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Response Officer

Mercy Corps Ethiopia
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Role 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. With the launch of Mercy Corps Global Strategy, Pathway to Possibility, the country office is poised to operationalize its three-year strategy with a vision 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. Currently, we operate in five regional states - Afar, Oromia, Somali, Amhara, and Tigray. Working with a diverse base of donors that includes the United States Government, GAC, Hilton Foundation, United Nations, JOA, Sweden, EKN, and other foundations, Mercy Corps Ethiopia empowers people to recover from crisis, build better lives and transform their communities for good.

Position Title: Response Officer

Duty Station: Afar Region (Abala or Megale, Zone 2)

Position Status: Full-time (5 months with scope for extension)

Open Position: 1

Risk Level: Level 3

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps Ethiopia works to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities through development and emergency programming in refugee, internally displaced person (IDP), and host community contexts. Our humanitarian portfolio aims to save lives and protect development gains, with protection and community accountability as key pillars across all Mercy Corps Ethiopia programs.

The Protection program addresses violence against women and girls (VAWG) in crisis-affected areas of Afar regions. The program combines survivor-centred response services (case management, psychosocial support and safe referrals), curriculum-based programming for adolescent girls and their caregivers in Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS), and community-based prevention and risk mitigation that tackles the harmful social norms driving violence. The program works closely with the Women and Social Affairs (WSA) offices, health, justice, and education actors, community structures, and other humanitarian partners, and supports protection mainstreaming across all Mercy Corps humanitarian programs.

The Position Summary

Reporting to the Field Coordinator/Manager, with a technical reporting line to the Protection Specialist, the VAWG Response Officer is responsible for the day-to-day implementation and technical quality of VAWG response services and adolescent girls programming in the assigned location. The position holder will provide or oversee survivor-centered case management, psychosocial support (PSS), and safe referrals for survivors and at-risk women and girls and will lead the curriculum-based life skills intervention for adolescent girls and their male and female caregivers in Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS).

The Response Officer will build the capacity of social workers, mentors, community volunteers, and partners, support protection mainstreaming across Mercy Corps humanitarian programs, and represent Mercy Corps in relevant protection and VAWG coordination forums at field level. The role also contributes to assessments, concept notes, work plans, procurement plans, budget tracking and timely reporting, and works closely with the VAWG Prevention Officer to deliver an integrated protection response.

Key Responsibilities

VAWG Response, Case Management & Psychosocial Support

  • Lead the day-to-day implementation, monitoring and quality of VAWG response activities in the assigned location, in line with the project proposal, work plan and VAWG guiding principles.
  • Provide and oversee survivor-centered case management, psychosocial support (PSS), and referral services for VAWG survivors and vulnerable women and girls, in collaboration with the Women and Social Affairs (WSA) office and social workers.
  • Facilitate curriculum-based PSS sessions, group discussions and skill-building activities in Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS).
  • Map, update, and maintain referral pathways with health, legal, police, education, and other service providers, and follow up on referrals to ensure survivors access quality services.
  • When assigned, provide embedded technical support to government institutions on VAWG case management and counselling.
  • Ensure safe and ethical documentation of cases, including GBVIMS data, in line with confidentiality and information-sharing protocols.
  • Support community workers to facilitate VAWG safety audits and use the findings to inform risk mitigation across sectors.

Adolescent Girls Programming

  • Lead the implementation of the curriculum-based life skills intervention for adolescent girls and their male and female parents/caregivers.
  • Work with implementing partners and community leaders to develop selection criteria and enroll adolescent girls in life skills sessions.
  • Support the adaptation of the Adolescent Girls curriculum to the local community context.
  • Train mentors and provide formal and informal supervision to ensure high-quality life skills sessions; develop weekly and monthly activity plans for mentors.
  • Engage directly with adolescent girls and their parents/caregivers as needed and use their feedback to inform the intervention strategy.
  • Coordinate with the WSA office and case workers to ensure adolescent girls who need case management are identified and safely referred.
  • Monitor the supply and logistical needs of adolescent girls' safe spaces and life skills sessions.
  • Promote the participation of women, adolescent girls and girl children in all matters affecting their lives.

Capacity Building & Protection Mainstreaming

  • Deliver training and on-the-job coaching for social workers, community workers, mentors, community leaders, implementing partners and caregivers on VAWG, PSS, case management and adolescent girls programming.
  • Work with all Mercy Corps project teams to mainstream protection and VAWG risk mitigation across humanitarian programs and contribute to organizational and staff transformation on protection.
  • Establish community groups and build their capacity on VAWG response and prevention.
  • Work closely with the VAWG/CRSV Prevention Officer to hold community awareness-raising activities on protection concerns and contribute to the development of IEC and BCC materials.

