Chief of Party - USDA-funded Food for Progress (FFPr)

Addis Ababa

Organization: Mercy Corps
Location: Addis Ababa
Grade: Senior level - Senior
Occupational Groups:
- Operations and Administrations
- Democratic Governance
- Public Policy and Administration
- Nutrition
- Project and Programme Management
- Food Security, Livestock and Livelihoods
- Managerial positions
Closing Date: 2025-07-24

Description

Position is contingent on new funding - Deadline to apply is July 24, 2025

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 has been present in Ethiopia since 2004, working to drive bold and transformative ideas, working closely with the government, the private sector, and civil society actors to build a more resilient country, ensuring that programs are responsive to and influenced by participants and stakeholders. Our vision is to enhance the resilience of climate and conflict-affected communities through market systems development for improved livelihoods, access to food, and safe and clean water to thrive in the face of crises. Our strategy focuses on the four outcome areas of 1) Economically marginalized populations have improved and diversified livelihoods, income, and assets; 2) Pastoralists, farmers, and households have access to sustainably produced, safe, nutritious food; 3) Social cohesion and inclusive governance processes are built in crisis-affected communities; and 4) People have equitable, sustained access to clean water and sanitation for domestic and productive use. Currently, we operate in the regional states of Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, Somali, Sidama, Southern Ethiopia, Tigray and Addis Ababa city administration working with a diverse base of donors that includes the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations (UN), European Union, Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), Hilton Foundation, and other foundations.

Mercy Corps is seeking a qualified Chief of Party (CoP) to lead a USDA-funded Food for Progress (FFPr) project in Ethiopia. Food for Progress has two high-level strategic objectives: (1) increase agricultural productivity, and (2) expand trade of agricultural products (domestically, regionally, and internationally.

The Position

The CoP will provide oversight of the proposed FFPr project in Ethiopia. The CoP will provide overall leadership, management, and strategic vision for the implementation of the anticipated project, ensuring that the project meets its targets and deliverables on time and within budget. The CoP will supervise all project staff and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies as well as all donor rules and regulations. The CoP will be the primary representative for the project with USDA and other donors, government entities, and all other partners and stakeholders. The FFPr project in Ethiopia is expected to be five years, with a start date around October 1, 2025.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND PLANNING

Lead development of a vision and strategy for the FFPr project shared with the staff, consortium, and key stakeholders.

Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.

Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives.

Foster a culture of collaborating, learning, and adapting for effective implementation throughout the project lifecycle.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Oversee project management and administration for the duration of the project. Provide strategic guidance, oversight, and quality assurance for all project activities, outputs. and deliverables.

Assume overall responsibility for the effective implementation of work plans and ensure delivery is on time, within budget, meets donor and stakeholder expectations, and is contractually compliant.

Monitor implementation progress, maintain up-to-date logs of issues and risks, manage and mitigate risks, work to resolve issues, and escalate material issues, as appropriate.

Ensure that project implementation is responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant project guidelines, principles, values, quality standards, and strategic plan.

Ensure project strategies and activities represent global good practice for agricultural development programming.

Coordinate with Mercy Corps’ administration, finance, human resources, logistics, procurement, and security teams to ensure operational systems support activities.

Fulfill Mercy Corps’ Project Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

Oversee recruitment and onboarding of the project staff, including expatriates, national staff, and consultants.

Promote staff accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one meetings and performance reviews.

Supervise and manage all project staff to ensure day-to-day activities are implemented in a coordinated fashion according to schedule, budget, and quality.

Supervise and manage all project partnerships to ensure effective coordination.

Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of staff roles, and assist with career development.

Provide team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance and reach objectives.

Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE

Ensure compliance with USDA and Mercy Corps’ policies and regulations.

Create and maintain systems to ensure effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with project, donor, and Mercy Corps’ needs.

Ensure sound financial management, including programmatic budgeting, spending projections, and monitoring of payments in compliance with USDA standards.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO, and other relevant events, in close coordination with the Country Director.

Coordinate activities with partners, local government, and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.

RISK MANAGEMENT

Collaborate with country leadership to support preparedness and response to major disruptive events.

Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.

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

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervise the FFPr Ethiopia project team. The number of direct and indirect reports will be determined prior project startup.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Country Director

Works Directly With: Regional and Country Leadership Teams; Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Team; Award Management Team; Global and Regional Technical Resources and Quality Unit; other CoPs; other Mercy Corps projects in Ethiopia; country finance, operations, and technical teams, and partner organizations.

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

Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in the successful implementation of international development activities, with preference given to agricultural development, export and trade promotion, and food security programming – at least five (5) years of which must be in senior project management roles that included direct supervision of project teams.

Experience working on USDA Food for Progress or similar projects is highly preferred. If not with USDA, experience with high-profile U.S. government donors is required.

Experience in strengthening the capacity of staff and partner organizations.

Excellent oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated ability to think strategically and communicate a project vision to staff, partners, and key stakeholders.

Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, and ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders, including government officials, NGO partners, private sector actors, and local communities.

Internationally recognized qualification in project management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.

Fluency in spoken and written English is required.

Success Factors

The successful CoP will combine exceptional team management skills and experience in maintaining donor and partner relationships. They will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement, and manage innovative projects within the current and future structure of Mercy Corps in the region. They will also have proven experience with cross-cultural teams and capacity building, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving, and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. The most successful Mercy Corps staff 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 COP is based in the capital city – Addis Ababa. The location is accompanied and secure. Housing is family accommodation with good freedom of movement beyond the house/office. There are several international schools in Addis Ababa, British systems exist for children up to 11 years old. The US school takes students to pre-university levels. Staff have access to basic services (electricity, water, sporadic internet etc). Medical facilities are basic with international clinics able to provide emergency services. This position requires 35% travel by road and air to field offices in often insecure environments. Addis Ababa is host to many international organizations including the OAU, the Economic Commission for Africa and other multi-national bodies, many of which have their headquarters based in the capital city.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY 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 at all times 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

Team Engagement and Effectiveness

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

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 regar

ding 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.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).

We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.

Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.

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