Chief of Party (CoP) - Food for Education

Mercy Corps

Islamabad or Karachi, Pakistan

The Position

The Chief of Party (CoP) will have overall responsibility for successful delivery of the five-year USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education (FFE) program which utilizes U.S.-donated commodities to reduce hunger and improve literacy and nutrition among school-age students, especially girls. The CoP will be Mercy Corps’ primary point of contact with USDA and will provide overall leadership, management and strategic vision to the implementation of the FFE program, to ensure that the program meets its targets and deliverables on-time and within budget. The CoP will supervise key program staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations. S/he will be the primary program representative to donors, relevant government entities, partners, other implementers and stakeholders.

He/she will be managing the Consortium-related aspects of this program and will be key in ensuring the overall success. The CoP will:

Develop and implement the overall program strategy and design;
Supervise program staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations.
Lead the identification, engagement, capacity-building and coordination of partner organizations into a cohesive program implementation unit;
Oversee effective engagement with government and non-government stakeholders involved in the implementation of the program;
Facilitate clear communication among program partners, donors, government agencies/officials, and other Mercy Corps departments.
Ensure gender equity, social inclusion and conflict sensitivity is mainstreamed throughout the program.

Essential Responsibilities (Example Section Below - Adapt to Specific Role, Safeguarding Responsibilities are required for all roles)

STRATEGY AND PLANNING

Lead the development of an overall vision and strategy for the program by prioritizing and organizing actions & resources to achieve program objectives and impact, shared with program team and key stakeholders.
Play an active role in identifying and developing new initiatives that foster and/or improve strategic objectives of the program and the country office.
Contribute to strategy development by ensuring lessons learnt and impact of the FFE program are integrated into organization-level strategies and plans.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Provide strategic leadership and oversight for Mercy Corps’ FFE Program activities in cooperation with key program stakeholders, including national and international partner organizations, local civil society organizations, local and national government officials, other international agencies on the ground, and USDA.
Provide technical leadership, guidance, and share best practice approaches in fields of food security, nutrition and education program management, implementation and policy development
Provide leadership to the program team by managing the technical and operational aspects, ensuring clear plans, priorities, and fostering effective teamwork.
Oversee program start-up, management and administration. Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
Based on the program proposal, and working closely with the M&E team, ensure that appropriate monitoring systems and tools are in place to ensure a harmonized, effective and efficient monitoring system for the program.
Oversee the development and implementation of program work plans and strategies that align with National and Provincial frameworks and priorities in food security, nutrition, health, social protection, literacy and primary education, ensuring coherence with government policies and development agendas.
Ensure that high technical standards guide the technical and programmatic aspects of work plans and activities
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.
Confirm program participants are effectively targeted according to transparent criteria.
Develop partnership frameworks, partner agreements/Memorandum of Understandings, and oversee partner capacity building.
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 beneficiary accountability standards.
Ensure program strategies and activities represent global good practice in food security, nutrition and education.
Supervise and/or review the work of program consultants.
Coordinate with 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, COORDINATION AND PARTNERSHIPS

Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, local governments and other stakeholders.
Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
Maintain good working relationships with the donor, the host country government and local leaders, partner agencies, and other key stakeholders.
Facilitate learning and integration of Mercy Corps’ lessons learned and best practices on school meals programming, in addition to broader food security and nutrition initiatives and the program’s other technical areas for internal and external stakeholders.
Develop and maintain working relationships and coordinate with relevant international and local agencies active in the food security, nutrition and education sectors, including donors, other implementing organizations, local authorities and local partners, including representing Mercy Corps at local and national coordination meetings.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

Supervise, hire and orient new team members as necessary.
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 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.
Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
Supervise and regularly coordinate with program staff and support departments to ensure smooth planning, preparation, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of program activities. Develop a framework for adaptive management and program iteration driven by research and learning.
Provide overall leadership to a broad team of program staff ensuring synergy, sharing of best practices and resources.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

Responsible for the management of the overall program budget.
Regularly monitor expenditure to ensure each team and partner adheres to their respective approved budgets.
Support budget reviews and revision processes at team, partner and program level.
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.

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

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

Actively learns about 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

Program Team: Deputy Chief of Party, Technical Experts, MEL lead, Accountability lead.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Mercy Corps Pakistan Country Director.
Works Directly With: Deputy CoP, Technical leads, finance and operations teams, HQ Regional Program Team, HQ Technical Resources & Quality Unit, consortium partners.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

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

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline (education, public health, etc.).
Minimum of 15 years’ of senior leadership experience on projects of similar scope and scale. Previous experience as Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party or Team Lead for a large donor-funded development program in Pakistan will be preferable. Strong skills and a track record in strategic visioning, leadership, and inspiring teams.
Technical experience and understanding of school meals programming, education, child nutrition and food security preferred.
Experience working on programs pertaining to commodities management, proven track record working with a range of government and community actors and managing teams in multiple offices and locations.
Experience in the management of USDA school feeding programs desired, or similar USG programming.
Effective personnel management, coordination, and decision-making skills, with proven ability to be accountable for all components of the program.
Competent in building networks, strong problem-solving skills, and ability to influence with effective listening, persuasion, negotiation and other techniques.
Strong understanding of US government compliance issues.
Internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.
Knowledge of Sphere standards and other training in humanitarian response preferred.
Persuasive written and oral communication in English, including report writing.
Demonstrated technical expertise in food security, nutrition, literacy and primary education.
Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.

Success Factors

The successful CoP will combine exceptional management skills and experience in maintaining donor and partner relationships. S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage innovative programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the region. S/he will also have proven experience with cross-cultural teams and capacity building, 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.

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