Chief of Party - Yola 

Job Category: Programming

Requisition Number: CHIEF003054

Apply now

Posting Details

o Posted: November 18, 2022
 Full-Time

 Locations
Showing 1 location
Yola, 00000, NGA

 Travel Required: Yes

Job Details
Description
Position Description

Location: Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria.

Position Status: Full-time, Regular.

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
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and its influence spreads across the
continent. Yet, inequality and insecurity have consistently undermined Nigeria's
development. Mercy Corps Nigeria was established in 2012 to respond to these
challenges. The Nigeria team is headquartered in Abuja, in the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT), with offices throughout Nigeria. With a strong and growing team,
Mercy Corps works to achieve the vision of a Nigeria in which all people are
empowered, engaged, resilient and secure.

The Small-Town Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (STWASH) Activity is a five-year

initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and implemented by Mercy Corps and WaterAid. The Activity supports
sustainable improvements in access to basic water and sanitation that are
necessary to facilitate ongoing recovery, peacebuilding, and economic
development within Nigeria. The program has three interrelated areas of
intervention. As a foundational approach, STWASH focuses on expanded access to
water and sanitation facilities and strengthening capacity for small-town water
governance covering the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) in Northeast
Nigeria. The overarching vision of the activities in the BAY states is to facilitate the
economic recovery of some crisis-affected communities and bolster the capacity of
the state governments in providing essential WASH services and creating and
sustaining enabling environments for Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation
Agencies and Water Consumers Associations to operate effectively. Under an
expansion in 2022, the ST WASH Activity is increasing the scope to implement water
utility infrastructure projects in the three southern states of Imo, Abia, and Delta as
well as faecal sludge management system in Borno State. This is a substantive
increase in infrastructure and geography, with activities now split across six states.

General Position Summary

The Chief of Party (COP) provides overall leadership, technical oversight,

management and strategic vision for the program, while managing staff and
resources to ensure that the program meets its targets and deliverables on-time,
on scope, and within budget. The COP will supervise key program staff and ensure
high program quality. The COP will be responsible for ensuring strict adherence to
internal Mercy Corps policies and procedures as well as donor rules and
regulations. The COP will have the ultimate accountability for all aspects of the
program, including but not limited to infrastructure, governance, and
measurement of impact. The COP will be responsible for the successful integration
of Activity objectives, ensuring infrastructure components (led by Mercy Corps) are
integrated with complementary governance works (led by partner WaterAid). The
COP will also have representation duties to donors, relevant government entities,
partners, and other implementers and external stakeholders

Essential Job Responsibilities

 PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

 Drive a culture of collaboration, learning and adaptation throughout the

consortium and prosecute continuous improvement
 Drive quality and accountability across all facets of the program, ensuring teams
meet and exceed program minimum standards in infrastructure, MEL, Gender and
Inclusion, among other areas
 Maintain focus and promote attention throughout the team
of the overarching program goal, consistently ensuring alignment throughout all
activities.
 Lead overall cross-team coordination efforts, bringing together different
stakeholders to proactively find a collective and innovative solution for challenges.
 Contribute to country-wide team-building efforts through collaboration with the
Mercy Corps Nigeria team and influencing the development and strengthening of
the organization.

TECHNICAL OVERSIGHT

 Provide direction for innovations in water systems delivery with a critical focus on
sustainability. Constructively analyze and provide feedback on the proposed plans,
ensuring integration and synergy between program components and partnerships
 Environment – ensure cross-program strategy aligns with USAID environmental
regulations and best practices. Oversee the implementation and refinement of
USAID required processes as governed by the global environmental management
plan, the site-specific environmental review of factors, site-specific environmental
review reports and annual environmental management and mitigation report.
 Resilience –ensure cross-cutting resilience strategies are purposefully introduced
to ensure the program is implemented in a sustainable way with a focus on
expanding innovation in climate-sensitive water security in line with Mercy Corps’
Pathways to Possibility organizational strategy.

STRATEGY AND VISION

 Ensure programs are running in alignment with Mercy Corps’ principles, values
and the program’s strategic plan, particularly in regard to maintaining a focus
on gender equality and social inclusion across the program.
 Recognize, promote and act on opportunities for innovative action and create an
environment where this is regularly encouraged.
 Set the direction and provide hands-on oversight of the development of annual,
integrated strategic work-plans for the program.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

 Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where accountability is

promoted, alternative viewpoints welcomed, the team strives to achieve
 excellence, and is conducive to professional growth. A key facet of the ST WASH
team growth is to ensure accountability and to build trust;
maintaining and strengthening a healthy team culture is essential to this role.
 Supervise a team of 9+ staff across different units. Clearly establish
and communicate performance expectations and regularly provide constructive
feedback with direct supervisees and relevant partner staff.
 Promote a team culture that values diversity, equity and inclusion and work closely
with HR and the Senior Leadership Team to actively promote diversity, equity, and
inclusion within the ST WASH team composition and leadership structure
 Actively manage and promote professional development and ongoing training of
staff to ensure they are of the quality and technical capacity necessary to ensure
the successful implementation of activities.
 Liaise with support structures within Mercy Corps Nigeria, including the Program
and Quality Unit to ensure smooth coordination with portfolio initiatives and
support to the program

