Economic Strengthening Technical Lead- 2 Vacancies based in Jinja&Gulu (Open to Ugandan Nationals Only) | - 2015

PROGRAMME/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

Mercy Corps has been operating in Uganda since 2006 and works to catalyse change makers within the Ugandan private sector, civil society and government to create economically dynamic, healthy and secure communities. Our works focus on building resilience and enable economic growth, improve opportunities to attain better health and nutrition, and improved governance and conflict management. We implement programs in northern Uganda Acholi and Karamoja regions with funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as other private donations.

Mercy Corps is looking for a qualified candidate to fill the position of Economic Strengthening Technical Lead for the USAID funded five years program on Better Outcomes for Children and Youth in Eastern and Northern Uganda. The program goal is to improve the wellbeing of children and youth orphaned by HIV and other adversities in Uganda. It mainly focuses on orphaned and vulnerable children, youth and their caregivers to have improved access and utilization of health, nutrition, education, and psychosocial wellbeing and reducing abuse, exploitation and neglect.

The Economic Strengthening Technical Lead will be responsible for the day to day implementation of the economic strengthening component of the program. The sector priorities include meeting immediate economic needs of the most vulnerable target groups though temporary interventions to uplift and integrate them in to market systems; increased savings and access to credit opportunities; increased opportunities for income growth and building assets; and better access to group based education and support programming. The program will be implemented in Northern and Eastern Uganda.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Economic Strengthening Technical Lead will be responsible for the implementation of the economic empowerment component of the program in the respective region (northern and eastern Uganda). Reporting to the Economic Strengthening Technical Director, S/he will be responsible for activity planning and implementation to improve the economic conditions of target groups through improved access and utilization of services and products and better access to markets. The Technical Lead will have supervisory responsibility of project officer and works with a consortium of agencies under the prime lead of World Education.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

§ Provide technical lead and guidance to the consortium for program implementation, development and management in the areas of economic strengthening.

§ Coordinate and work closely with the other component leaders in the consortium to ensure integrated approach to program implementation

§ Work closely with the technical director to identify, assess and develop partnership strategies for potential private sector, civil society and government partners.

§ Establish and maintain productive working relationships with Local Government officials and line departments, soliciting their participation in all activities where appropriate.

§ Make on-site field visits regularly to provide technical back stopping and/or design suggestions.

§ Ensure proper logistics, administration, human resources and transport needs of the program are conducted within Mercy Corps policy and with the maximum benefit to the program.

§ Support the development and continual revision of a dynamic, program-wide monitoring and evaluation system linked to program strategies, indicators, and information management tools, which supports program management, accountability and learning.

§ Continual gathering and sharing of information pertinent to the operating environment and hold frequent activity review sessions to continually re-examine the relevance and impact of the program.

§ Produce written reports on the program capturing impacts related to all activities.

§ Ensure establishment and maintenance of relationships with communities, consortium partners, other CSOs and local government in target operation areas.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

§ A degree, preferably graduate level, in economics development, development studies, social sciences or social work, or a closely related field is required.

§ S/he must have at least five years of works experience in economic strengthening initiatives that target vulnerable communities mainly orphan and vulnerable children and households.

§ Experience in working with private sector partners

§ Solid experience on market based solutions to addressing poverty

§ Strong interpersonal, writing and oral presentation skills in English are also required.

§ Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.

§ Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of office applications.

§ Ability to focus on day-to-day tasks at hand while also working towards longer-term objectives with an understanding that these will change continuously;

§ Willingness to spend much time in the field and work closely with program target groups and partners.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful Economic Strengthening Technical Lead will have;

§ The ability and curiosity to work effectively with local government, civil society and community based organizations.

§ Solid background in economic market development.

§ The ability to juggle multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and to calmly and diplomatically deal with unexpected events impacting program operations..