Job Description

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.

About Mercy Corps Ethiopia

Mercy Corps has been present in Ethiopia since 2004 working to drive bold and transformative ideas, working closely with 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 U.S. Department of State, the European Union (EU), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the United Nations (UN), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA), and a range of other institutional and private foundations.

Position Title: Area Coordinator BSP

Duty Station: Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Open Position: 1

Risk Level: Level 3

The Program / Department / Team

Border Security Programme - Ethiopia

The Border Security Programme (BSP) is an FCDO-funded regional programme designed to disrupt organised immigration crime (OIC) and contribute to safer borders and safer communities. The programme works through four mutually reinforcing outcome areas: evidence and analysis; stronger law-enforcement capability; community engagement, reporting and early warning; and witness support and protection.

In Ethiopia, BSP is implemented as a dedicated country component aligned with the regional programme, Ethiopian law and institutions, Government of Ethiopia priorities, and the realities of selected border and migration corridors. Mercy Corps works with relevant government institutions at federal, regional and local levels, consortium partners, Ethiopian civil-society and specialist partners, communities and other stakeholders to strengthen existing systems and locally grounded responses rather than establish parallel structures. Programme implementation is evidence-led, conflict-sensitive, rights-respecting and adaptive to changing border, migration and operational dynamics.

The Position

The Area Coordinator provides senior field-level leadership, coordination and oversight for BSP-Ethiopia activities managed from Bahir Dar. Reporting to the Ethiopia Country Lead – BSP, the Coordinator translates approved country strategy and workplans into disciplined field implementation and serves as the principal day-to-day programme coordination point for the assigned field area. The role ensures activities are coherent, timely, properly prepared and implemented in close coordination with government counterparts, implementing partners, communities and BSP technical and support teams.

The Coordinator brings together programme, partner, finance, procurement, security, MRELA and operational inputs required for field delivery; directly supervises assigned field staff; monitors implementation quality, progress and resource needs; and escalates material risks or strategic issues. The position operates within the regional BSP management framework, with major strategic or sensitive decisions escalated through the Ethiopia Country Lead to BSP leadership in partnership with the Mercy Corps Ethiopia Country Office.

Essential Responsibilities

FIELD PROGRAMME LEADERSHIP AND INTEGRATED DELIVERY

• Lead day-to-day implementation of approved BSP-Ethiopia workplans in the assigned field area, ensuring timely, quality delivery within approved scope, budget and Mercy Corps and donor requirements.
• Translate country workplans into practical field implementation plans, maintaining a rolling activity calendar and coordinating government, partner, finance, procurement, operations, security and MRELA readiness before activities proceed.
• Track implementation progress, deliverables, dependencies and bottlenecks; coordinate corrective action and escalate material delays, risks or scope changes to the Ethiopia Country Lead.
• Coordinate field-level sequencing across BSP's four outcome areas, working with outcome leads and partners to maintain clear roles, information flow and operational dependencies while respecting specialist technical authority.
• Maintain disciplined implementation documentation and ensure agreed decisions, commitments and follow-up actions are assigned and tracked to completion.

GOVERNMENT, PARTNER AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

• Maintain constructive working relationships with relevant Amhara Region regional, zonal, woreda/local and sector institutions connected to approved BSP implementation in the assigned field area.
• Coordinate field implementation with authorised government counterparts and facilitate timely communication and follow-up between field authorities and Addis-based BSP leadership.
• Coordinate closely with Ethiopian implementing partners on joint workplanning, activity preparation, delivery, problem-solving and progress review against agreed roles and workplans.
• Support meaningful and respectful participation of communities and local partners, recognising local power dynamics, conflict sensitivities, protection risks and the need for clear communication about programme scope and commitments.

TEAM LEADERSHIP AND FIELD COORDINATION

• Provide direct supervision, performance management and day-to-day leadership to assigned field programme staff, setting clear priorities, providing coaching and supporting staff development.
• Maintain an effective field coordination rhythm across programme, Finance, MRELA, Security, Operations and other relevant functions around activities, risks, resource needs and follow-up actions.
• Promote a collaborative and accountable team culture, ensuring decisions remain within delegated authority and sensitive, high-risk or strategic matters are escalated through the appropriate management or technical line.

BUDGET, OPERATIONS AND FIELD READINESS

• Contribute to field budget planning, forecasts, activity costing and budget-versus-actual review with the Finance Officer, Finance and Subaward Specialist and country programme team.
• Ensure procurement, logistics, transport, payments and other operational requirements are identified sufficiently in advance and coordinated through established Mercy Corps systems and controls.
• Promote value for money, responsible use of programme resources and appropriate documentation while supporting timely implementation.
• Do not make unapproved financial, contractual, procurement or partner commitments; escalate requirements outside delegated authority to the relevant functional owner.

