This position can be based in Portland, OR or Washington D.C.**
PROGRAM/ DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps has made a high level commitment to achieving greater impact with the communities we partner with through adaptive management, evidence and learning, using data-driven evidence to demonstrate results and contribute toward solving complex global challenges. We need to meet this commitment in the midst of an increasingly vulnerable, unpredictable, and interconnected world more prone to shocks and stresses, and recognize that exceptional program performance is central to achieving impact. Adaptive management will empower teams to acknowledge uncertainty and unpredictability, and seek opportunities to experiment, adapt and scale approaches in response to rapid feedback loops. It is in this context that Mercy Corps is creating the Program Performance Team, which merges Program Management at Mercy Corps (PM@MC), Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), Gender Integration, Tola (an internally built, Open Source, data management software solution), the Design for Impact Guide (the DIG – an online tool for program logic, outcomes and agency-recommended indicators for all of our technical sectors).
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
As Director of the Program Performance Team, this position provides a critical leadership role in supporting our teams globally to set a high standard in program performance by building a culture of adaptive management, evidence andlearning. They will do so by strengthening an organizational culture of and providing the necessary capacities for adaptive management, evidence-based learning, outstanding monitoring and evaluation, thought leadership, and accountability within the agency.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Vision and Leadership
- Set Program Performance Team strategic direction, ensuring alignment between initiatives, teams, and functions to ensure optimal support to field teams.
- Lead agency vision to define program performance as evidence based programs that adapt to meet the varied needs of community members while meeting programmatic and financial targets.
- Strengthen the culture and practise of adaptive management and evidence-based programming, aligning all stakeholders with Mercy Corps’ evolving program performance vision and strategy.
- Engage in strategic planning efforts at all levels to ensure a results-based focus and use of evidence to inform future strategies.
Team Management
- Create team culture of mutual respect, learning, creativity and innovation; recruit, manage and motivate an informed, skilled and efficient team with an emphasis on excellence and achievement; incorporate staff development strategies and performance management systems into the team building process.
- Establish leadership and personal credibility with the Mercy Corps team, and implement and create an organizational culture of accountability, responsibility and quality of services.
- Manage the budget and staff resources to prioritize and provide program performance support to country and/or program teams per the program performance strategy.
Technical Oversight
Provide technical leadership to advance Mercy Corps’ principles, policies and best practises in program management and monitoring, evaluation and learning through the provision of guidance, tools, resources, training and technology to field programs. This includes:
- Capacity Building – Develop and implement a strategy for enhancing organizational program management and M&E expertise and capacity, including guiding refinement and delivery of training curriculum, outreach, ongoing support, and professional development activities.
- Methods & Tools – Oversee improvement of Mercy Corps’ Program Management and MEL tools and resources, and adoption at field and HQ levels. Promote use of new methods and approaches, particularly for complex and fluid environments. Guide the strategic direction for Tola and oversee the design and roll-out processes, ensuring reinforcement of Mercy Corps’ PM@MC, MEL and gender standards, while maintaining a field-driven, flexible approach. Guide ongoing refinement of the DIG.
- Gender Integration – Ensure gender considerations are integrated across team initiatives, and that Program Performance team members have adequate capacity to train field teams on the gender minimum standards, and can support programs to use gender tools and approaches to make program decisions to increase impact.
- Accountability: Work with the Program Performance Team and other internal stakeholders to strengthen the system to hold programs and managers accountable for upholding minimum standards.
Internal Coordination
- Coordinate technical support to country programs through team resources, leveraging both internal and external technical expertise to ensure adequate support for strategic priorities.
- Ensure coordination of team members with other teams and initiatives supporting program performance, including regional program performance positions.
- Provide strategic input into the development of the agency research and learning agenda.
- Provide direct support to country and/or program teams as required.
Representation
- Represent Mercy Corps externally as a thought leader on program performance to help shape the relief and development field by contributing to cutting-edge debates and influencing policy.
- Promote the strategic use of – and learning from – evidence gathered through monitoring and evaluation to advance the organization’s thought leadership in key areas, in coordination with the Research and Learning & Thought Leadership teams.
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 towards 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: Nine team members, several based remotely in Europe, Delhi and the Middle East. Team size may vary depending on the Program Performance strategy.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Senior Director of Operations
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Regional Program Directors; Country Directors; HQ-based Regional Program Teams; Technical Support Unit (particularly the gender team); Research and Learning; Strategic Response and Global Emergencies; Policy & Advocacy; Information Technology; Resource Development; and other teams.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
- MA/MS or equivalent in international development or other relevant field, and working knowledge of international systems, economics, politics, human rights and/or similar issues.
- Ten years or more working in a relevant field, with at least five years in senior roles and five years working overseas.
- Applied international experience in program management, design, monitoring and evaluation.
- Proven ability to develop, apply and adapt to technological solutions.
- Excellent interpersonal skills.
- High level of initiative and problem solving ability.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Experience in training, preferably including curriculum design, preferred.
- Previous experience integrating gender into programs and/or accountability for successful gender integration in programs preferred
- Understanding of the concept of adaptive management and adaptive management approaches, as well as experience with adaptive management of programs in complex environments preferred.
SUCCESS FACTORS:
The candidate must have strong and proven ability in program management and monitoring, evaluation and learning as well as significant field leadership experience with International Relief and Development organizations. They must also have a fluency or willingness to become fluent in all other aspects included in the Program Performance spectrum, including adaptive management approaches, gender, and Mercy Corps’ software platforms that support adaptive management (Tola, Wrike and the DIG). The successful candidate will be able to think practically as well as strategically about how the teams in this department can work together to best meet the needs of Mercy Corps globally. This person should model a type of management that empowers the team to be part of conversations, and uses influence to bring the right people to the table. They will need to be able to manage up, across to field leaders and field teams, and down to a high performing team with different areas of expertise. They will be motivated to work closely with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds in a supportive and collaborative spirit.
LIVING /ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:
The position will be based in the Mercy Corps headquarters support office in Portland, OR or Washington DC and requires up to 35% travel including travel to some locations that may be insecure or austere. 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.
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