Position is contingent on funding.

About Mercy Corps Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has worked in Palestine since 1986 and currently operates across Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Mercy Corps works to empower Palestinians to meet their basic needs and overcome the effects of the humanitarian crises, as well as contribute to improving economic opportunities in the long term to become more self-sufficient and civically engaged, to live with greater dignity and create a brighter future. We believe women and youth are vital stakeholders in this vision and we prioritize programming that empowers and enables them to be leaders in their communities. The Palestine program currently has a total budget of USD $45 million, representing 10 active grants funded by USAID, BHA, ECHO, Global Affairs Canada, SIDA, and others. The country portfolio focuses on humanitarian response with a view to aligning with the nexus by integrating sustainable development and durable solutions approaches, as well as longer term development programs focusing on Palestinian youth to ensure lasting impact.

Mercy Corps is seeking a Chief of Party (CoP) to lead implementation of the five-year USAID-funded Pioneers-Raedat Activity. The proposed program will contribute to women’s empowerment in the West Bank and Gaza by increasing women's access to leadership opportunities and enhancing the enabling environment to be more receptive for women's participation in civic, political, and economic decision making. This will be achieved through 1) enhancing women’s representation and leadership capabilities; 2) improving equitable and safe enabling environments for women; and 3) increasing the adoption of inclusive social norms and workplace rights.

The Position The CoP will provide overall leadership, management, coordination, and strategic vision to the implementation of the Pioneers-Raedat Activity, to ensure that the program meets its targets and deliverables on-time and within budget, while modeling and nurturing equitable processes and systems. The CoP will serve as the primary program representative to USAID, partners, other implementers, and key stakeholders. They will supervise program staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations, as well as the quality, timeliness, and efficiency of all products and interventions generated under the Activity.

Essential Responsibilities STRATEGY AND VISION

Lead the development of a vision and strategy for the program shared with the program team and key stakeholders.
Provide overall technical and administrative leadership and expertise. Responsible for administering and managing the implementation of the activity and has the overall responsibility for assuring that all assistance provided is technically sound and appropriate to meet activity objectives.
Play an active role in identifying and developing new initiatives that foster and/or improve strategic objectives of the program and the country office.
Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
Foster a culture of collaborating, learning, and adapting for program effectiveness throughout the program lifecycle

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Oversee program startup, management, and administration. Lead overall program implementation; setting up team structures, office structure, CARM, safeguarding, and MEL systems.
Ensure program implementation is on time, target, and budget, using effective M&E systems to track desired impacts.
Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan, while applying adaptive management principles.
Confirm program participants are effectively targeted according to transparent criteria.
Lead effective management, communication, and coordination among consortium members in a manner that is collaborative in sharing decision-making among all members.
Develop partnership frameworks, partner agreements/Memorandum of Understandings that detail the program’s collaborative approach to partnership, and oversee partner capacity strengthening.
Introduce the program to key local stakeholders, ensuring necessary approvals, buy-in, and collaboration as required.
Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate. Certify all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and program participant accountability standards.
Ensure program strategies and activities represent global good practice in gender equity and social inclusion, creating transformational changes in gender and social norms by strengthening the enabling environment and institutional capacity, and addressing structural barriers for women.
Supervise and/or review the work of program consultants.
Supervise procurement, logistics, security, administration, and human resources teams to ensure operational systems support field activities.
Fulfill Mercy Corps’ Program Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide.

REPRESENTATION

Represent Mercy Corps at donor, NGO, and other relevant forums in close coordination with the Country Director and country leadership.
Coordinate program activities with consortium partners, subgrantees, and other implementers as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.
Serve as an active contributor and collaborator with regional and global counterparts to promote best practices.
Responsible for all aspects of coordination and communication, including with other donors, the civil society sector, and other potential implementing partners.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
Provide leadership, resources and coaching to assist managers and team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

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 activities are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps’ regulations.
Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with program, donor, and Mercy Corps’ needs.

Supervisory Responsibility

Expected to supervise several direct reports. The number of direct and indirect reports will be determined at a later stage.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Deputy Country Director

Works Directly With: Other Mercy Corps Palestine Directors or program managers, Finance and Compliance Teams, HQ Regional Program Teams, and HQ and Regional Technical Support Unit

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging program participant communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

A Master’s degree in development or relevant social sciences areas, preferably in gender, institutional capacity building, women’s empowerment or women’s leadership. In lieu of a Master’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree and five (5) years’ experience, in addition to the seven years outlined below, will be accepted.
At least seven (7) years of progressively increasing responsibility in managing gender equality and female empowerment projects of a similar size and scope ($25+million) in developing countries, including at least three (3) years serving as a CoP or in an equivalent position.
Demonstrated ability to lead and manage a diverse team, in a flexible and adaptive programming context, ensuring high performance and staff retention, to deliver impact within agreed timelines and budget.
Experience in high level leadership positions that require excellent interpersonal, communication, technical, and analytical skills including ability to interact effectively and collaboratively and develop relationships with a broad range of counterparts and key stakeholders.
Demonstrated expert technical knowledge in gender equality and female empowerment and leadership. This may include skills development, mentorship and networking, gender-based violence, national and institutional level enabling environments for women’s participation, and/or promoting inclusive social norms.
Experience of at least three (3) years, in the Middle East, managing a systems approach program directly leading to sustainability of interventions and behavior change, is preferred.
Demonstrated experience managing complex programmatic and financial reporting requirements. Experience with USAID rules, regulations, and requirements is preferred.
Experience working on international donor-funded projects, particularly in managing a consortium or operating within a consortium in the Middle East, is strongly preferred.
Fluency in written and spoken English. Arabic language knowledge (verbal and written communication skills) is also preferred.
Palestinians and women, people with disabilities, and those from marginalized groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

**Success Factors
**
The successful Chief of Party will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members and other stakeholders, combining exceptional management skills and experience in maintaining donor and partner relationships. They will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement, and adaptively manage innovative programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the region, and in adherence to laws and security protocols within a complex and sensitive setting. The successful CoP will also have proven experience with cross-cultural teams and capacity strengthening, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving, and simultaneous attention to detail and 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. The CoP will also see the program as part of wider Mercy Corps Palestine and Mercy Corps global programs, and be excited to engage at a country office and organizational level.

**Living Conditions/Environmental Conditions
**
The CoP position is based in agreement with CD either in Jerusalem or Ramallah, West Bank. This is an accompanied position with a separate apartment in one of the listed locations above. This position requires travel to the field sites in Mercy Corps Palestine’s operational areas up to 50% of the time, as security allows, including travel to some locations that may be insecure or austere. Frequent travel to project sites in the Gaza Strip will be required. When traveling around the country, strict adherence to Mercy Corps security policies and procedures will be required as well as respect for local cultural norms and traditions. Candidates must be able to work in an environment with energy, transportation, and communication challenges.

**Ongoing 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.

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 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, color, 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 eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.