NGO Financial Services Advisor, and M & E Manager Jobs in Kenya

Financial Services Advisor

Mercy Corps is implementing a 3-year USAID funded Youth empowerment program (Yes Youth Can initiative), covering six regions in Kenya; Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Central, Nairobi and Coast. 

This program aims to appropriately empower Kenyan youth (18-35yrs) to strengthen their socio-economic and political stakes through youth-led and managed initiatives and institutions. 

The program will in the first three years provide sustainable financial and skills development assistance to approximately 200,000 youth through a variety of youth-identified social and economic community development projects.

General Position Summary:

The Financial services advisor for YYCN will work under the direction of the Chief of Party (CoP) and provide oversight to all activities concerning the provision of financial services.  

The Financial services advisor will directly support the development and capacity-building of county-level youth SACCOs and the provision of funding to those SACCOs deemed eligible to receive funds for on-lending to youth enterprises.  

The Financial services advisor of YYCN will directly manage project staff and will work closely with them to ensure high quality and the timely implementation of activities. 

The level of oversight will require traveling to field sites, representation, and coordination with project stakeholders, including institutions such as the National Youth Bunge Association (NYBA) and the youth-led County Boards and Committees, as well as YYCR partners, the Ministry of Cooperatives, audit firms, and business groups, financial intermediaries and other local and central government authorities as appropriate and necessary.

Essential Job Functions:

Advise on all Fund activities including:

1. Working closely with county-level youth SACCOs to identify/provide needed capacity-building support to ensure that each SACCO operates in accordance with Ministry of Cooperatives rules and regulations and project objectives   
2. Providing very clear guidelines concerning terms and conditions associated with any financial support to SACCOs, whether in the form of grants or loans, and ensuring that such terms and conditions are consistently followed
3. Leading the development of the fund operations manual
4. Managing and maintaining detailed records pertaining to disbursements from the Fund
5. Undertaking regular monitoring visits to SACCOs to ensure that YYCN funds are being used in accordance with agreed-upon terms and conditions
6. Working with audit firms engaged to conduct audits of SACCOs

• Work with the Chief of Party and Program Managers to develop future strategy for the program and ensure that it continues to meet USAID requirements and standards 
• Ensure that project performance is evaluated effectively, including coordinating internal and external performance review
• Management and mentorship of program staff and partners, gradually transferring skills and capacities
• Representation, coordination and relationship management with the National Youth Bunge Association (NYBA) and the youth-led County Boards and Committees, as well as YYCR partners, the Ministry of Cooperatives, audit firms, and business groups, financial intermediaries and other local and central government authorities as appropriate and necessary
• Regular reporting to the Chief of Party on program progress, ensuring that required deliverables are met in a timely fashion
• Engage and develop joint initiatives with relevant stakeholders to highlight the impact and achievements of the project
• Work with project staff on an ongoing basis to ensure smooth planning, preparation, implementation and joint monitoring and evaluation of program activities and achievements towards project goals

Organizational Learning

As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

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.

Supervisory Responsibility: None
Accountability:
Reports Directly To: Chief of Party

Works Directly With :  Grant Manager, Regional Managers, Business Officers, Deputy Chief of Party, Think Tank Manager, M&E Manager, Communications Manager, Operations Manager, Finance Manager, Country Director, and most importantly, Youth Leaders

Knowledge and Experience:

• BA/S or equivalent in finance, business, or related field;
• High-level management experience in finance, particularly with savings and credit cooperatives
• “Hands-on” and proven experience with financial institutional and staff capacity-building
• Successful record of accomplishments in working with key representatives from the financial sector in fund management processes, dialogue mechanisms and leading due diligence processes; preferably in relation to youth access to financial services such as youth enterprises seeking finance, and financial institutions interested in improving their outreach to youth;
• Experience with managing/advising an investment fund that provides loans through financial intermediaries such as savings and credit cooperatives, preferably to youth groups and youth organizations;
• Ability to work independently with an affinity for decentralized administration and planning processes;
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English and Kiswahili;
• Proven project leadership, management, project planning, organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills;
• History of working effectively and respectfully with a wide range of project stakeholders including youth groups and government.
• Ability to effectively convey project  goals, enlist partnerships, and work with a range of project and external stakeholders;
• Proven experience producing high-quality, timely and professional documents, presentations and spreadsheets

Success Factors:

The successful financial services advisor will have strong interpersonal skills and demonstrate an ability to create and maintain effective working relationships with program partners. 

S/he is ready to make a commitment to Mercy Corps for the duration of the project.  

S/he will work productively as a member of the overall project and country team while also being able to work independently. 

S/he will have an inclusive leadership style with a demonstrated commitment to staff, youth development and organizational learning with the skills to engage, motivate, and encourage creative solutions to development issues and identify opportunities for increased impact.  

The Financial services advisor will be innovative and decisive in day-to-day operations and long-term strategy.  

S/he will have a hands-on approach, spending significant time (30-40%) traveling to areas outside of Nairobi, including remote locations, to interface directly with youth leaders, partners and project stakeholders.  

The successful financial services advisor will prioritize and multi-task for the timely completion of tasks. 

S/he will have the ability to comfortably adapt to a quickly changing environment with a sense of urgency, humor, and curiosity.

Living /Environmental Conditions:
The position is based in Nairobi with 30-40% travel to project sites throughout the country.

