Program Manager – West Sumatra

Mercy Corps

Closing date: 29 Oct 2010
Location: Indonesia - Padang

(Ref: 217211-927)

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

Mercy Corps has worked in Indonesia since 1999, addressing the root causes of poverty and improving the quality of life for urban and coastal communities affected not only by hazards and conflicts, but by ongoing and entrenched barriers to economic development. Mercy Corps has worked in West Sumatra since 2003 on a number of health, disaster risk reduction, and emergency response programs.

Mercy Corps will continue our work in West Sumatra through the DIPECHO-funded Community-based Disaster Management and Local Government Capacity Building in West Sumatra. The program is aimed at raising the awareness of all community members in two districts (Padang City and Agam) in West Sumatra and building the capacity of communities and district and provincial government actors to plan for and mitigate natural disasters. Program activities include capacity building and training of community disaster preparedness teams (DPTs), School Disaster Preparedness Teams (SDPTs) and District Management Agencies/BPBD in the two target districts. This program will facilitate the planning and development of various disaster reduction plans considering vulnerability and capacity assessments, hazard mapping, and mobilization of community resources which will be incorporated into the government planning process. DPTs will be trained to do outreach to neighboring communities and how to link with the District Disaster Management Agency.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Program Manger will be based in the province of West Sumatra and will be directly responsible for all aspects of DIPECHO project planning, budgeting, and implementation. S/he will also supervise national managers of other programs operating in West Sumatra and act as Head of Office in Padang. Responsibilities include: rigorous planning, design, monitoring and evaluation, staff supervision, budget management, donor relations, report writing and staff management. Close engagement, partnership and capacity building with government, private sector, and community partners are critical. The Program Manger will provide leadership and mentoring to the DIPECHO DRR team and other program managers and will be responsible for staff development. Participation in the Mercy Corps Indonesia management team, strategic planning and proposal writing is also required. The Program Manger will ensure inter-program learning and overall country program quality, especially with the Mercy Corps P3DM program (USAID funded DRR program) and the DFID-funded West Sumatra Disaster Risk Reduction Program.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Vision, Leadership and Strategy

- Lead the program team in identifying program strategies and driving innovation; key player in defining overall strategic planning for the West Sumatra program, with special emphasis on the DIPECHO program.
- Ensure linkages between on-going West Sumatra programming and wider Indonesian programming.

Program Implementation

- Responsible for ensuring programs are implemented in ways responsive to the communities’ and governments’ priorities, in line with Mercy Corps principles and values and following Mercy Corps compliance procedures.
- Directly supervises the DIPECHO program team; provides overall direction to daily implementation plans, ensures programs are coordinating and provides vehicle for strategic discussion from the field teams to management and vice versa on implementation issues.

Sub-grant management

Responsible for managing the sub grants issued to international and national NGOs, this will include reporting and program activity monitoring.

Team-Building and Staffing

- Ensure program staff are communicating; provide vehicle for cross-fertilization of programming.
- Assist with recruiting of key national staff and play a strong mentoring role in building national staff for nationalization of expatriate positions.

Representation and Diplomacy

Develop and maintain internal and external relationship to ensure program success, including MC regional and country offices and staff, international and local NGOs, government and military officials, donor community officials, vendors, media and the general public.

Reporting, Monitoring and Evaluation

Establish and maintain effective program reporting, monitoring and evaluation systems for both internal and external use in coordination with the M&E team and program staff.

Communications

Nurture appropriate MC public relations, visitor/ donor and agency relationship; represent Mercy Corps to national and international media in coordination w/ Resource Development and Communications units of Mercy Corps Headquarters.

Organizational Learning: As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

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:

DIPECHO Senior Program Officer, Master Trainers, Finance Officer, Operations staff (admin and logistics), and M&E; other program managers

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Director of Programs

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Country Director, Finance Manager, M&E and other technical staff.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

- BA/S required; higher degree in management, international development or other relevant field preferred.
- Minimum 3 - 5 years of field experience, in positions of increasing responsibility.
- Prior experience in DRR in rural and urban settings required.
- Demonstrable expertise managing ECHO grants desired.
- Experience with developmental programming, particularly in the areas of DRR, capacity building, and training.
- Effective time management and organization skills, including priority setting and responding to program needs.
- Previous experience working in Indonesia and/or knowledge of the region preferred; Bahasa Indonesian language skills a plus.
- Effective interpersonal communication skills including: problem-solving skills, being proactive and taking initiative.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The Program Manager will be a creative self-starter. S/he should possess excellent inter-personal communication skills and be skilled in external communication with partners and communities. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members make effective communication a priority in all situations and maintain a sense of humor.

LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

Padang is a small coastal city of 900,000 prone to earthquakes. Decent housing facilities are available and there are some international restaurants; however, it is a provincial capital lacking in some goods and facilities. Padang is an accompanied location, although there are no schools that meet international standards and local medical care is basic.

The Program Manager is expected to conduct regular field trips. Many of these destinations require an awareness of possible security/safety threats and knowledge of changing security environments. They also required a willingness to to stay in places with very basic amenities.

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. Staff 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.

Mercy Corps is an AA/EOE.
How to apply
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