<> HIDUP BERSAMA RISIKO BENCANA <> [disasters are part of daily life]

Organizational Learning and Capacity Manager

Mercy Corps
International Humanitarian Relief and Development

Location: Indonesia (Banda Aceh)
Closing date: 04 Jul 2007

Job Description

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps’ program in Indonesia began in 1999 and aims to address the root causes of poverty, thereby improving the quality of life for disaster- and conflict-affected, urban, and coastal communities. Mercy Corps Indonesia promotes sustainable economic development through integrated, entrepreneurial self-help programs and skills training, and by improving the living conditions of vulnerable populations living in crisis, with a particular focus on food security, health, and nutrition.

Mercy Corps has been operating in Aceh Province since December 28, 2004, after an earthquake centered 150 km off Aceh Province triggered a massive tsunami, hitting the northern tip of Sumatra Island on December 26, 2004. Mercy Corps’ strategy in Aceh is founded on the belief that recovery is most effective when communities are entrusted to take the lead on decision-making and resource allocation. Therefore, the agency’s community reconstruction and economic development approach is based upon communities identifying their own social and physical infrastructure priorities. While the relief phase focused on directly restoring economic activity and social services, the long-term development phase is aimed at enhancing and sustaining these activities by stimulating local demand for economic and social services and by working with economic and service providers and government structures to respond in a sustainable way to that demand.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
The Organizational Learning and Capacity Manager position is designated as a senior position for Mercy Corps in Aceh. This position is responsible for leading processes, activities and budgets that directly strengthen the skills, abilities, and technical capacity of Mercy Corps Aceh staff, with a particular focus on mid- and senior-level Indonesian staff. Mercy Corps Indonesia’s ability to implement and sustain high-quality programs is entirely dependent upon its recruitment, development, and retaining of high-performing Indonesia staff, especially those from Aceh. Mercy Corps’ team in Aceh has worked hard to both prioritize internal promotions for Indonesian staff and reduce the number of expatriate staff, effectively shifting leadership roles from international to Indonesia personnel. While this shift has significantly improved the overall attitudes and energy among Indonesian staff, those promoted to new positions require broad-based leadership and skills development to function at optimal capacity. The Organizational Learning and Capacity Manager’s central focus is to develop a culture of creativity, innovation and learning, while building measurable leadership capacity throughout the organization. Approaches for developing this culture and capacity include one-on-one coaching, mentoring, training and workshops, developing feedback mechanisms, as well as other appropriate methods.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Vision, Leadership and Strategy
In partnership with the Aceh senior management team, build and strengthen an effective staff development, promotion, recruitment, and retention system to ensure that Program strategy is achieved.

Indonesian Staff Development
Provide one-one-one coaching and mentoring to mid- and senior-level Indonesian staff to build individual professional skills that meet international standards for the humanitarian sector, including skills in written and spoken English language, techniques and styles of management, managing poor performance of team members, developing work plans and budgets, and computer literacy.
Work with supervisors and their staff to identify individual and team development action plans that take into account professional requirements and career aspirations.
In response to these results, identify existing development opportunities and organize new skills-building workshops that ensure progress towards fulfilling development plans.
Coordinate with Finance and Program staff to ensure funds are budgeted for staff training and development.

Culture of Creativity and Innovation
In partnership with Aceh senior management, develop a culture of creativity and innovation by identifying and building on existing channels of creativity, while recognizing internal systems and processes that limit innovation.
Recommend concrete and practical changes to organizational systems, processes, and structure that will foster leadership growth around creativity and innovation.

Organizational Change and Dynamics
Regularly assess the dynamic between Program and Program-support teams, including various offices, departments and units, as well as the senior management team and staff.
Recommend changes to the Aceh Director that will create a context for self-organizing change focused on enhancing the productivity and efficiency needed to deliver high-impact programs.
Facilitate working sessions that directly supports this process.

Promotion and Recruitment
Work with the Administration Managers and Human Resource staff to develop and implement strategies and tactics for promoting, recruiting and retaining high-performing staff; this will involve reviewing internal promotion process and recommending changes, as appropriate.
Work with supervisors to ensure that Mercy Corps’ performance management system is effectively used and that clear expectations are being set between supervisors and staff.
Provide supervisors with regular coaching on how to maintain and build strong feedback channels and introduce a variety of feedback techniques to be adapted by the organizational culture.

Organizational Learning
In coordination with Mercy Corps’ headquarters’ Organizational Learning and Staff Development Team, work with supervisors to ensure that all Mercy Corps staff in Aceh are aware of, accessing, and utilizing learning opportunities available to Mercy Corps’ operations worldwide.
Work with supervisors to ensure that Mercy Corps’ program in Aceh is contributing to the organization’s global learning process through shared ideas, documentation, and participation on collaborative initiatives.

Other Duties as Required

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: No direct supervisory responsibilities
ACCOUNTABILITY:
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Aceh Director
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: All staff in Aceh; Mercy-Corps Indonesia team; HQ-based Support team; and HQ-based Technical Support Units

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
MA/S, MBA or equivalent in social science, management, organizational development, international development, or related field.
2 years’ (cumulative) experience living and working in developing countries required; experience in international relief and development preferred.
4-8 years' experience in leadership positions building and managing a team of professionals; training and facilitating; and developing organizational capacity preferred.
Proven success in adult education, coaching, mentoring facilitation of team-work meetings, workshop design and budget management essential.
Excellent verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational skills essential.
Experience living in Indonesia and Indonesian language skills preferred.
Proven success with developing and implementing output-based performance management systems.

SUCCESS FACTORS:
The successful Organizational Learning and Capacity Manager (OLCM) will demonstrate a strong combination of leadership, organizational development and relationship-building abilities. The OLCM will demonstrate an outstanding ability to manage cross-cultural communications; build staff capacity for change in the context of the broader vision for organizational effectiveness in Aceh; and document the changes needed to highlight momentum and successes. Attention to detail on sometimes mundane tasks, such as continually working with staff to improve written and verbal English, will be crucial for long-term results. The successful Organizational Learning and Capacity Manager will have a strong commitment to teamwork, creativity, innovation, risk-taking and leadership development, and also have extreme patience to support staff who are not fluent English speakers. Past experience shows that the most successful Mercy Corps staff members prioritize effective communication in all situations and maintain a strong sense of humor.

LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:
This is an accompanied position in a relatively safe and comfortable environment. Candidates must be able to live and work in hot, tropical environments and within a fairly conservative Muslim culture. Access to education facilities and health care is limited, and parents must give extra-consideration before relocating with children. Banda Aceh is a city of approximately 200,000 with a range of restaurants and shops and good access to beaches. Meulaboh is a town of approximately 70,000 with few restaurants and shops, but also good access to beaches. Singapore is the nearest destination for serious medical care and the amenities of a fully developed city. There are several flights per day from Banda Aceh to Medan and from Meulaboh to Medan. International connections from Medan can be made through Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Vacancies Contact
Please apply to our website: http://www.mercycorps.org/aboutus/jobs

Reference Code: RW_733PVQ-95

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/res.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-733PZH?OpenDocument&rc...