The gender and Peacebuilding Lead will be responsible to provide support on establishing institutional partnership and institutional capacity building training on peace and conflict for formal and informal institutions in line with promoting gender in peacebuilding and governance structure. S/he will be responsible to provide technical support to mainstream gender and conflict-sensitive approaches and equipped with the tools and know-how in integrating conflict sensitivity in activities across all components and partners of the RiPA program.

General Position Summary

Mercy Corps uses an integrated systems approach, that is explicitly focusing on building the capacity of people and institutions to prevent and manage violent conflicts and integrating conflict sensitivity and peace-building objectives throughout our humanitarian and development programs to address the root causes of conflict such as youth unemployment, governance, and market systems development and thereby increase social cohesion. The gender and Peacebuilding lead together with the Ripa Peacebuilding advisor works with government, local partners, youth, women, religious and clan leaders at local levels strengthening capacities in gender-sensitive Conflict prevention and management, Peacebuilding and Social Cohesion, Gender and Conflict Sensitivity, Interest-Based Negotiation and Mediation (IBNM), Early Warning and Early Response System and Addressing digital drivers of conflict. The capacity will further be developed through support for mentoring and coaching. In the longer, term institutional mechanisms will be created and supported to sustain the promotion of peace and application of collaborative leadership skills.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

Strategy and Vision

Support to

• Strengthen partnership with the regional governments to ensure delivery of objectives
• Provide technical support for Ripa staff and local partners on conflict sensitivity and ‘Do No Harm’ (DNH) mainstreaming.
• Contribute to the development of concept notes and proposals for gender-sensitive peace and conflict activities.
• Review Intervention Concept Note (ICN) and Activity Concept Note (ACN) to ensure that peace and conflict-sensitive principles and gender transformative ideas are integrated and implemented across all components.
• Provide technical support for peacebuilding and conflict management activities
• Develop facilitation plans for inter and intragroup dialogue sessions on peace and gender issues and provide onsite mentorship to gender-sensitive negotiation and mediation processes.
• Properly manage and utilize the budget allocated for gender-sensitive peace and conflict activities
• Work with government agencies including women and social Affairs and peace and security bureaus to promote women leadership and meaningful participation in a peace structure
• Lead Gender, Equality, Diversity, and social inclusion (GEDSI) and conflict analysis and inform program design and implementation process

Program Implementation

• Design and lead technical training sessions on Conflict Prevention and Management, Peacebuilding and Social Cohesion, Gender and Conflict Sensitivity, Women leadership, Interest-Based Negotiation and Mediation (IBNM), Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) System and Addressing digital drivers of conflict for youth and local partners and providing ongoing coaching and mentoring.
• Contribute to the preparation and implementation of training curriculum, guidelines, and manuals for gender-sensitive peace and conflict works as per the training needs assessments.
• Build the capacity of regional and sub-regional government staff, civil society, and key influential figures to facilitate inter and intra-community dialogues, gender, and GBV issues linked to peace-building work through the training of local peace committees, traditional leaders, female peace agents, and woreda-level government officials.
• Promote Do No Harm (DNH) training for other development actors and support integration of conflict-sensitive approaches into government policy and decision-makers.
• In coordination with Program Performance and Quality (PDQ) and Ripa, the MEL team ensures good, and gender-sensitive M&E practices are embedded in peacebuilding and conflict activities.
• Ensure a culture of learning and knowledge sharing between staff and partners and lessons learned are collated and knowledge products are developed to facilitate institutional wide learning.
• Ensure the delivery of timely and accurate progress reports for information and decision-making purposes to the country office management team, donors, stakeholders, and local governments. Facilitate the development of a research and learning agenda linked to gender, peace, and conflict.

 Team Management

• Build effective relationships with program teams implementing gender-sensitive peacebuilding and conflict management activities based on mutual trust, collaboration, urgency, and curiosity.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback formally and informally.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

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 toward 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.

Job Requirements

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, Gender and development, Law, or related Social Science fields.
• At least 6 years’ experience for Bachelor holder or 4 years’ experience for a Master’s degree in development work related to peacebuilding and conflict.
• At least four years experience directly related to Peace, Conflict Management, Promoting gender equality, Early Warning Early Response, Conflict sensitivity, and ‘Do No Harm’ approaches, including experience in mainstreaming these concepts into development programming.
• Experience in conflict and gender analysis and experience in applying such analysis to local development contexts in Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Areas.
• Experience in the design and implementation of development and gender-sensitive Peacebuilding programs.
• Demonstrated ability to work respectfully and constructively with local partners and stakeholders to help build capacity and ensure quality programming.
• Formal training in, or ability to train in conflict sensitivity, negotiation approaches, and other conflict management/mitigation and/or social cohesion methodologies will be an added value
• Experience in highly volatile security situations and a commitment to team safety
• Demonstrated experience in promoting youth and gender engagement
• Proven experience in financial management, including budgeting, monitoring, and managing expenditure
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, dialogue, and conflict management skills and engaged in a challenging peacebuilding and social cohesion project
• Excellent oral and written proficiency in English and one additional local language will be an added value.

Success Factors

A successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles, follow procedures, and meet deadlines with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem-solving. S/he will have a proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, work within complex security and political situation, and follow strict security protocols. A willingness to relocate for short-term as necessary within coverage regions, based on programmatic needs, work independently and as part of a team are essential Computer literate especially in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

How to Apply

“Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer promoting gender, equity and diversity. Qualified female and young candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We are committed to empowering women and youth.”

DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS: 11^th February 2022

Send a non-returnable applications and credentials through postal address to Mercy Corps Recruiter Addis Ababa: P.O. Box 14319, Arbaminch: P.O. Box 33, Jijiga: P.O. Box 225, Negelle Borena: P.O. Box 116 and Dire Dewa: P.O. Box 974 or via email: et-recruitment@mercycorps.org

Note: Make sure that you mention the position title in the subject line of your email application. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply for the position advertised. All applications should be submitted to the Mercy Corps office/through e-mail that includes a CV, three references, and all relevant official documents. Applications will not be returned and will not be retained for future recruitment efforts. In order to ensure fairness to all applicant’s personal inquiries is not permitted.  Only candidates that are short-listed will be acknowledged and called for interviews.