About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.
The Program / Department / Team (Program / Department Summary)
Mercy Corps has been operating in Jordan since 2003. In partnership with civil society organizations, the private sector, and the government, Mercy Corps Jordan has reached more than 3.4 million Jordanians and displaced populations in the country. Working throughout Jordan, Mercy Corps is driven by the mission to contribute to the emergence of a peaceful, resilient, and prosperous Jordan which is inclusive of youth and women. We seek to build a future for Jordan in which all people feel secure, believe in the goodness of communities and institutions around them, and are on a sustainable path toward economic self-reliance. Our strategic directions focus on promoting strong communities and governance, peace and social cohesion and environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
The USAID Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity (Iqlaa) is a five-year USAID-funded program that aims to support Jordan's Home-Based Businesses and Micro and Small Enterprises to grow, transform,and become resilient to future shocks. The Iqlaa approach will explore new ways of doing business and improving access to finance, markets, and services. The program focuses on four sectors: agriculture,hospitality and tourism, manufacturing, and services, with special attention to technology development and implementation. Understanding that women, youth, and people living with disabilities (PLWDs) face unique constraints to starting up and leading resilient MSEs, Iqlaa infuses a gender, youth, and social inclusion lens throughout all its interventions.
Through research and adaptive, collaborative learning, Iqlaa will identify opportunities, incentives, and market constraints that facilitate or restrict formalization and growth. Based on the findings, Iqlaa will implement best practices in enterprise strengthening, inclusive job creation, and financial sector development within a market systems development (MSD) framework, leveraging innovative behavioral change methodologies to facilitate long-term, sustainable changes in the MSEs ecosystem in Jordan.
Implementing Organizations: Mercy Corps (Lead Implementer), Andersen for Legal and Tax Consultancy (Andersen), Dalberg Design (Dalberg), Expectation State, Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII), Migrate-Jordan (Migrate), Q-Perspective, and American Chamber of Commerce in Jordan(AmCham).
The Position (General Position Summary)
Reporting to the Inclusion Lead, the Inclusion Coordinator will be an integral member of the gender,youth, and social inclusion team at Iqlaa. This position will play a pivotal role in ensuring that all programactivities and interventions are implemented inclusively, addressing the unique needs of women, youth,and persons with disabilities (PWDs). The Inclusion Coordinator will also actively contribute to the development and delivery of initiatives that promote the growth and resilience of businesses owned by these groups.
Essential Responsibilities
GENERAL
• Assist the Inclusion Lead in developing, monitoring, and implementing the inclusion action plan across all program components, partner work plans, and Iqlaa’s annual work plans.
• Work closely with the Inclusion Lead to ensure that all implemented activities are compliant with inclusion standards ensuring the component is sensitive and responsive to different opportunities and barriers faced by women and youth, as well as to fulfill GYSI-related targets,
• Support the Inclusion Lead in designing and delivering training, capacity-building sessions, and awareness-raising initiatives focused on inclusion for program teams, partners, vendors, and sub-awardees. This includes creating training materials, facilitating sessions, coordinating logistics, and organizing webinars, meetings, and community of practice initiatives, as well as conducting field visits and collaborating with the MEL team to track the impact of training.
• Monitor inclusion-specific activities regularly, including conducting field visits to market actors and MSEs supported by Iqlaa to ensure inclusive practices are upheld.
• Assist in organizing and preparing for the gender community of practice, ensuring comprehensive support and coordination.
• Coordinate and oversee procurement activities related to inclusion, ensuring compliance with relevant standards and requirements
SUBGRANTS AND CONTRACTS MANAGEMENT
• Develop and draft the required scopes and procurement/solicitation documents (RFAs, RFPs, etc.) to fulfill the needs of the Component’s work plan; and as delegated by the COP and/or DCOP/Programs take part in their evaluations per the set processes.
• Assist in evaluating applicants' and vendors' proposals related to interventions and scopes of work,including reviewing documentation, grading submissions, and participating in interviews as delegated by the Inclusion Lead.
• Support in managing Iqlaa sub-grants, while adhering to the USAID and Mercy Corps standards and regulations including:
- Provide guidance to awarded vendors, partners, sub-awardees, and consultants on compliance with inclusion-related standards and best practices.
- Negotiate terms of partnerships, draft sub-grants agreements and scopes of work, design deliverables. milestones and budgets.
- Following up with the sub-grantees and ensuring the delivery of the set milestones/deliverables and that the targets are met. And managing sub-grantee payments to ensure timely liquidation of the awarded grants.
