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.

Mercy Corps has worked in Tanzania since 2006, focusing primarily on three thematic areas: (1) food security, (2) governance and peace, and (3) economic opportunity and livelihoods. Youth and women are at the center of all programming in Tanzania. Through these programmes Mercy Corps supports and builds the capacity of government at the national and local levels, and of communities - making sure that they can address the challenges facing them.  The Agrifin programme for example connects smallholder farmers with technology and financial services to boost productivity. Mercy Corps Tanzania is part of the FCDO-funded Collective Resilience Against Extremism (CREATE), a multi-country program that aims to mitigate the drivers, enablers, and narratives of violent extremism in East Africa (targeting Mtwara, Kigoma, Mwanza, and Tanga in Tanzania specifically). Through localized strategies, CREATE focuses on strengthening and supporting societal bonds to prevent the recruitment of vulnerable individuals to violent extremist organizations.

The Program / Department / Team

Funded by the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the anticipated WAJIBIKA programme will promote a more open, inclusive society in Tanzania where government demonstrates greater accountability to the needs of its citizens. Wajibika will deliver this impact via three strategic outcomes to support 1) effective civic space and inclusive political processes 2) media freedom and access to information, and 3) Government of Tanzania (GoT) knowledge, will, and capacity for public service reforms. Wajibika is divided into three components aligned with the three outcomes. The first two components require indicative activities and delivery partners to be outlined at the bidding stage. The final component is a flexible, demand-led facility to tactically support GoT, FCDO, and SDC with research and technical assistance to drive governance innovation.

The Position

The Senior Tech Advisor - Civil Society position focuses on work with local partners, grassroots community groups and civil society actors providing capacity building, expert technical support, and oversight and direction. The STA Civil Society will be responsible for developing and implementing the Civil Society engagement strategy and work plan and ensuring the project team working with local partners are implementing their respective activities on-scope, on-time and on-budget. Potential activities will include developing and rolling-out a comprehensive strategy to build the operational, technical and financial capacity of local civil society, engage government and increase coordination among formal and informal stakeholders, and mobilize communities to undertake collective action.

The STA Civil Society will report to and work under the guidance of the Deputy Team Lead and in close coordination with Mercy Corps teams and partners. S/he will be overall responsible to implement the successful capacity development component of the project, with a strong emphasis on equity in partnership and participatory processes to enable locally driven development. S/he will be responsible for supporting a core group of civil society groups by facilitating overall diagnostic and training activities and improving their financial and technical capacities.

Essential Responsibilities

PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND QUALITY

• Work with local CSOs to develop inclusive capacity building strategies and plans focusing on technical and networking capacities
• Supervise the organizational development of local partner organizations
• Lead joint mapping of formal and informal governance structures
• Develop the strategy and work plan for community mobilization initiatives across project areas and communities
• Develop curricula to strengthen the capacity of government and traditional leaders in community engagement skills, including facilitation, consultation, negotiation, and participatory planning and budgeting.
• Convene and facilitate meetings between governance structures at different levels and across geographies, as well as between parallel government and traditional non-state structures in order to promote communication and collaboration within government as well as between government and traditional non-state authorities.
• In collaboration with the MEAL team, monitor and evaluate activities.
• Represent Mercy Corps at relevant meetings and forums.
• Liaise with local and regional government officials, traditional leaders, local NGOs and civil society organizations, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure support for and acceptance of Mercy Corps’ programs, coordination with actors working on related issues, and cross-learning
• Gather/analyze data and complete assessments to determine community needs and prioritie
• Provide technical guidance and support the development of activities to increase women’s and marginalised groups’ participation and youth civic engagement.
• Provide technical support and develop activities to strengthen social accountability, grievance redress and feedback mechanisms

HUMAN RESOURCES, SAFEGUARDING AND DIVERSITY

• ●        Support Mercy Corps global and regional initiatives for human resources, including safeguarding and diversity, and talent development;
• ●        Collaborate with the people team to promote staff access to high quality learning opportunities, with a special emphasis on national team member development;
• ●        Assist with the on-boarding of senior team members, ensuring they are set up for success and familiar with agency systems, procedures, and protocols.

RISK MANAGEMENT

• ●        Collaborate with country leadership to support preparedness and response to major disruptive events;
• ●        Engage with country level Ethics and Assurance managers as well as the global Ethics and Assurance department to track and analyse trends and needs.

Supervisory Responsibility

Community engagement and civil society engagement teams

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Deputy Team Lead

Works Directly With: Project team and partners; Mercy Corps Technical Support Units; country and regional leadership

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

• University degree in management, public administration, finance, or related field required
• At least 8 years of demonstrated experience and expertise in civil society strengthening, including capacity development; community mobilization; and civil society-related training and facilitation required
• Previous work experience with civil society in Tanzania required
• Local language and English language written and spoken proficiency are both required
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of Tanzania’s complex political, governance, and conflict dynamics preferred
• Work with grassrorts communities and advocacy movements preferred
• 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.

Success Factors

The STA Civil Society will demonstrate significant experience managing similar activities projects in Tanzania.  S/he should have the proven ability to work with a range of stakeholders including government at different levels.  They must take a lead role in building and maintaining relationships as well as demonstrating the drive and initiative to contribute to internal team efforts. This position requires strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills, and a level of emotional intelligence proficiency that quickly builds and maintains productive relationships across teams and all stakeholders. 

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

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 always 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.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

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. 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 are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.