Area Manager

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps has been running community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. Recently, the program portfolio has expanded in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria, including grants from UNICEF, the European Commission, Canadian, UK and American governments, and private foundations. 
 
The conflict that began more than four years ago in Syria has resulted in a steady increase of Syrian refugees to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.  To date, more than one million refugees have fled to Lebanon. As numbers have continued to increase, humanitarian conditions are deteriorating. The burden on host communities and the financial and emotional stress on refugees and their hosts is tremendous. Mercy Corps is responding to these needs by addressing urgent basic needs, child protection as well as the psychosocial impact of the conflict and displacement.  At the same time, Mercy Corps’ programmatic focus is on mitigating social tensions between hosts and refugees, particularly over economic resources, by addressing both livelihood opportunities, conflict mitigation capacity and local government capacity.
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
The Area Manager will be the primary representative of Mercy Corps in the respective geographical area and will build key relationships with local communities, local authorities, peer agencies and other stakeholders. The area Manager is responsible for the general management of the field office and for providing financial, logistical and administrative support to all field-based program staff. S/He coordinates with the Finance and Operations Departments at the country office in Beirut and supervises finance and operations staff based in the field. S/He visits project sites on a regular basis and provides bi-weekly situation reports to the Country Director and to the Senior Management team. S/He attends the monthly Expanded Senior Management team meetings at the country office in Beirut and other important meetings (BvAs, kick-off, close-out, etc…) that are program specific to maintain sufficient knowledge of the progress of program implementation and provide comments and advice as needed. S/He coordinates with program staff based in the field and attends regular program meetings that are held to learn about the implementation of the program(s) and provides input, feedback and support. S/He participates in Strategic planning meetings and provides input and feedback from the field perspective. 
 
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
 
Representation and Coordination

Represent Mercy Corps at the field level at the United Nations and NGO general coordination meetings (that are non-technical or related to sector or working groups,) events, and workshops related to operational coordination and build strong relationships with key actors to enable program implementation and development and to strategically position Mercy Corps as a strong responsive partner.
Represent Mercy Corps in the respective area and introduce Mercy Corps staff and programs to local authorities as required.
Serve as the main link between various Mercy Corps programs in the area and take the lead on coordinating and synergizing efforts.
Receive program work plans that are drafted by Sector Program Managers and/or Program/Project Managers at the beginning of program implementation and provide feedback and advice as needed.
Coordinate with field staff and attend regular program meetings held in the field office to learn about the progress of program implementation and to provide support with problem-solving and trouble-shooting as needed.
Regularly visit project sites and local partners, accompanied by respective program staff, to track program progress as indicated in work plans, document her/his observations and discuss difficulties or challenges with the respective Program/Project Manager. A summary of the observations, difficulties, challenges and solutions should be included in the bi-weekly situation reports. Specific and ad hoc reports are needed in case of emergency.
Support program-start up, including the participation in hiring of new field based staff and introduction of programming to target communities and grassroots leadership and local authorities.
Attend staff,  program coordination, and other ad hoc meetings in Beirut and other locations in the country as needed to share interests and concerns related to program implementation.
Participate in the implementation of assessments and other information collection exercises to inform future programming.
Contribute to program development by sharing ideas and help identify key humanitarian and development gaps and obtain necessary information and discuss them with respective program staff to enable Mercy Corps to respond to needs and build future programming.
Coordinate field visits for donors and other visitors in cooperation with field-based staff, Program Managers and Senior Management.
Promote Mercy Corps’ culture and work with all new field staff on enforcing orientation and overview about Mercy Corps, working to ensure all field staff are clearly, collectively communicating Mercy Corps’ mission statement, program objectives, and humanitarian objectivity.
Act as the primary focal point in the field for ASSAMA accountability mechanism.
Act as the primary focal point for Security matters and coordinate with the Security Manager who is based in Beirut.

 
Program Operations & Field Expenditures

Coordinate closely with the Beirut office and its relevant operations, finance and HR staff to facilitate logistics, administration, human resources and transport needs of the program.
Mange field office procedures to comply with Mercy Corps operations, finance, HR and administrative policies.
Track political security developments closely in the assigned area and consults with Mercy Corps security focal point to advice on field staff movement and other related precautions.
Arrange for the receipt, handling and storage of commodities and check the quality to ensure compliance with commodity specifications.
Support and guide logistical arrangements including transportation of staff and goods to support programming.
Approves expenditures at the field office and holds the first signature to checks issued in the field.
Supervise Operations and Finance staff based in the field and coordinate with the Finance Manager and the Operations Manager who are based in Beirut.

 
Other

Understand and follow Mercy Corps’ Program Management Minimum Standards to ensure all project planning and documentation is completed in a timely manner.
Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity Policy.
Apply Do No Harm approaches throughout all aspects of programming and operations, building staff capacity to do the same.
Participate in internal office coordination and planning meetings and workshops.
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 assigned tasks, as necessary.

 
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Field-based finance and operations staff
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Country Director
WORKS WITH: Director of Programs, Sector Program Leads, Program Managers, Project Managers, field-based program staff, Finance & Compliance Manager, Operations Director
 
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

BA/S or equivalent in social science, management, international development or other relevant field
Five to ten years of experience in a management position
Strong understanding of emergency response and humanitarian aid
Excellent management and communication skills with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues;

Positive, respectful attitude and collaborative approach to problem solving
Demonstrated attention to detail; ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently as well as cooperatively with team members
Written and oral communication skills in English, including report development and writing

Significant knowledge and understanding of the current political, economic, cultural and historical context ofLebanonand Syrian crisis
Prior experience working in field-based locations required.

 
SUCCESS FACTORS:
A successful Area Manager will combine exceptional management skills and experience to build and run effective field-based teams. S/he will have an outstanding ability to implement and manage emergency and development-related activities within the current and future programme structure of Mercy Corps inLebanon. S/he will also have proven experience with cross-cultural teams.  S/he will have the ability to build staff capacity through strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking and prioritizing are essential.  Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving are essential in a complex security and political environment likeLebanon. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.