Uganda Chief of Party , Revitalizing Agricultural Incomes and New Markets (RAIN)

Mercy Corps has been operating in Uganda since 2006 and directly implements programs in the northern Districts of Pader, Kitgum, Kaabong and Kotido with funding from USAID’s, Food for Peace (FFP), Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), Conflict Management & Mitigation (CMM), as well as Private Donations. Over the past year Mercy Corps Uganda has experienced significant growth that has resulted in the expansion into new districts and the development of new sub-grant alliances with international and national NGOs. Mercy Corps Uganda will soon begin implementing a three-year, USDA-funded agricultural development program in Lamwo district, Acholi sub-region, northern Uganda, focused on agricultural productivity and profitability for smallholder farmers, improved market access, and increased access to agricultural finance. The program, Revitalizing Agricultural Incomes and New Markets (RAIN), will also include substantive partnerships with private sector agri-businesses and financial institutions. Mercy Corps will be the Prime implementer under a consortium arrangement with Technoserve, an international NGO, and other local organizations.

General Position Summary:

The Chief of Party (CoP) is the senior management position for the Mercy Corps RAIN “Revitalizing Agricultural Incomes and New Markets” management team, with supervisory and managerial responsibility over all aspects of program implementation and staff development. The CoP leads the coordination, financial and administrative compliance and monitoring and evaluation of the consortium, engendering a collaborative team spirit focused on achievement of program goals and objective. S/he maximizes budget resources and personnel development and remains flexible in a continually changing environment. Responsible for the oversight of RAIN activities the CoP is expected to travel frequently to the field to ensure the Program is planned and executed with quality, accountability and measurable impact. The CoP, along with Mercy Corps Uganda’s senior leadership (Country Director and Deputy Country Director), will liaise with USAID and represent the program to other cooperating sponsors and stakeholders.

Essential Functions:

• Attain program goal and objectives through the development, implementation, reviews, presentation and management of strategic plans, programs and projects by personal application and delegation of responsibility. Provide managerial and programmatic oversight to sub-grantee. Manage all operations related to the project according to the work plan, project document and implementation strategy. Troubleshoot, as needed, to prevent disruptions in daily program activities. Liaise with Deputy Country Director, as necessary. Ensure good relations and accountability with our consortium partners and directly manage the TechnoServe Program Counterpart.

• Communicate a clear vision of the RAIN program and how it fits into Mercy Corps’ country and regional strategies and well as Mission Statement; provide leadership and direction; ensure program strategy is clear and communicated to team members, partners, local beneficiaries and government, and the international community. Collaborate and ensure synergies with other relative Mercy Corps programs.

• In close collaboration with the Deputy Country Director, build the program staff ensuring that there are fluent communication channels that the reporting schedule is met on time and that program objectives are achieved.

• Monitor program implementation, measure impact and calibrate program strategy and implementation accordingly. Document process and achievements to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated.

• Support all efforts towards accountability to beneficiaries and to international standards guiding development work. This includes understanding and following established international guidelines and actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of projects.

• Develop and maintain both internal and external relationships to ensure optimum program success: to include Mercy Corps headquarters and regional officers and staff, international and local NGOs subgrantees, government officials, donor community officials particularly USDA and USAID, diplomatic corps and embassies, vendors, media and the general public. Nurture appropriate Mercy Corps public relations, USDA, USAID and other agency relationships; represent Mercy Corps to national and international media as requested.

• Exercise sound judgment to ensure project expenses are reasonable, allocable and prudent. Ensure all project funds are spent in accordance with donor rules and regulations. Work with the Deputy Country Director and Finance Director to forecast expenditure surpluses and deficits to enable adjustments to be made to the program in a timely fashion.

• Coordinate and manage overall program budget within approved spending levels and ensure compliance with all donor and Mercy Corps rules and regulations. Ensure adherence to operational imperatives as per internal/ external audit requirements; utilize best practices based on Mercy Corps internal policies. Ensure accurate and timely program financial reporting to the donors and Mercy Corps’ headquarters.

• Coordinate and share information with the Deputy Country Director to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are being achieved. Advise Deputy Country Director on suggested improvements and necessities, as required.

• Produce written reports on the program activities capturing impacts related to all activities, in the format provided by the Deputy Country Director.

• Recommend program priorities and explore, evaluate and present new country opportunities that leverage impact and/ or complement core activities.

• Ensure establishment and maintenance of relationships with communities, village councils and local government in Kitgum and Lamwo Districts.

• Oversee the program filing system and ensure that information is organized according to the reporting and auditing needs of the program. Ensure required levels of confidentiality.

• Provide direct and ongoing supervision and managerial support to all staff on the program.

• Ensure that all work follows international quality standards and best practices and that agriculture and water programs are technically and environmentally sound.

• Conduct prudent and timely assessments of security environment in program areas, particularly regarding the stability of the Uganda/Sudan border area, and enforce necessary security protocols balancing program needs with security constraints under direction of the CD and DCD.

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 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 design, monitoring and evaluation.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: All program team members under the funded grant, plus subgrantees TechnoServe and local organization

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Mercy Corps Uganda Deputy Country Director

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: All Mercy Corps Uganda team, Mercy Corps HQ program operations, finance, administration, human resources, technical support units, and resource development teams. Manages the RAIN program managers, technical specialists and sub-grant counterparts.

Knowledge and EXPERIENCE:

• MA/S or equivalent in agriculture, agronomy, economics or related field preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years’ senior-level field leadership experience required, 10-15 years preferred.
• Experience with USAID and USDA protocols preferred.
• Demonstrated success in programs related to agricultural livelihoods, agro-processing and marketing and value chain programming.
• Proven skills in financial management and staff management.
• Proven experience working successfully with financial institutions.
• Demonstrated ability to function as a social entrepreneur and proven success with building, managing and leading a team of professionals and the ability to function as a team player among peers.
• A dynamic, “outside-the-box” attitude is required, with proven ability to think and act creatively in challenging environments.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills in English are required.
• Multi-tasking, organizational, prioritization skills are necessary.
• History of working effectively and respectfully with host country government, private sector, INGO and NGO partners in complex environments.
• Experience in Uganda among agriculturalist communities or in East Africa preferred; an ability to work comfortably, effectively and creatively within the cultural environment of Uganda and areas of poor security required.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful Chief of Party will be a self-starter, multi-tasker, and able to work in ambiguous situations. S/he will be a tolerant and flexible individual able to work in difficult and stressful environments and follow procedures. S/he will be a team-player with positive attitude to problem solving and conflict resolution. The successful candidate will be focused on team-building and capacity-building of national staff, and will be able to apply creative solutions to program quality and team-building. S/he will also have the skill to engage, motivate and encourage staff to bring creative solutions to development issues, identify opportunities for increased impact, and pursue project objectives.

Living/ environmental Conditions:

This position is based in Kitgum town during the first year and in Lamwo for the second and third years of project implementation. Kitgum is the capital of Kitgum District, with a stable security situation and basic amenities following reconstruction and resettlement after years of disruption due to conflict between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. Kitgum has basic health services and no international schools. The town is small but there is a strong INGOs presence with expatriate staff based in the town. Restaurants and diversions are available. Water and electricity are generally available with occasional outages. The position requires frequent travel to field sites where one will encounter more basic living conditions. Mercy Corps has a large, well equipped field office in Kitgum, but no presence as yet in Lamwo.

The field location is eligible for family members (spouse/domestic partner and children up to age 19) who can accompany a team member to the assigned field location. Given the limited education facilities and basic amenities, candidates with families should fully explore the living situation before accepting the position.

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. Team members 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.