Location: US-Remote, UK, Senegal
Position Status: Regular, Full-time, Exempt
Salary Level: US Starting salary for this role will be $53,200- $63,175 USD annually - commensurate with professional experience. Candidates outside of the US will be benchmaked accordingly to their location. Salary range will be provided upon request.
Language: French proficiency is required. Candidates with French fluency will be prioritized.

About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, 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.

The Program / Department / Team
Mercy Corps’ programs in Africa are undergoing both momentous humanitarian crises and significant development challenges that offer the opportunity to empower people to survive through crisis, build better lives and transform their communities for good. Against this backdrop Mercy Corps’ focus in Africa has been in promoting good governance and conflict resolution, enhancing resilience, facilitating market systems, access to finance and economic opportunities, as well as youth employment and empowerment. It is imperative that Mercy Corps presents itself as a key and credible partner with donors, government authorities and civil society actors in order to contribute to the process of positive change across the continent. Mercy Corps looks to actively engage and partner with an ever growing and innovative African private sector to achieve greater and sustained impact. It is also critical that we are executing our current and future programs on scope, on budget and on time across the continent, while looking at new approaches and opportunities and leveraging innovations for the greatest impact and influence in the region.

The Position
The Program Officer (PO) supports strategic, impactful, high-quality programming in the Africa Region. They support Country Directors in aspects of their country program and grant administration, play a key role in connecting the field to HQ resources and represent the country/regional interests internally with various HQ teams as well as with external stakeholders. The PO works with the Senior Program Manager (SPM), Deputy Regional Director and Regional Director (D/RD) to provide the secondary check and supports the field (ultimate point of responsibility) in adhering to internal and external policies and regulations.

Essential Responsibilities
PROGRAM & GRANT ADMINISTRATION
Serve as HQ point of responsibility for overall monitoring of grants/programs for both external/donor requirements as well as Mercy Corps’ internal policies and requirements.
Provide ongoing monitoring of the status of programs and complete regular check-ins on grant requirements (such as co-financing/match, BVA, data aggregation, etc.).
Review and submit award agreement deliverables, such as donor narrative reports, to ensure overall quality and adherence to donor requirements.
???Serve as first point of contact for country office teams and provide guidance and support on matters related to donor compliance and communication, particularly for U.S. government grants and cooperative agreements??.
??Participate in regular meetings with country offices to provide support and collaborate with country program teams on issues related to donor compliance, submissions of reports and other post award deliverables, and/or monitoring/awards management.
Serve as HQ point of contact to donor representatives.
Support country team’s adherence to Mercy Corps’ internal policies and Program Management minimum standards. As identified, support adherence to Mercy Corps’ Complex Programs management standards.
Support country programs with planning and implementation challenges, and coordinating with other HQ departments, including Technical Support, Compliance, Finance, to provide additional support.

PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT
Lead HQ coordination for proposals (unless designated otherwise). Throughout the proposal process, monitor the timeline and status of the proposal and communicate to the relevant parties as appropriate.
Provide input to proposals, ensuring alignment with donor priorities and requirements. In addition, review drafts for coherence, accuracy and effectiveness. Work with the APO to provide editing and rewrites as necessary, and manage submission to the donor. He/she may be appointed a different role in the design process and travel to the field if needed.

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT
With guidance from the SPM, coordinate partnership negotiation & development, ensuring the necessary teams are engaged, to help further program, country and regional interests.

EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION
???Liaise with donors on ongoing and future opportunities??.
With guidance from the SPM, represent regional interests and programs with external stakeholders, in concert with the field teams.