Director of Programs Mercy Corps

STRATEGIC VISION & LEADERSHIP

• Collaboratively develop and communicate a clear vision of present and future program goals and strategies with program team members, and other team members and stakeholders, translating into concrete work plans.
• Lead countrywide program strategy development and prioritize and organize actions and resources to achieve objectives and action plans set through those processes.
• Closely follow analysis of the Palestine socio-political, economic, access, and security context ensuring that this analysis is well incorporated in planning for both short-term humanitarian and longer-term sustainable development and resilience programming.
• Ensure effective communication and collaboration between programs, grants, MEL and support teams ensuring effective implementation of activities across Mercy Corps Palestine programs and strategy.
• Recognize opportunities for innovative actions and create an environment of trust where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

• Work closely with the Palestine Country Director, SMT and other program team members to ensure that Mercy Corps strategy is understood and guides decision-making throughout the country;
• Provide strong and strategic leadership to increase coordination, collaboration, integration, and efficient communication between Mercy Corps programs;
• Contribute to change management whenever required and applicable, and support consensus building around a common vision of what shared success in Palestine looks like, including the development of appropriate key performance indicators;
• Provide clarity around priorities to improve the delivery of assistance in Palestine and to make program strategies and frameworks more consistent across the response;
• Ensure all programs are properly implemented according to Mercy Corps policies and standards, and promote adaptive management across programs to ensure programmatic efforts are responsive to evolving needs based on contextual changes;
• Promote and facilitate sharing and learning across different Mercy Corps portfolios, teams and offices and support teams to incorporate learning in project design and management;
• Oversee the creation and maintenance of systems to ensure efficient program data management to support timely decision-making.

PROGRAM QUALITY, EVIDENCE & LEARNING

• Contribute and/or support the quality, evidence and learning agenda of Mercy Corps Palestine across all programs and in all related initiatives, including MEL, CARM, GESI and Evidence and Learning.
• Ensure that all Palestine programs meet PM@MC minimum standards and that systems, processes and tools are effectively used by the programs teams; in line with Mercy Corps guidelines and policies;
• Ensure that all programs' staff have received trainings in line with their level of responsibility and receive technical support relevant to their programs;
• Hold program leadership accountable to communities and participants through responding to and acting upon community feedback and concerns raised via Mercy Corps Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM)
• Promote a culture of shared learning across program teams and of evidence-based decision making in line with Mercy Corps organizational strategy and sector wide best practices.

STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

• In coordination with the Country Director and program teams, lead the identification of new initiatives and program opportunities that respond to identified needs and the country strategy as well as new potential donors or funding streams;
• Provide overall leadership and quality control to program team members working on the program development process, including ensuring that all program design processes are evidence-based;
• Support Country Director to cultivate strategic partnerships or relationships with new/existing donors and private sector actors to further strategic development opportunities.
• Lead directly on the development of highly strategic concept notes and proposals as needed;
• Coordinate with partner organizations and field program staff on proposal development and design, to ensure compelling proposals are submitted at all times;
• Support the Reporting and Proposal Development Specialist to ensure that the agency s best practices in proposal development are consistently applied and clear to all relevant team members.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect and continuous learning where team members strive to achieve excellence;
• Design, implement, and refine remote management tools that enable effective oversight, coordination, and accountability across field teams, ensuring program quality and operational continuity when direct supervision is limited or restricted;
• Ensure the program teams structures are fit for purpose and adapt as needed while ensuring that all program departments are well-staffed in a timely manner to prevent any gaps in program leadership and implementation;
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews;
• Manage performance of program leaders including establishment of clear and measurable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and regular check-ins.
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, facilitate cross departmental cooperation, help team members identify problem-solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Hire, orient and provide mentorship and capacity building to team members as necessary.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE in PROGRAMS

• Recognize the high level of donor scrutiny in Palestine programming and ensure effective, transparent and responsive compliance mechanisms are in place;
• Ensure compliance with all donors and Mercy Corps regulations related to all programs;
• Maintain oversight of overall program budgets and support budget holders for individual programs and awards and ensure project expenditure is in line with work plans and commitments to donors, ensuring that all programs are on time, on scope and on target;