Mercy Corps Nigeria -  Plans to scale up and expand its humanitarian response in Northeast Nigeria to reach more beneficiaries with additional and varied assistance in a wider geographic area.

POSITION : Program Officer- Cash Transfer/Cash For Work

Program/Department Summary

• Mercy Corps Nigeria’s humanitarian program aims to provide assistance to populations affected by the crisis in Northeast Nigeria.
• With funding from humanitarian donors including OFDA, FFP, EU, and ECHO the humanitarian programs engage in several interventions including but not limited to food assistance, non-food items (NFI), protection, livelihoods, cash transfers, WASH and capacity building of humanitarian response actors.
• Mercy Corps is scaling-up and expanding its humanitarian response in Northeast Nigeria to reach more beneficiaries with additional assistance in a wider geographic area.

General Position Summary

• The Cash Transfer Programming (CTP)/Cash for Work (CFW) Program Officer is responsible for assisting in the implementation of CTP and CFW activities in the intervention communities of southern Borno State.
• With support from the Senior Program Officer - Cash & Vouchers, s/he will supervise all projects, project selection and planning, project assets, local government and community liaison work, monitoring and payment.
• The CTP/CFW Program Officer will report to the Cash & Vouchers Senior Program Officer and work collaboratively with fellow program and MEL staff. S/He may also support other livelihood sector interventions including unconditional cash transfers, livelihood grants and VSLAs.

Essential Job Functions

• Plan and ensure the effective implementation of CTP/CFW.
• Contribute to all CTP/CFW related field work, including community mobilization, beneficiary identification/registration, distributions, and monitoring.
• Ensure that beneficiaries are effectively targeted according to established vulnerability criteria.
• Review labor and time-line requirements for CFW activities, determining staffing requirements.
• Coordinate payment procedures, including documentation, approval and actual payment.
• Oversee procurement of all materials for CFW projects.
• Maintain all documentation relating directly to CTP/CFW activities required to ensure accountability to the donor, particularly where labor is concerned.
• Oversee administrative matters relating directly to CFW activities:  time-sheets, payment schedules, required paper-work and liaison with finance department.
• Maintain all documentation relating directly to cash transfer activities required to ensure accountability.
• Oversee administrative matters relating directly to cash transfer activities including reconciliation with cash-out agents following distributions.
• Contribute to effective program reporting, monitoring and evaluation systems for both internal and external use in coordination with the other program staff.
• Work with the Senior Program Officer - Cash & Vouchers to prepare monthly cash requirement forecast for CFW activities, including the purchase of materials at site and CFW labor payments.
• Provide information on CTP/CFW activities as requested by the Team Leader, Deputy Team Leader, Senior Program Officer - Cash & Vouchers or MEL team.
• Support orientation for all new staff on CTP/CFW.
• Report on any problems encountered in the field such as project participant complaints, local authority interference, and security threats to MC staff and activities. 
• Coordinate with MC Security Officer and Livelihoods Manager on any threats to MC staff and activities; follow up on incidents/security threats in areas of operation.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S in relevant field required;
• 3 years of experience working on the development, implementation, administration and compliance of a field-based international development or humanitarian program; general program management experience required.
• Prior experience implementing distributions is required, preferably in a non-camp setting. Experience with CTP/CFW or other community micro-projects strongly preferred.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders to identify beneficiaries according to criteria required.
• Experience with running assessments, monitoring and evaluation and other learning efforts required.
• Experience representing the organization and its interests to a diverse range of local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, other international organizations, the media and the public.
• Commitment to renewing and maintaining knowledge of best practices
• Demonstrated training and facilitation experience
• Ability to work under pressure
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is required.

Success Factors:

• The successful candidate will have a can-do attitude.
• Ideally s/he will have previous experience in working in large-scale emergency programs in insecure and conflict-affected contexts.
• S/he is a problem solver, an effective community mobilizer who is adept in successfully dealing with issues of complexity.
• S/he is an active listener and contributor, working to create a strong team share ideas and learn.
• Conscientious with high work ethics.

How To Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's and Cover Letter in one document, addressing the position requirements to: ng-recruitment.nigeria@mercycorps.org

Note

• All applications must include the position title in the subject line and not more than 4 pages.
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
• We are an equal opportunity organization and we strongly encourage women to apply for this position.