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About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Kenya Country Lead – BSP at Mercy Corps

Job Description

General Position Summary

The Kenya Country Lead provides strategic leadership and oversight of BSP field activities in Kenya and serves as Mercy Corps’ primary programme representative with the stakeholders from the NPS and county-level representatives, including national and county government officers, community leaders and local organisations. Working closely with the BSP Team Leader and Deputy Team Lead, and consortium partner technical leads, the Country Lead ensures effective delivery across all four programme outcomes in Kenya, maintains strong government and stakeholder relationships, coordinates implementation across multiple border locations, and supports adaptive programme management.

The position provides leadership and management oversight to programme field staff and local partners while ensuring that programme activities remain aligned with national priorities, donor expectations and programme protocols.

Working with the Team Lead, other Country Leads and the Communications Specialist s/he will identify opportunities to influence policy discussions on OIC at the national and regional level and will build relationships with policymakers to support policy influencing and learning opportunities. Finally, s/he will work with local civil society organisations to design and support interventions that support community engagement in counter OIC efforts, including capacity building, community-police dialogues, local counter OIC campaigns and media engagements.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND PROGRAMME LEADERSHIP

• Work with the TL and the DTL, and consortium technical leads to ensure that the BSP in Kenya is contributing to the programme’s aims of OIC disruption, and responsive to GoK interests.
• Contribute to shaping the programme’s learning, research and influencing agendas.

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

• Lead implementation of Mercy Corps’ BSP activities across Kenya in line with programme objectives and annual work plans.
• Ensure integration across programme outcomes at strategic border locations, including:
• Evidence and analysis
• Law enforcement strengthening
• Community engagement in counter OIC actions
• Victim protection and referral systems

• Work with the DTL and MRELA Manager to ensure that implementation is aligned to programme country workplans and budgets, ensuring delivery is on time, target and budget.
• Lead adaptive management processes, ensuring programme delivery responds to changing operational and political contexts, emerging risks and programmatic learning
• Ensure that programme implementation is responsive to emerging local needs and opportunities, and consistent with Mercy Corps’ programme guidelines, principles, values, quality standards.

GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATION AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

• Serve as a principal representative for Mercy Corps with BSP-relevant Government of Kenya institutions including the National Police Service and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation’s Task Force, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Counter Trafficking in Persons Secretariat. Alongside the TL and DTL, represent BSP in Kenya with the British High Commission and other HMG counterparts. Maintain strong relationships with county-level governments in programme locations. Support national coordination mechanisms relating to organised immigration crime and border security.
• Engage with other actors working on OIC, Counter-trafficking and Victim support in Kenya, building a network for learning and policy influence.
• Engage stakeholders and local partners at the county and community levels in Kenya, on action planning and developing strategies in support of counter-OIC/community-policing programming activities.

RISK MANAGEMENT

• Monitor contextual developments affecting programme delivery in partnership with the BSP Risk and Security Manager.
• Support implementation of programme risk management systems, ensuring compliance with BSP security protocols and standard operating procedures.
• Participate in incident management and crisis response where required.
• Promote safeguarding and Do No Harm approaches across programme implementation

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Manage project officers operating at field sites, ensuring quality and performance in the delivery of community engagement and community-policing interventions.
• Oversee performance of Kenyan sub-grantees, and provide team members and implementing partners with information, tools and other resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Contribute to programme team-building efforts, help team members identify problem solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

MONITORING & EVALUATION (M&E) AND REPORTING

• Work closely with the programme M&E Manager to ensure that effective M&E systems and processes are embedded within programme implementation and that data is collected, analyzed, and used to inform ongoing adaptation of programme strategies and delivery approaches.
• Assess and analyze impact and adaptively manage the programme to meet results.
• Contribute to the production of formal and informal reports and work plans on all aspects of Kenya programme delivery in a timely and efficient manner.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specificallyto our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

SAFEGUARDING

• 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

Project Officers

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Deputy Team Leader

• Works Directly With: Consortium partners, MRELA Manager, Finance and Compliance Director, local and national government officials, local civil society organizations, implementing partners and communities.

Knowledge and Experience

• Master’s degree in security Sector/Police reform, Border/Security Management, or related discipline.
• At least 15 years’ experience working on security sector or police reform, community policing or crime prevention programming in the Horn of Africa
• In-depth understanding of the Kenya context, including border security, governance and policing frameworks, OIC and migration dynamics and key stakeholders working within the organised crime, irregular migration space.
• Excellent representational skills, with demonstrated experience working to influence national government and national police/security sectors’ ways of working and policies.
• Solutions-oriented individual, with strong strategic thinking capabilities.
• Demonstrated effectiveness managing a diverse team of staff, consortium partners and local implementing partners, building a cohesive and results-oriented team to deliver on complex programming result.
• Experience working with a diverse range of community members to discuss sensitive and delicate topics in a conflict-sensitive manner.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills.
• Excellent verbal and inter-personal communications skills.
• Demonstrated sensitivity, skill, and experience working within different cultural settings and navigating public affairs and communications on sensitive issues.

