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.
Program / Department Summary
Mercy Corps helps communities develop their own ideas to solve Haiti’s most daunting problems by using innovative approaches to bring Haitians new social and economic opportunities and to make their country more secure, productive and just. Established in January 2010, Mercy Corps Haiti has offices in Port-au-Prince, Miragoana, and Jeremie and more than 70 staff implementing programs for humanitarian assistance and recovery, economic development including cash programming and livelihoods support, agriculture, and disaster risk reduction. Mercy Corps’ work is guided by the principles of localization and demand-driven strategies, and supports communities and entrepreneurs along the spectrum from acute humanitarian relief to sustainable livelihoods and resilience.
General Position Summary
The Mercy Corps Haiti Country Director (CD) is an innovative leader responsible for resourcefully managing day-to-day operations in Haiti. This person has held senior roles in managing operations and/or programming in fluid environments and formulating strategic direction within a high-risk humanitarian context. The CD has supervisory responsibility for the country team and implementation of security protocols. The CD is responsible for ensuring the smooth functioning of the country program in compliance with local laws, Mercy Corps policies and procedures, and donor rules and regulations. They will also ensure that all Mercy Corps Haiti programs are implemented in accordance to PM@MC standards, ensuring a high level of program quality, and that programs are implemented on time, on budget, and on scope. This person will contribute to proposal development for sustainable, multi-sector programming, ensure accountability to program participants and donors, placing a high value on innovative solutions to relief and development issues and creative partnerships. Ideally, this person will have extensive experience and expertise in emergency response and rapid expansion of activities and support functions.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategy & Vision
Team Management
Program Management
Finance & Compliance Management
Influence & Representation
Security
Supervisory Responsibility: Temporary Deputy Country Director for Program Support, Director of Programs, Security Manager
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Americas Regional Director
Works Directly With: Deputy Regional Director, Regional Program Team, International Finance and Grants Compliance, People team, Ethics and Compliance, Technical Director and global Program Quality and Technical Support Unit, New Initiatives, Global Media and Communications, Global Policy and Advocacy, Global Humanitarian Response Team.
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
Success Factors
The successful Haiti CD will skillfully represent programmatic priorities to donors and regional partners while providing effective leadership to the Mercy Corps program team. There is a significant emphasis in new business development for the Haiti program and growing the portfolio to meet the immediate and long-term needs of Haitian communities. They will have high emotional intelligence, sound judgment, constructive mentoring skills and proven experience with capacity building and will be committed to long-term program sustainability and the delivery of high-impact activities at the community level. Successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and challenging environments, and make effective written and verbal communication a priority.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Port-au Prince, Haiti, in individual accommodations in s secured residence, where all MC international staff live. The living conditions may change given evolving dynamics, and team members may be asked to live in a shared apartment. The position requires at least 50% travel to field bases.
The population of Port au Prince (PaP) is approximately 2.5 million people. Although infrastructure is fairly poor in the capital, comfortable housing with water and electricity are readily available. There is reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive. PaP offers many places to eat in all price ranges, as well as shops, and supermarkets which are comparable to a US supermarket.
Based on the fluctuating security context due to gang violence, movements can be restricted on short notice. Walking is not possible in most cases.
Travel by car and air to field sites will be required and offer more secure and stable conditions. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. There are some health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses.
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 and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. 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.