Team Lead

Team Lead

Location: Kathmandu

About Mercy Corps

Since 1979, we have helped people grappling with the toughest hardships survive – and then thrive. That’s the heart of our approach: We help communities turn crisis into opportunity. Throughout our history, Mercy Corps has demonstrated innovation, timeliness and the ability to adapt quickly to changing realities.

In Nepal, Mercy Corps began operations in 2005, and since then has implemented projects in the sectors of agriculture, food security and nutrition, financial services, youth engagement, and disaster risk reduction/ climate change adaptation. To date, this programming has reached over 900,000 people in 23 districts. We work with a range of donors in Nepal and have been a trusted prime partner of choice for decades.

About The Programme

The FCDO has launched a bid to deliver outcome 3 of Samartha. At the impact level, Samartha will contribute to improved human development and gender outcomes, enhancing the Nepal’s trajectory towards a stable and prosperous middle-income country. At the outcome level, the programme will support the Government of Nepal to sustainably and equitably deliver their constitutional mandates and human development commitments.

If selected, the 3 years programme will involve the following elements:

Increase the involvement of civil society movements/platforms/networks in identifying and promoting human development issues, with a focus on Gender, Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) dimensions of social services.

Increase citizens’ engagement in the planning, prioritizing and monitoring the delivery of social services.

General Position Summary

Mercy Corps is seeking candidates for a Team Lead who will provide overall leadership, management, and technical direction for the Samartha/SAROKAR programme in Nepal, which is expected to start in January 2025 and last for 3 years. The Team Lead will lead a consortium of partners to ensure an integrated vision among different components and actors with a focus on achieving the results. The Team Lead shall be the donor’s principal point of contact in Nepal for procedural and substantive matters, including technical matters. The Team Lead shall coordinate and ultimately be responsible for all Agreement management and implementation. The Team Lead shall also be responsible for ensuring quality control. The Team Lead will be expected to identify issues and risks related to programme implementation in a timely manner and suggest appropriate adjustments.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND VISION

Lead the development of a vision and strategy for the programme shared with the programme team and key stakeholders.

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.

Oversee the development of annual, integrated strategic work-plans for the programme.

Foster a culture of collaborating, learning, and adapting for program effectiveness throughout the programme lifecycle.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT & TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP

Oversee programme start-up and ongoing programme implementation and administration of teams across various field locations.

Lead the development of detailed implementation plans, flowing from annual strategic work-plans, and ensure the delivery of the same.

Lead the socialization of the programme with Government of Nepal stakeholders, ensuring necessary approvals and collaboration as required.

Ensure that participants are effectively targeted according to established vulnerability criteria.

Integrate conflict sensitivity, 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 programme participant accountability standards.

Develop partnership frameworks, partner agreements/Memorandum of Understandings, and oversee partners’ capacity strengthening.

Document processes and achievements to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated. This will include the continual re-evaluation of programme activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments in keeping with new insights.

Produce written reports on programme activities, capturing the impacts of activities.

Oversee efforts to design effective M&E systems for the programme, and linkages with internal M&E systems.

Create and follow effective stakeholder management plans, ensuring sound and proactive communications with Mercy Corps Nepal, partner organizations, Mercy Corps headquarters, the donor, Government 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.

Contribute to country 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 programme staff to ensure day-to-day activities are implemented in a coordinated fashion according to schedule, budget and quality.

Supervise and manage all programme partnerships to ensure sound coordination in the context of an overall programme 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 programme’s operations and finance departments, ensure proper financial management, procurement, administration, human resources and logistics (including transport, warehousing and asset management) needs of the programme are conducted within Mercy Corps’ policy and with the maximum benefit to the programme.

Monitor adherence to grant agreement, Mercy Corps’ policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations, including those of the government of Nepal.

REPRESENTATION & PARTNERSHIP

Liaise with and represent the programme to the donor 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, local and provincial government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programmes.

Establish and maintain relationships with communities and local government.

SECURITY

Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.

Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTICIPANTS

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.

Supervisory Responsibility: Team members working on the programme, as well as partnerships with programme partners. The number of direct and indirect reports is to be determined.

Reports Directly To: Director of Programmes

Works Directly With: Finance and Operations teams, MEL team, CARM Advisor, GESI Advisor, Country Director. Coordinates with HQ Program Performance team and the Technical Resources and Quality Unit (TRaQ).

Knowledge and Experience

Master’s degree in a relevant field such as social sciences, law, development studies, etc. Bachelor’s degree with five (5) additional years of relevant international development experience can be substituted for the Master’s degree.

At least ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in the successful implementation of international development activities, with a specific focus on civil society, gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), media and/or public sector governance.

Professional experience in Nepal preferred, with an in-depth understanding of gender, age, caste, and other locally significant socio-cultural factors and preferably in the context of GESI and governance programming.

Excellent oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated ability to think strategically and communicate his/her vision to partners and colleagues.

Proven experience navigating complex and high-pressure operating environments.

Demonstrated ability to establish and sustain interpersonal and professional relationships with different donors, civil society organizations and host country government counterparts.

Conflict analysis and Do No Harm analysis experience required.

Experience of working on FCDO programmes preferred

Previous experience living and working in challenging environments.

Fluency in spoken and written English required.

Knowledge of local dialects of Lumbini and Madesh province is preferred.

Success Factors:

A successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving. S/he will have a proven ability to learn quickly, multi-task, priorities, take initiative, be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, problem solve, work within a complex and sensitive setting, and to follow laws and security protocols. The most successful Mercy Corps team 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.

Living /Environmental Conditions:

The Team Lead Position is based in project district (Madesh or Lumbini) with significant travel required to program locations.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a short-term assignment. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps’ policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

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.

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 Misconduct Disclosure Scheme — SCHR. 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 must complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and annually.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).