid security environment. S/he will employ excellent judgement, strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills, and be committed to the values and mission of Mercy Corps. S/he will take initiative, calculate risks and benefits of various courses of action, lead others to achieve to the highest level possible, and demonstrate solid decision-making while working in concert with diverse partners.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Baghdad, Iraq and requires up to 50% travel to other locations in Iraq.

The role is unaccompanied, eligible for R&R breaks, and hardship, and housing is provided in shared group housing in Baghdad and when travel outside of Baghdad is required. The team member must follow all security protocols at all times.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organisations 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 organisation 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 and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. 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.