MRELA, CARM, LEARNING AND REPORTING

• Work with the MRELA Advisor and MRELA & CARM Senior Officer to ensure field teams and partners maintain required monitoring evidence, Progress Marker information, activity documentation and reporting inputs.
• Support monitoring and approved evidence activities, review implementation evidence and field observations, and contribute to quarterly reflection, learning and practical adaptation.
• Ensure field teams and partners support accessible CARM processes and protect confidentiality; sensitive safeguarding, ethics, fraud or other protected complaints must be routed through established Mercy Corps mechanisms and handled on a need-to-know basis.
• Provide timely and accurate field information for programme reports, management updates, learning products and implementation trackers.

RISK, SECURITY, CONFLICT SENSITIVITY AND SAFEGUARDING

• Monitor political, security, conflict, access and institutional developments affecting implementation and promptly share material changes with the Security and Risk Coordinator, Country Lead and relevant technical functions.
• Coordinate activity planning and field movement with BSP and Mercy Corps Ethiopia security structures and ensure field teams comply with agreed security, access, communications and contingency measures.
• Integrate conflict sensitivity, Do No Harm, safeguarding, gender equality and social inclusion, human-rights considerations and participant protection into field planning and implementation.
• Identify and escalate security, safeguarding, legal, reputational, compliance or programme-integrity concerns through established Mercy Corps channels and support agreed mitigation actions.

REPRESENTATION AND COORDINATION

• Serve as the principal Mercy Corps BSP representative for routine field implementation matters in the Bahir Dar field area, within delegated authority and agreed programme messaging.
• Represent BSP professionally in relevant regional/local coordination meetings and partner engagements and provide concise field updates to country leadership and technical teams.
• Do not independently commit Mercy Corps on programme scope, funding, subawards, donor positions or politically sensitive matters; consult or escalate such issues to the appropriate country or regional authority.

SAFEGUARDING 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

Bahir Dar Program team; Project Officer, Finance Officer, Logistics Assistant and other field programme personnel as assigned under the approved BSP structure.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Ethiopia Country Lead – BSP

Works Closely With: Government Engagement Advisor; MRELA, Security, Finance, Procurement and BSP technical teams; implementing partners; and relevant Mercy Corps Ethiopia programme and support functions.

Works Directly With: assigned field personnel; relevant regional, zonal and local government counterparts; community and civil society stakeholders; service providers; and other authorised actors supporting field implementation.

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

• Bachelor's degree in International Development, Public Administration, Political Science, Governance, Peace and Conflict Studies, Sociology, Programme Management or a related field; a Master's degree is an advantage.
• At least five years of progressively responsible programme-management experience with an international non-governmental organisation (INGO), including significant field-level coordination, implementation or team-management responsibility.
• At least two years of supervisory or team-leadership experience, with demonstrated ability to set priorities, coach staff, manage performance and coordinate multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder implementation and coordinating government, community, partner, technical and operational actors; experience managing implementing partners is required.
• Demonstrated ability to engage constructively with Ethiopian government institutions at regional and local levels; experience working in Amhara Region or comparable field contexts is an advantage.
• Strong workplanning, budget-monitoring, reporting, facilitation, negotiation and problem-solving skills, with sound understanding of conflict sensitivity, Do No Harm, safeguarding, community accountability and inclusive programming.
• Relevant experience in borderlands, migration, trafficking, protection, governance, peacebuilding, community security, justice or law-enforcement-related programming is strongly preferred; FCDO or other major-donor experience is an advantage.
• Excellent written and spoken English and Amharic. Additional Ethiopian languages relevant to programme locations are an asset.

Success Factors

The successful Area Coordinator will combine practical leadership, disciplined follow-through and strong relationship management with sound judgement in a complex operating environment. They will translate programme strategy into organised field delivery, coordinate diverse actors, resolve routine challenges without bypassing controls, and recognise when sensitive or strategic issues require escalation. They will foster accountability, teamwork and constructive use of evidence and community feedback.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, with frequent travel to BSP programme locations in the assigned field area and occasional travel to Addis Ababa or other programme locations. Travel may include remote or border areas with changing access, security, communications or amenities. Team members must comply with Mercy Corps safety, security and movement procedures and respect local laws, customs and organisational policies.

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 regarding 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 (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).

All qualified individuals are invited to apply for the advertised position. All applications, including a CV, three references, and all applicable official papers, must be sent electronically.

Only candidates that are short-listed will be acknowledged and called for interviews.

“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 empower women and youth.”

DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS: 08 October 2026/ 4:00 PM