STA - Emergency Response Team Lead, Venezuela Earthquake Response

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.

Latin America and the Caribbean Region

Mercy Corps is responding to the devastating earthquakes that have caused widespread damage in Venezuela. The Mercy Corps Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Team and the Emergency Response Team are responsible for delivering a timely, appropriate, and high-quality response to this crisis. Grounded in Mercy Corps’ humanitarian principles and commitment to local partnerships, the team works to ensure that emergency interventions are delivered at scale and with impact. This response is closely integrated with Mercy Corps’ existing programs in the LAC region (namely Colombia), and builds on the lessons, successes, and network of Mercy Corps’ previous work in Venezuela (2018-2025). The team plays a critical role in addressing urgent needs while laying the groundwork for long-term recovery and resilience.

The Position

The Emergency Response (ER) Team Lead is Mercy Corps’ strategic and operational focal point for emergency response across the country. This role leads the design, coordination, and implementation of rapid response interventions that meet urgent community needs while ensuring alignment with Mercy Corps’ humanitarian principles, policies, and standards.

The ER Team Lead will coordinate cross-functional teams and resources – including program operations, safety and security, and adaptive delivery systems – ensuring timely, inclusive, and high-impact response. This position represents Mercy Corps to donors, government stakeholders, and interagency coordination platforms, and actively contributes to humanitarian coordination bodies.

The ER Team Lead fosters a culture of agile planning, accountability, and learning, while upholding program integrity and ethical standards. This position oversees operational readiness and preparedness, lead performance monitoring and MEL integration, and shape response strategies informed by real-time assessments and community feedback.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Develop and organize activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to response strategy development.
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Represent Mercy Corps in humanitarian coordination forums, including relevant UN-led coordination mechanisms where appropriate.
• Establish and maintain relationships with national and local authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, donors, and other key stakeholders.
• Ensure Mercy Corps remains informed of operational planning, response priorities, and coordination decisions.
• Represent Mercy Corps programs with national and international media and participate in community activities as appropriate.

PROGRAM MANAGMENT

• Lead the program team in implementation of the humanitarian response.
• Oversee program startup and ongoing program management and administration of teams across various field locations.
• Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and partners and consistent with Mercy Corps’ relevant program guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan.
• Ensure that beneficiaries are effectively targeted according to established vulnerability criteria.
• Develop program implementation strategies, including partnership frameworks, beneficiary targeting and distribution process as well as WASH, and psychosocial [insert other programs as applicable].
• Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Fulfill Mercy Corps Program Management Minimum Standards based on the organization-wide guide.
• Ensure all interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Policy, Do No Harm principles, and beneficiary accountability standards.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to emergency programming.
• Build and/or maintain operational systems that ensure proper administrative support for programs.
• Draft and/or review scope of work to hire and manage any technical consultants, including review for technical efficacy and contract budget.

SECURITY

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

HUMAN RESOURCE /TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Recruit, onboard and train team members to fill critical functions of the response team.
• Create a sustainable work environment of mutual respect that attracts motivated, skilled and effective team members and enables them individually and collectively to strive to achieve excellence.
• Supervise and lead a diverse team of direct and indirect reports in field offices.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and achieve objectives.
• Contribute to country team-building efforts; build constructive internal relationships; help team members identify problem solving options and ensure integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Collaborate with the people team to promote staff access to high quality learning opportunities, with a special emphasis on national team member development.

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

The Emergency Response Team Lead provides indirect supervision and technical oversight to a broader Emergency Response team, ensuring strategic ang implementation management support across all response locations and functions.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Country Director/ Operations Director (pick as appropriate)

Works Directly With: Program Managers, Support Services Department Heads/ Manager, Risk and Compliance Focal person; Safeguarding Focal person and other 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

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant field experience
• 5-7 years of field experience in international humanitarian program with solid exposure to development programs, including demonstrable success in managing programs in transitional environments.
• 5 years of senior-level leadership, capacity building and field management experience.
• Demonstrated success working effectively and respectfully with host country government, private sector, INGO, NGO partners and other stakeholders in complex environments.
• Ability to lead/ conduct rapid need assessment in line organizational approach and industry best practices; lead the design of emergency response at different phases based on the needs and in coordination with the wider sector to avoid duplications.
• Proven skills in financial and grants management; experience with emergency response grant management for both private and institutional donors desired.
• Understands donor regulations and compliance (USAID, ECHO, DFID, UN, etc.)
• Understands SPHERE and other humanitarian programming standards and ensure they are met.
• Possesses project management skills and ensure application of PM@MC/project management minimum standards for all the phases of the project cycle
• Successful and proven negotiation, communication and organization skills.
• Excellent oral and written English and Spanish skills required
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
• Readiness and willingness to support Mercy Corps’ humanitarian response during emergencies, within its current operational areas or other designated locations as needed.

Success Factors

The Emergency Response Team Lead excels in high-pressure, rapidly evolving humanitarian contexts by demonstrating strategic foresight, decisive leadership, and operational agility. Success in this role requires the ability to lead cross-functional teams, manage resources efficiently, and deliver impactful interventions under tight timelines. Strong collaboration skills are essential, including the capacity to build inclusive teams and engage effectively with government, donors, and interagency platforms. Technical expertise in emergency response standards, donor compliance, and adaptive delivery systems ensures program integrity and effectiveness. The role demands resilience and adaptability to navigate complex challenges while maintaining focus and composure. A commitment to continuous learning, informed by Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) insights, is key to driving improvement and enhancing outcomes.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Caracas, Venezuela, and requires up to 50% travel within the country to support program implementation and operations across country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing this role is in individual / team housing, and staff may require coping with harsh living situations, especially when travelling to the field.

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 ([email protected]).