Positive Youth Development (PYD) Lead – Cross-Sectoral Youth Activity, Bamako, Mali

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, and in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been working in Mali since 2012 supporting Malian women and men – including adolescents and youth – to cope with food insecurity and conflict-induced shocks and stresses, restore peace and stability, and address humanitarian and development structural challenges. Throughout our work, Mercy Corps seeks to support strong, inclusive, and resilient communities by i.) providing conflict-sensitive humanitarian assistance, ii.) addressing the root causes of conflict through improved and holistic conflict prevention and management mechanisms and iii.) promoting sustainable economic development through market systems strengthening and employment opportunities for women, men, and young people. Mercy Corps’ work addresses issues related to natural resource management and climate change adaptation within Mali and across the borders with neighboring Central Sahel countries, Niger and Burkina Faso. With a current portfolio of approximately 30M USD funded by FCDO, USAID/BHA, Sweden, the European Union, and private foundations, over the past 18 months, Mercy Corps reached over 100,000 persons in Mopti, Segou, Koulikouro, Kayes, Sikasso, Koutiala.

Mercy Corps is seeking a Positive Youth Development (PYD) Lead to lead implementation of the anticipated USAID-funded five-year Cross-Sectoral Youth Activity in Mali. This Activity will elevate and support vulnerable and marginalized 15 – 29-year-old Malian youth so that they have access to assets, agency, and support networks in order to be educated, healthy, and productive citizens while building their resilience to recurrent crises. The Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach will serve as the foundation of the program, ensuring that the program starts with young people’s needs, aspirations, and challenges to identify successful, contextually relevant models. Models will consider scalable soft skills, educational opportunities, workforce development opportunities, and safe pathways for sexual and reproductive health, as well as consider contributing shocks and stressors to support resilient futures. The Activity should enable youth to become educated and productive citizens while improving their employability, and integrating positive information and communication technology practices while instilling a sense of responsibility to their community. Based in Bamako, the PYD Lead will oversee the implementation of activities and ensure that objectives are met on time and within budget.

General Position Summary

The PYD Lead will work in concert with the Chief of the Party (COP) who is responsible for providing overall leadership, management, and strategic vision of the program. This includes overseeing technical areas that include youth-inclusive approaches, development of youth livelihoods and employment pathways, access to and support for basic education, implementation and awareness of Positive Youth Development (PYD), market-oriented skill development, youth-focused private sector engagement, youth engagement, and cascading leadership models, and adolescent reproductive health.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Program Management, Implementation & Technical Leadership

● Provide technical leadership and capacity development around positive youth development frameworks and approaches and gender and social inclusion

● Provide technical leadership around youth-responsive and youth-focused interventions across core technical areas such as basic education, workforce development, reproductive health, and youth entrepreneurship.

● Work with the COP to create a coherent overall strategy for the program, providing leadership, mentoring, quality control, and coordination to strengthen program outcomes.

● Support the COP in the establishment of a program and consortium structure that favors integration across all activities and implementing partners and ensures youth voice and inclusion.

● Ensure that crosscutting aspects of the program such as adaptive management, gender equality and social inclusion, positive youth development, and resilience are included and well integrated into the program strategy and implementation model.

● Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and elevates the voice and role of young people and is consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, and quality standards.

● Ensure that program implementation is inclusive and is designed to include at-risk and marginalized young people taking into consideration age, sex, life stage, and other critical intersectionalities as defined by the context.

● Liaise with Mercy Corps’ support departments (finance, operations, HR/Admin, etc.) for operational and program support.

● In coordination with the program MEL staff, monitor the implementation of activities through regular field visits and assessments to ensure program quality and impact.

● Work with team, consortium members, and MEL staff to ensure gender and social inclusion, elevating the role and voice of young people in monitoring and evaluation of program design and implementation.

Team Management

● Ensure program teams are trained and understand positive youth development and gender and social inclusion principles and how these approaches are integrated across technical sector outcomes.

● Hire and support team members around their professional development, with a particular focus on GESI and youth inclusion.

● Oversee program implementation team, ensuring that all staff and consortium members are following work plans, activities are on schedule, and project deliverables are completed as planned and are elevating and working with young people.

● Develop and oversee the implementation of a capacity-building strategy for team members that promotes a culture of learning through systematic analysis and reflection of program data and lessons learned that elevate and prioritize the voice and experience of program participants (particularly youth).

● Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews with a focus on professional development.

Internal and External Coordination

● Contribute to program visibility and advocacy work by assisting in the dissemination of program research and learning information. Represent Mercy Corps in forums with the broader humanitarian and development community.

● Advocate and work with programs and teams and partners to elevate the role and voice of young people at different advocacy events and forums.

● Actively collaborate with regional and global counterparts to identify and promote best practices.

Security

● Work closely with the Mali security focal points to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.

● Ensure that activities are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

Supervisory Responsibility

Overall responsibility for the program implementation team.

Accountability

Reports directly To: Chief of Party

Works directly With Technical Advisors, field teams, MEL staff, consortium partners, local government, USAID and other stakeholders, Mercy Corps finance, operations, administration, and human resources staff.

Knowledge and Experience

● MA/S or equivalent experience in education, social or political science, international development, or other fields relevant to youth development programming. Applicants with other academic track records who bring a strong track record of work in youth development programming may also be considered;

● At least 7 years of relevant management, program coordination, and technical experience working with programs of similar scope and scale, at least two of which have been involved working in fragile or post-conflict states;

● Strong understanding of conflict-sensitive program mainstreaming, and gender or protection mainstreaming would be an advantage.

● Strong M&E skills with extensive field experience in developing practical, useful, and timely monitoring systems, both at the program and country level, which promote the use of data for adaptive management and learning.

● Experience working in a consortium of international NGOs;

● Demonstrated technical knowledge in more than one of the following: positive youth development focusing on education, livelihoods workforce development, and youth entrepreneurship.

● Demonstrated ability to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders and to liaise with donors and HQ;

● Fluency in written and spoken French and English; Knowledge of some local languages is a plus (Bambara, Songrai, Peuhl).

● Preference for experience with USAID-funded programs;

● Experience in West Africa, specifically Mali preferred.

Success Factors

A successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members and other stakeholders of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem-solving. This position requires an ability to think creatively about increasing youth livelihood opportunities and youth voice and civic engagement. S/he will have a proven ability to learn quickly, multi-task, prioritize, take initiative, be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, problem-solving, work within a complex and sensitive setting, and follow laws and security protocols. The most successful Mercy Corps team 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.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is accompanied by a spouse alone and based in Bamako with at least 30% travel to program areas, security permitting. The position is eligible for individual housing and R&R. While the city has been mostly secure, attacks against foreigners in 2016 in some public places underscore the fluidity of the situation and may require expatriate staff to adhere to security policies, such as restrictions on movement. Bamako is served by an international airport with daily flights to European and African destinations. Restaurants and shopping options are available all over the town, with reasonable access to most consumer goods. Healthcare services exist and are developing rapidly. However, for more serious conditions, a medevac to Dakar, Senegal, or Europe may be required.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/STA to a field posting. 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.

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 a 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 the 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 adhere to the 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.