Apply: Kenya Country Lead-BSP | Mercy Corps Kenya

Communications Intern

The Communications Intern will support the innovation pillar activities of the AgriFin Program Office in Nairobi during the Annual Learning Event. Working closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) team, the intern will play a key role in advancing program activities through their contributions. The intern will report to and work under the guidance of the Communications Lead.

Essential Responsibilities

• Support event related activities while assisting in developing digital copy and captions for social media content promoting the 9th Annual Learning Event (ALE).
• Assist in capturing short-form videos, graphics, and visual assets for social media and event promotion on LinkedIn, TikTok , Twitter and Instagram.
• Capture key insights, quotes, and highlights from ALE sessions briefs for use in social media updates, event summaries, and digital holding slides.
• Support the Communications Lead in sourcing speaker bios, session descriptions, and moderator profiles, and ensuring these are uploaded to relevant platforms.
• Assist the implementing the social media plan and content management updates on the ALE website, ensuring information is current and engaging
• Monitor and respond to social media queries related to the ALE, ensuring responses are timely, accurate, and aligned with internal messaging.
• Track social media performance and engagement analytics to inform ongoing campaign improvements and identify high-performing content.
• Provide on-ground communications support during the event, including live social media coverage during the Annual Learning Event.
• Ensure brand message is consistent during the ALE in liaison with the Communications team.
• 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.

Learning Objectives: The intern will

•  Develop critical-thinking skills by contributing original ideas directly to organization head and development team in brainstorming and ideation sessions during and after the 9th Annual Learning Event.
• The intern will assist in amplifying the activities through written communication skills by producing original online

Qualifications

•  Bachelor’s degree in communication or any related field
•  Design & creating videos will be an added
•  A good team player
•  A critical thinker
• Communications internship experience

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ICT Intern-Turkana 

Program / Department Summary

The operations department is committed to implementing and maintaining the highest standards of efficiency and integrity in daily administration, logistics, procurement, asset management and IT for field offices Kenya. The overriding objective for all Mercy Corps (MC) operations activities are the prompt and effective provision of on-time solutions MCs’ beneficiary populations in compliance with MCs’ and donor policies, procedures, regulations and specifications.

General Position Summary

The primary role of the IT Intern is to support the IT infrastructure at Mercy Corps Kenya’s Field Office. The IT Intern will assist in ensuring the proper functioning of equipment and networks to meet organizational needs and demands. The intern will support daily IT operations, assist with network troubleshooting, provide basic IT training, and help with IT documentation. They will work under the guidance of the ICT Systems Administrator.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Read and understand the Mercy corps ICT Systems Policy on appropriate use. Orient staff on appropriate use and monitor use activities to ensure adherence to these policies.
• Assist with daily IT operations including user support and troubleshooting of hardware and software issues.
• Provide first-level support to staff for IT-related problems and escalate more complex issues to the ICT Systems Administrator.
• Assist in setting up and configuring new computers, laptops, and other IT equipment.
• Support the installation, configuration, and updating of software and applications on user devices.
• Assist in maintaining an inventory of IT assets, ensuring records are accurate and up to date.
• Support the implementation of IT policies and procedures and ensure compliance with IT standards.
• Assist in conducting regular maintenance checks on IT equipment and report any issues to the ICT Systems Administrator.
• Provide basic IT training to staff, including how to use common software applications and best practices for IT security.
• Assist with ProSource Vendor Data Administration (VDA) setup and troubleshooting.
• Conduct oneself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Organizational Learning

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values always and in all in-country venues.

Safeguarding

• 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

None

Accountability

Reports Directly To:   ICT Systems Administrator

Works Directly With:   Operations Officers, ICT Assistants and Program Staff in identifying IT needs.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Enrollment in or recent graduation (within a year) from a recognized academic institution in Kenya with a Degree or a Diploma or a certificate.
• Ability to support both hardware and software requirements in local area networking (LAN)
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required.
• Ability to troubleshoot, plan and design low maintenance systems.
• Ability to troubleshoot and maintain both wireless and cable connections is required.
• Must understand, follow and implement existing policies on IT equipment use and best practices.

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