Team Lead - Urban Resilience

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision
-Lead the development of a program-wide urban resilience-building framework to guide coordination and integrated implementation.
-Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
-Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives.

Program Management & Leadership:
-Oversee program start-up and ongoing program management and administration of consortia members and teams across various field locations.
-Supervise project staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and SDC rules and regulations.
-Lead the development of detailed implementation plans, flowing from annual strategic work-plans, and ensure the delivery of the same.
-Ensure that participants are effectively targeted according to established vulnerability criteria.
-Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.
-Provide managerial and programmatic oversight to consortium partners.
-Provide leadership to ensure the Urban Resilience project remains agile and adaptive to shifting context/reality on the ground and responds to emerging evidence of resilience and landscape related changes.
-Document processes and achievements to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated. This will include the continual re-evaluation of program activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments in keeping with new insights.
-Produce written reports on program activities, capturing the impacts of activities.
-Oversee efforts to design effective M&E systems for the program, and linkages with internal M&E systems.
-Create and follow effective stakeholder management plans, ensuring sound and proactive communications with Mercy Corps Zimbabwe, consortium partner organizations, Mercy Corps headquarters, SDC, Government of Zimbabwe authorities, and colleague agencies.
Conduct frequent field visits to all project sites.

Team Management
-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 regular performance reviews.
-Develop the capacity of the team, lead team-building efforts, help team members identify problem solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
-Supervise and manage all program staff to ensure day-to-day activities are implemented in a coordinated fashion according to schedule, budget and quality.
-Supervise and manage all program partnerships to ensure sound coordination in the context of an overall program strategic and resilience-building framework.
-Manage and help with the recruitment, orientation, 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.

Finance & Compliance Management
-In collaboration with the country program’s operations and finance departments, ensure proper financial management, procurement, administration, human resources and logistics (including transport, warehousing and asset management) needs of the program are conducted within Mercy Corps’ policy and with the maximum benefit to the program.
-Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with programme, donor and Mercy Corps’ needs.

Influence & Representation
-Lead the socialization of the program with Government of Zimbabwe stakeholders and existing resilience initiatives, ensuring necessary approvals and collaboration as required.
-Liaise with and represent program to SDC and other cooperating sponsors and stakeholders.
-Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO and other relevant events in the field, in close coordination with the Country Director.
-Ensure close coordination and information sharing with consortium partners, sub-grantees, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.
-Establish and maintain relationships with communities and local government.

Security:
Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.
Ensure that Urban Resilience activities are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

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 toward 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.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES
-Actively learns safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
-Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
-Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options

Supervisory Responsibility
National and international team members working on the program, as well as partnerships with international and national program partners. The number of direct and indirect reports is to be determined.