Coordination, Partnerships & Representation

  • Develop and maintain effective working relationships with relevant government offices (WSA, health, justice, education), schools, local actors, community leaders and implementing partners.
  • Represent Mercy Corps in VAWG, protection and related coordination forums, networks and platforms at field level.
  • Coordinate with government, development and humanitarian actors to promote participation, protection, risk mitigation and prevention of VAWG.

Program Management, Budget & Operations

  • Develop quarterly and monthly work plans and monitoring plans and prepare Activity Concept Notes (ACNs) and Terms of Reference (TORs) based on the proposal.
  • Prepare procurement plans, initiate Purchase Requests (PRs) on time, monitor response and safe-space supply needs every quarter, and ensure timely delivery to participants.
  • Conduct monthly budget-versus-actual reviews and share recommendations with the Field Coordinator/Manager and Protection Specialist.
  • Participate in assessments and community meetings and contribute to concept note and proposal development.
  • Travel to other field offices to support similar protection roles when required and undertake other duties assigned by the immediate and technical supervisors.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Reporting

  • Collect and analyse qualitative and quantitative data on response and adolescent girls' activities in collaboration with the MEL team.
  • Compile and submit weekly, monthly and progress reports on time and to the required quality standard.
  • Document community meeting minutes, lessons learned, and anonymized case trends to inform program adaptation and new initiatives.
  • Participate in monitoring and evaluation activities, including assessments and surveys.

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

Security

  • Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
  • Proactively ensure that team members and community volunteers operate in a secure environment and are aware of relevant policies.

Supervisory Responsibility

No direct line management. The position provides day-to-day technical guidance, on-the-job coaching, and supervision to mentors, social workers, and community volunteers supporting response and adolescent girls’ activities in the assigned location.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Field Coordinator / Field Manager

Technical Reporting Line: Protection Specialist

Works Directly With: Protection Specialist, Protection Advisor, Program Manager, Area Program Manager, Humanitarian Programs MEL Manager, VAWG/CRSV Prevention Officer, Finance, Procurement/Logistics, Security and Human Resources 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
  • BA degree in Sociology, Psychology, Social Work or another related social science field.
  • Minimum of four years' work experience in protection and VAWG-related roles in humanitarian and/or development settings.
  • Demonstrated experience in survivor-centered VAWG case management, psychosocial support and safe referral; knowledge of GBVIMS is an advantage.
  • Experience implementing adolescent girls programming, life skills curricula and/or Women and Girls Safe Spaces, including training and supervising mentors.
  • Working knowledge of VAWG guiding principles (safety, confidentiality, respect and non-discrimination), the survivor-centered approach, and protection mainstreaming.
  • Experience working with government offices (in particular Women and Social Affairs), community structures and implementing partners in humanitarian settings.
  • Experience in work planning, activity budget tracking, procurement requests, and timely activity reporting.
  • Strong facilitation and training skills, with the ability to coach and build the capacity of community-level staff and volunteers.
  • Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills, with sensitivity to gender, age, disability and cultural norms.
  • Fluency in the local language of the duty station (Afar) is required; good written and spoken English.
  • Computer literacy in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint); experience with digital data-collection tools is a plus.
  • Ability to work in remote, insecure and resource-limited environments and to travel frequently to woredas and kebeles.
Success FactorsYou are a compassionate, discreet and highly organized protection practitioner who puts the safety and dignity of survivors and adolescent girls first. You adapt technical standards to real-world field conditions, build trust quickly with communities, government counterparts and partners, and work well across teams. You are comfortable working independently in remote locations, taking ownership of quality and timely delivery, and bring a strong commitment to confidentiality and Mercy Corps values.Living Conditions / Environmental ConditionsThe position is based in Abala or Megale (Afar Region, Zone 2), Ethiopia, and requires up to 85% travel to woredas and kebeles. Travel may include insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respect local laws, customs, and Mercy Corps policies, procedures and values at all times and in all in-country venues.Ongoing LearningIn 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 developmentTeam Engagement and EffectivenessAchieving 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 OpportunityMercy 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 & EthicsRisk level; Level 3: Frequent contact with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability.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 the 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. By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. 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 professionally, 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 e-learning 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).
Experience in a social service, psychology,