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

Staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps' policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

M & E Manager  

   
General Position Summary

Working under the direction of the Deputy Chief of Party, the M&E Manager ensures high quality program information is available and used to promote program accountability, learning, and improvement of Yes Youth Can National. 

This person will perform quality control and regular audit of the program progress and results. 

The M&E Manager provides informed and independent professional advice to the program with a view to improving the delivery process and achieving high impact outcomes. 

For this position, Mercy Corps requires good enterprise acumen, statistical, investigative skills and writing skills. 

The M&E Manager must maintain sober and professional communication with Mercy Corps partners and field staff in the program during execution of his/her functions. 

The Monitoring and Evaluation Manager will be based in Nairobi with frequent travel to implementing sites in six regions in Kenya; Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Central Province, Nairobi and Coast as required.

Essential Job Functions

• M&E systems’ development
• Design and maintain a monitoring and evaluation system for the program that produces timely and trustworthy data results
• Lead in revision of the program indicators and results matrix whenever appropriate and based on program experience
• Works closely with the ICT specialist in using SMS and other technological innovations for collecting data

Evaluation and impact assessment

• Develop, standardize and deploy survey tools, and other data collection forms to realize the effective use of monitoring plans.
• With stakeholders, set out the framework and procedures for evaluating program activities and outcomes
• Review existing social and economic data, including methods employed in data collection to ensure they are fit for use as baseline statistics for impact evaluation
• Based on the review of existing data on the area, draw up the TOR for, design and cost out a baseline survey, needs assessments, and impact evaluations
• Design, together with field officers (of  Mercy Corps and partner agencies), on appropriate tools for conducting participatory discussions with groups of clients
• Implement and improve existing monitoring tools for the youth & staff to ensure the appropriateness of the program and to gauge its impact, including a system of recording and presenting relevant data.
• Design and oversee rigorous evaluations of the impact and scalability of programs.

Information / knowledge management

• Prepare consolidated program progress reports for management submission to relevant bodies. Also guide partner agencies in preparing their progress reports.
• Mentor staff on quality report writing keeping in mind the donor (USAID) and all other stakeholders.
• If possible, create discussion forums for cross-sharing and debating on monitoring findings and data
• Document and disseminate key findings from program studies and evaluations in accessible forms that can influence program design and donor policies

M&E capacity building

• Develop a plan for project-related capacity-building on M&E and for any computer-based support that may be required
• Train field officers and investment officers on user-friendly data collection, ensuring they all understand the importance of M&E for the program
• Train program staff and local partners on the logical framework, data management, data analysis and results-oriented programming, basic surveying and sampling techniques, monitoring and evaluation methods and principles and report writing techniques and requirements for Mercy Corps and USAID.
• Supervise training of youth joint monitoring teams and reporting teams and engage them in monitoring their own projects and implementing youth mentorship programs.

Quality assurance

• Conduct periodic client audits/visits also with a view of identifying success stories
• Ensure all trainings delivered to staff and beneficiaries under the program are properly and timely documented and filed.
• Work with partner agency M&E team to agree and execute periodic progress monitoring and reporting, in line with the overall reporting timelines under the program
• Identify the need and draw up ToRs for specific project studies
• Travel to the field to monitor and evaluate project sites, work with beneficiary groups, and organize and conduct assessments as necessary.

Supervisory Responsibility: N/A
Accountability Reports Directly To: Deputy Chief of Party
Works Directly With: Chief of Party, Country Director, Fund Manager, Field Project Officers, Grants Manager, Investment Officers

Knowledge and Experience:

• Previous experience with USAID programs in a similar position is desirable. Familiarity with the Results Framework approach is required.
• Experience in M&E methods and approaches (including quantitative, qualitative and participatory)
• Experience delivering capacity building programs in the economic development sector for multiple stakeholders such as women’s groups, youth groups and CSOs.
• Bachelor's or Advanced degree from a recognized college or university in statistics, project management or equivalent. Each additional year of approved formal education may be substituted for one year of required work experience.
• An understanding of USAID regulations.  
• Demonstrated experience and skill in information analysis and writing comprehensive and high quality reports  
• Familiarity with and a supportive attitude towards processes of strengthening local organizations and building local capacities for self-management
• Advanced computer skills in MS Office programs, particularly Excel
• Prior management experience and strong organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written English skills

Success Factors

Excellent writing skills

• Demonstrated ability to provide leadership and communicate effectively with team members.
• Demonstrated ability to train, coach and build capacity of staff of competencies
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning 
• Proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and be accountable for results.
• Ability to understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details.
• Awareness of and sensitivity to multi-cultural international development work.
• Good sense of humor a plus
• Experience working with a youth or women program
• Ability to coordinate and communicate across departments (Operations, Finance, Program).
• Any other duties as assigned by supervisor and characteristic to the position

Living /Environmental Conditions:
The position will be based in Nairobi, with 60% field travel.

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

Staff 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.

Interested candidates who meet the above required qualifications and experience should submit on or before  November 11th  2012 at 4.00 p.m. a cover letter, detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) listing three professional references (including a recent supervisor and your current and expected salary in the CV) to hrkenya@ke.mercycorps.org

Applicants must clearly indicate on the email subject “Application for the position of Financial Services Advisor or M& E Manager. 

Applications without this subject heading will be disqualified. Please do not attach any certificates.

(Only Qualified and short-listed candidates will be contacted)