Jan  2017  –  up to present (Senior program officers ) MercyCorps international Cash program and E-voucher . Anbar, Baghdad  and support Salah Aldeen

Senior program officers

Location: Anbar ( Ramadi , Ana , Rawa and Qa'im )  

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Program Officer (SPO) supports strategic, impactful, high-quality implementation of the program. S/he supports the Programs Manager in all aspects of the day to day management of the program team and activities. S/he plays a key role in connecting Mercy Corps with local stakeholders. The SPO is responsible for ensuring that all Mercy Corps procedures are followed.

Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Support the Program Manager for project start-up and ongoing project management and administration of activities including beneficiary identification, distribution site selection, planning and implementing the distributions, working with partners, and facilitating monitoring. .

• Contribute to all field work, including identifying beneficiaries, participating in distributions, coordinating with mukhtars and other stakeholders and other field-based tasks as assigned.

·         Support the Program Manager for managing the program team on a day-to-day basis and create a positive atmosphere for professional growth.

·         Develop relationships with stakeholders in the urban displaced and host communities in order to ensure smooth implementation and prompt management of any conflicts. Foster excellent relationships with the NGOs, local government and mukhtars in the project’s areas of operation.

·         Ensure that beneficiaries are effectively targeted according to established vulnerability criteria.

• Contribute to effective program reporting, monitoring and evaluation systems for both internal and external use in coordination with the program staff. This includes interviewing beneficiaries for communications materials and case studies.

·         Integrate community approaches, gender sensitivity and capacity building into all activities as appropriate.

·         Contribute to providing the Program Manager with up-to-date information on the affected and targeted community and coordinates beneficiary lists and numbers with different stakeholders.

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·         Conduct monitoring and data collection as directed by the Program Manager, assisting with specific surveys or assessments as needed

• Ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
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• Conducted Mobile Field Visits with program team 4 days per week to villages, camps and other IDP settlements to meet with persons of concern within the community and identify individuals at risk and humanitarian needs according to weekly work plan. Also Contributeed to all field work, including identifying beneficiaries, participating in distributions, coordinating with mukhtars and other stakeholders and other field-based tasks as assigned. This was proven through the extended stays in the west of Anbar for most of the actual work weeks through the year 2018. Additionally, I have led the team in conducting different activities related to Cash distribution  and that is proven through reaching all the targets for the many funds we had during 2018.
• Played a role in the identifying, developing and managing Mercy Corps contacts with other international agencies. This was proven through the strong bonds we have now with other CCI, CWG, NFI cluster in the field. I have represented Mercy Corps for most of the periods under direct supervision of the South Central Cash Manager.
• I led the development, planning, and monitoring cash program in Anbar. This included leading, information management, and with program manager to write reporting and supporting project implementation. I also managed 2 program officers and supported 6 Field assistants and I was in charge of reporting on the Cash distribution and contextual changes in the field. This is proven through my active engagement with reporting on the figures up to the end of the 2018.
• Monitored the progress of cash program, and support the Program Officers in their monitoring, to ensure that projects/program are implemented. I have also helped the MEL team to ensure that the implementation of the program is in compliance with the CCI's SOP and in line with MC's regulation and policies. An evidence of that could be my continuous effort to add input to the data team.
• Contributed to effective program reporting, monitoring and evaluation systems for both internal and external use in coordination with the program staff. This included interviewing beneficiaries for communications materials and case studies and other evidence-based reports and literature. Good evidence of that could be the success stories and progress reports that I submitted to my immediate supervisors during the year 2018.

• Developed and maintained strong relationships and information sharing Mercy corps programs representatives. This could be proven through effective collaboration with the NFI under Cash program and later when NFI was handed over to the WASH program back in the January 2018. It is also worth to mention that I have worked with SAD team to ensure that NFI is carried out in Mosul in January 2018. 
• Provided effective leadership, management and support to Program Officers and field assistances, ensuring setting of identification of growth opportunities, and mentoring. This capacity building element could be proven through the direct assistance that I provided to the PO and FAs in tracking the progress through practicing to add their input to the CWG 4w and other internal and external tracking sheets used by Cash team of MC to reflect on the progress we made so far in 2018.
• Ensured that protection is mainstreamed throughout all data collection including a focus on serving the most vulnerable members of the community By cash assistance. This could be proven through the following up on protection principles that my direct reports need to follow to ensure reporting and following up on all the protection issues that may arise during our distributions and VAs in the year 2018 and in all the areas where Cash team operated such as Ramadi, Rayhana, Qaim, Anah and Rawa.
• I helped the cash team advocacate  with governmental departments, Local and international NGOs in order to serve poor people, poor communities , IDPs, and returnees.  This could be proven through my continuous meetings with the local authorities of Anah, Rawa, rayhana, Ramadi and Qaim and that resulted in more cooperation and facilitation to reach the most vulnerable communities in this area.
• Make connections with humanitarian services providers and encourage their communication with community members. For example, sometimes beneficiaries faced private issues, and some NGOs and Iraqi departments provide services to solve these issues. So I informed them about those NGOs and Iraqi departments to get the services they needed. I helped link the service we provided with the other services provided by the governmental and non-governmental actors. A good proof of that is the data given by Cash team during the cluster meetings to other aid agencies about the specific cases in west of Anbar and Heet which later resulted in the intervention of those aid actors in 2018 to help those in need for certain services that we could not provide through MC programs.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: (1) one Program Officers, and (1) one Assistant Program Officers (4 Field assistants )