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

 Work closely with the Director of Program Controls to ensure oversight and
implementation of the highest standard of program management tools. This
includes risk management, updated and timely workplans and accurate budgeting.
 Manager the subaward relationship with WaterAid, ensuring sound coordination in
the context of an overall program delivery. Liaise with the subaward team for
effective monitoring and support.
 Provide oversight of all component implementation, including ensuring that each
component has a detailed implementation plan aligned and coordinated with
others.
 Supervise and manage all program staff to ensure day-to-day activities are
implemented in a coordinated fashion according to schedule, budget and quality.
 Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve
objectives.
 Act as a program lead on relevant incident management responses, in
coordination with country-level leadership, as they arise.

OPERATIONS, FINANCE AND COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

 Ensure positive coordination with operations, finance and other support

departments, ensuring open and transparent communication and
coordination between both parties and knowledge and adherence to processes
and policies.
 Ensure effective systems and structures (including finance, logistics, procurement,
security, administration and human resources) are implemented
to maximize support to field activities whilst ensuring compliance with regulations
and policies.
 Hold ultimate accountability for budgetary oversight and management, whilst
building the team’s capacity to understand budgeting and financial management.
 Promote compliance with USAID regulations, Mercy Corps policies and procedures
and ensure all activities are implemented accordingly.
 Confirm that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and
understanding of security management priorities.

COORDINATION AND REPRESENTATION

 Primary program representative for USAID and other cooperating sponsors,

donors and high-level international stakeholders, including private sector
entities, NGOs, public utilities, etc. Responsible for building strong relationships in
the sector and ensuring proactive and continuous engagement to promote the
program and maintain abreast of sector-specific news and events.
 Ensure timely submission of all deliverables to USAID and government partners,
collaborating closely with country and desk support structures.
 Set the direction for government engagement and high-level support. Collaborate
with the DcoP and program staff, in engaging regularly with local government and
civil society, Community and Water Sector based partners building a strong
reputation for the program and creating support among key government partners.

Organizational 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

Supervisory Responsibility: Program Engineers, MEL and Communications staff,

Water Aid (DCOP and Water Specialists), dotted line engagement with dedicated
support staff (Security and Operations)

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Programs

Works Directly With: Program and Quality Unit, Other Program

COPs/PMs/Directors.

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

 MA/MSc in water resource management, engineering, public administration, or

other relevant fields.
 10+ years of management experience in increasingly responsible positions –
preferably as the lead for a comparable water and sanitation project or senior
leadership position on a larger project.
 7 years+ of experience with successful water and sanitation projects, with utilities,
experience preferred
 Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments,
private sector entities, donors, other donor-funded projects and stakeholders, local
organizations, and partners.
 Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with USAID policies, procedures and
approaches with regards to design, implementation, budgeting, monitoring and
evaluation for projects of a similar size.
 Exceptional relationship-building skills, with demonstrated experience in the
management of large and cross-cultural teams. Must be committed to promoting
equality and inclusion throughout their management style.
 Strong preference will be given to applicants with private sector experience,
business acumen and interest in public-private partnerships and contractual
agreements (involving interlinked infrastructure and service delivery).
 Certified in program management or commitment to achieve certification within
first 3 months of position.
 Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and
work independently and cooperatively with team members.
 Fluency in oral/written English is required.
 Previous experience leading programs in a similar context to Nigeria is strongly
desired.

Success Factors

The successful Chief of Party will embody a collaborative and values-driven

leadership approach, combining exceptional program management and technical
skills in sustainable water and sanitation system delivery. S/he should bring
experience of building and maintaining robust donor, private sector, government
and partner relationships in a challenging context. The successful candidate will
have an outstanding ability to ensure technical excellence, whilst holding team
members accountable to the highest standards of program management and
pushing for continuous adaptation and innovative improvements. S/he will also
have proven experience with cross-cultural team and capacity building, individual
staff development and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem-
solving and simultaneous attention to detail whilst maintaining strategic vision are
essential. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong
commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing
environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all
situations. Due to the nature of this program, and the operating environment, the
successful candidate must have a high level of internal resilience.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Yola, Adamawa State for the first year with an anticipated
shift to Owerri, Imo State in the second year. The position may require up to 50%
travel as activities are spread across 6 states. Locations may include sites where
freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.

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 a 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, colour, 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 e-
learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

Note

 Applicants should have their CVs and Cover Letters in one document
addressing the position requirements.
 Female candidates who are qualified are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Closing Date: Friday 2nd December 2022

Travel Required
Yes.
http://mercycorps.org