Program Officer – Gender and Protection (ISING)

Mercy Corps Nigeria’s humanitarian program aims to provide assistance to populations affected by the crisis in Northeast Nigeria. With funding from humanitarian donors including OFDA, FFP, and ECHO the humanitarian programs engage in several interventions including but not limited to food assistance, logistics and relief commodities, protection, livelihoods, WASH and capacity building of humanitarian response actors. 

Mercy Corps plans to scale up and expand its humanitarian response in Northeast Nigeria to reach more beneficiaries with additional and varied assistance in a wider geographic area. Mercy Corps plans to implement a program in 3 states “ISING” or Investing in the safety and integrity of Nigerian girls targeting adolescent girls and boys affected by the conflict in the Northeast.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Program Officer – Gender and Protection (ISING)

Location: Biu – Borno State

General Position Summary

• The Gender and Protection Program Officer is responsible for assisting in the implementation of Protection sector activities including the mobilization of women’s groups, training on topics such as psychological first aid, and sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), and the validation of referral pathways in Borno & Gombe state, Northeast Nigeria.
• With the support of the ISING Program Manager, s/he will also advise and build capacity of other ISING team members on gender, protection mainstreaming in addition to overseeing project gender and protection related activities.
• S/he will report directly to the ISING Program Manager and will work closely with other sectors of the project.

Essential Job Functions

• Oversee the implementation of ISING protection activities and ensured adequate gender mainstreaming across project field locations;
• Develop activity work plans and manage day-to-day activity implementation related to gender and protection;
• Ensure that program implementation mainstreams gender and protection in coordination with other sectors in line with best practices;
• Ensure that beneficiaries are effectively targeted according to vulnerability criteria;
• Lead where necessary ISING project community meetings to identify gender related priorities and protection concerns.
• Establish and maintain effective ISING project reporting, and monitoring and evaluation systems (to track, analyze and report on results) for both internal and external use;
• Integrate community approaches, protection mainstreaming, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all ISING activities as appropriate;
• Ensure program filing system is in place, adheres to internal and donor regulation and filing is regularly maintained;
• Adhere to all MC policies related to security, operations and transport/ logistics information related to programming.
• Support orientation for all new staff on MC guidelines on gender and protection mainstreaming. If necessary organize capacity building sessions for other sector staff on gender and protection.
• Report on any problems encountered in the field such as project participant complaints, local authority interference, and security threats to MC staff and activities.  Coordinate with MC Security Officer and Gender & Protection Senior Program Officer on any threats to MC staff and activities.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S in relevant field required;
• 3 years of experience working on the development, implementation, administration and compliance of a field-based international development or humanitarian program; general gender and protection mainstreaming experience & knowledge required.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders to identify beneficiaries according to criteria required.
• Experience with conducting gender analysis, protection assessments, monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts required.
• Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media and the public.
• Commitment to renewing and maintaining knowledge of best practices
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is required.

Success Factors:

• The successful candidate will have a can-do attitude. Ideally s/he will have previous experience in working in large-scale emergency programs in insecure and conflict-affected contexts, including remote management and capacity development.
• S/he is a problem solver, who is adept in successfully dealing with issues of complexity.
• S/he is an active listener and contributor, working to create a strong team share ideas and learn

How To Apply
Interested candidates are encouraged to submit CV’s and Cover Letter in one document, addressing the position requirements to: ng-recruitment.nigeria@mercycorps.org

Note

• All applications must include the position title in the subject line and not more than 4 pages.
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
• We are an equal opportunity organization and we strongly encourage women to apply for this position.

29th August, 2016.