IMPLEMENTATION OF GYSI ACTIVITIES
• Collaborate seamlessly with other components and teams—including research, innovation, PQL, MSEs support, and the outreach team—to maximize synergies and optimize results across Iqlaa’s interventions.
• Work with the Outreach team to support inclusion-focused activities, such as sharing information that aids in mobilizing MSEs owned by women, youth, and PWDs, conducting
• awareness-raising sessions, and contributing to outreach strategies as directed by the Inclusion Lead.
• Coordinate with the Access to Finance team to support the development of finance solutions that are inclusive and meet GYSI requirements, as guided by the Inclusion Lead.
• Partner with the MSE team to design and implement GYSI-specific and compliant interventions, ensuring they align with program objectives and inclusion standards.
• Monitor emerging trends that could impact Iqlaa’s interventions and proactively identify opportunities and potential issues from the field. Flag any constraints or challenges to the Inclusion Lead for escalation to the Iqlaa leadership team.
• Troubleshoot challenges faced by MSEs and HBBs owned by women, youth, PWDs, and refugees when accessing services. This includes developing and implementing a feedback reporting mechanism to keep relevant component leads informed of MSE performance and highlighted issues.
• Establish and strengthen networks with key actors and stakeholders in the inclusion field to support the Iqlaa team in ensuring interventions are inclusive and effectively address the needs of women, youth, persons with disabilities, and refugees.
MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING
• As delegated by the Inclusion Lead, oversee the monitoring and evaluation of the component activities in close coordination with the M&E team, including monitoring, data collection, analysis, and report writing in line with the M&E standard procedures as set by the Iqlaa PQL team.
• Provide timely and high-quality progress reports that would feed into donor reports, this includes weekly, quarterly, and annual reports in addition to other ad-hoc requests by the donor and/or Iqlaa’s leadership.
• Use Program Quality and Learning (PQL) tools and materials effectively, to fully comply with all quality and monitoring and evaluation standards, including those related to proper documentation and file keeping.
• Contribute towards the development of communication materials (including presentations, success stories, etc.), highlighting best practices on embedding inclusion approaches.
• Support the Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) function by contributing to GYSI related activities and interventions as directed by the Inclusion Lead.
FINANCIAL AND COMPLIANCE MANAGMENT
• Provide needed input for the development of the Inclusion component budget for each intervention and activity including TORs unsolicited grants and RFAs, including setting the budget projections and reviewing them before submission to the Inclusion Lead, per the set procedures.
• Assist the Inclusion Lead in ensuring that all inclusion-related activities, including those managed by partners and vendors, adhere to Mercy Corps’ internal systems and procedures, as well as Iqlaa-specific requirements (e.g., USAID marking and branding, environmental compliance).
• Ensure compliance with USAID and Mercy Corps regulations.
• Ensure adherence to Mercy Corps PM@MC minimum standards within the component, including Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM).
• Ensure the proper implementation and modeling of safeguarding policies and procedures with regards to all interactions with team members, partners, and Iqlaa’s participants.
SAFEGAURDING RESPONSIBILITIES
• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options
Supervisory Responsibility: None
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Inclusion Lead
Works Directly With: Chief of Party, DCOP/Programs, DCOP/Operations & Finance, Inclusion team members, Iqlaa technical teams, PQL and Communication teams, and other relevant support teams.
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
• Proven technical expertise in integrating gender and social inclusion into programs and interventions.
• A minimum of 6 years of professional experience in implementing social inclusion initiatives within Jordan.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as social sciences or related disciplines.
• Extensive experience in Jordan with a comprehensive understanding of gender dynamics, age considerations, and significant socio-cultural factors relevant to local programming.
• Demonstrated experience (4+ years) in developing and delivering training materials in Arabic, with the ability to conduct training sessions effectively.
• Exceptional attention to detail, with the ability to follow established procedures, meet deadlines,and work independently while maintaining effective team collaboration.
• Solid project management skills, including the ability to craft problem statements, develop intervention plans, and monitor work plans.
• Demonstrated logical and systematic approach to tracking and supporting inclusion-related interventions.
• Ability to oversee and follow up on grants awarded to partners, contractors, and other stakeholders.
• Experience in supporting the development of RFAs (Requests for Applications) and related activities.
• Strong skills in participatory learning, action methodologies, and facilitating collaborative problemsolving.
• Experience in managing events, such as workshops, meetings, and community discussions, with strong organizational and planning abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with multiple stakeholders (including public sector, private sector at both grass-root and corporate levels, and civil society).
• Experience in project and contract management including (sub) grants management, management of consultants, and procurement, among others.
• Previous work with HBBs, MSEs or Start-ups in the Economic sector.
• Fluency in Arabic. High proficiency in English (report writing level) required