General Position Summary: 

The Business Training Project Officer will support the design and delivery of training activities for vulnerable fishing households and small-scale traders. The role will focus on building participants’ business knowledge and capacity to effectively adopt and manage cold chain equipment. This includes delivering or coordinating training in financial literacy, record keeping, costing, and customer relationship management. The Officer will work closely with cooperatives, vendors, and business development service providers to ensure that trainings are practical, gender-sensitive, and aligned with market demands. They will also contribute to identifying opportunities for post-training support and longer-term sustainability. 

Essential Responsibilities: 

• Deliver training sessions on core business skills (e.g. costing, bookkeeping, customer service) to traders and fishing households. 
• Coordinate with the Capacity Strengthening Coordinator and cooperatives to schedule and mobilise training participants. 
• Support adaptation of training materials to local context and ensure content is accessible for low-literacy audiences. 
• Track attendance and monitor improvements in knowledge, skills, and business practices among participants. 
• Conduct follow-up visits or phone surveys with trained participants to assess uptake and provide additional guidance. 
• Facilitate referrals to vendors, MFIs, or other services as needed to complement business development goals. 
• Ensure strong inclusion of women and youth in training design, outreach, and delivery. 
• Identify and support opportunities for cooperatives or private actors to deliver training sustainably post-project. 
• Contribute to training reporting and learning documentation.. 
• 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.  
• If relevant, briefing or training any external personnel such as when working with service contractors or subaward partners.  

Supervisory Responsibility: None 

 
Accountability  

• Reports Directly To: Capacity Strengthening Coordinator 
• Works Directly With: Cooperative Project Officer, Private Partnership Coordinator, MEL Officer, Local Training Providers, Business Development Service Providers, Cooperatives, Traders, and Fishing Households. 

Knowledge and Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, education, or related field. 
• Minimum 2–3 years of experience delivering business or vocational training, especially in rural or informal market contexts. 
• Familiarity with financial literacy, small business operations, or value chain development. 
• Strong facilitation skills and experience working with low-literacy or vulnerable populations. 
• Prior experience coordinating with community groups, training institutes, or NGOs preferred. 
• Sensitivity to gender, inclusion, and cultural dynamics in training delivery. 
• Fluency in Arabic required; working proficiency in English preferred.  

Success Factors: 

The successful candidate will be an engaging facilitator with a hands-on understanding of small business challenges in fragile contexts. They will have the patience, adaptability, and interpersonal skills needed to support diverse participants with varied needs. A commitment to practical, participant-led learning and inclusion will be key, alongside strong coordination and follow-up capacity to support meaningful outcomes. 

Team Efficiency 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 that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out different backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.   

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.  

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. 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 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 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). 

الصون و الأخلاق 

ميرسي كور تلتزم بضمان المعاملة اللائقة واحترام جميع الأفراد اللذين نتواصل معهم من خلال عملنا, سواء كانوا أعضاء الفريق أو أعضاء المجتمع أو المشاركين في البرامج أو غيرهم.  نحن ملتزمون بالمبادئ الرئيسية المتعلقة بمنع الاستغلال والإساءة الجنسية التي وضعها الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة واللجنة الدائمة للتنسيق بين الوكالات الإنسانية (IASC)، وقد وقعنا على نظام الإفصاح المتبادل بين الجهات الفاعلة في حالة السلوك الغير اللائق. عند التقديم لهذا الدور، يؤكد المتقدم أنه لم ينتهك في السابق سياسة السلوك الجنسي، والاستغلال والإساءة جنسية، صون الأطفال، أو الاتجار بالبشر لأي جهة عمل. ميرسي كور لن تتسامح مع إساءة معاملة الأطفال أو الاستغلال الجنسي أو الإساءة أو التحرش من قبل أو بسبب أعضاء فريقنا. كجزء من التزامنا تجاه توفير بيئة عمل آمنة وشاملة, من المتوقع أن يتصرف أعضاء الفريق بطريقة مهنية, تحترم القوانين والعادات المحلية. والالتزام بسياسات وقيم مدونة قواعد السلوك الخاصة بمنظمة ميرسي كور في جميع الأوقات. كما يتطلب من جميع أعضاء الفريق إكمال دورات التعليم الإلكتروني الإلزامية لقواعد السلوك عند التوظيف وذلك بشكل سنوي. 

كمتقدم للوظيفة، إذا كنت قد شهدت أو تعرضت لأي نوع من أنواع السلوك الجنسي الغير لائق خلال عملية التوظيف، يرجى الإبلاغ عن ذلك إلى خط النزاهة في منظمة ميرسي كور (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org). 

Living Conditions 

The position is based in Al Mukalla, Hadramout and it may require travel to Aden to support the project activities.    

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.  

Accountability To Participants 

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our participants and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging participant communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. 

Important Notice: 

Mercy Corps never charges candidates any fees at any stage of the recruitment process. If you are asked to make a payment for a job opportunity claiming to be from Mercy Corps, it is a scam.

All official communication from Mercy Corps will come from an example@mercycorps.org email address. We do not contact candidates via Gmail, Yahoo, WhatsApp, or other unofficial channels.

If you receive a suspicious job offer, please report it to us immediately.

Qualifications

Behaviors

Required

Leader: Inspires teammates to follow them

Detail Oriented: Capable of carrying out a given task with all details necessary to get the task done well

Motivations

Required

Flexibility: Inspired to perform well when granted the ability to set your own schedule and goals

Financial: Inspired to perform well by monetary reimbursement