Partnership Operations Officer

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:

As a result of the Syrian civil war there is a major humanitarian crisis. Mercy Corps, along with national and international partners, is working to address urgent humanitarian needs wherever they arise. This response, the largest in Mercy Corps’ global portfolio, is currently comprised of refugee/host response operations in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey in addition to a response to the needs of displaced and conflict-affected populations inside Syria with relief distributions, WASH and livelihoods programming to vulnerable Syrians.

The Mercy Corps Subaward and Compliance Department supports all financial and compliance aspects of subgrating. In its role as a support to the Syria Program Department, the Subaward and Compliance Department is responsible for ensuring subrecipients are compliant with donor regulations as well as Mercy Corps’ internal policies and procedures. It supports the Program team to ensure that financial resources are used efficiently and effectively. The Department is involved in pre-award and due diligence processes, contracting, financial report support, reviews, and approvals, payments, capacity development, compliance reviews and audits, close-out. The Department is also a main actor in ensuring Partnership strategy is embedded in programming, by providing on-the-job and ad-hoc support to Partners on all finance and compliance related issues in order to ensure compliance and also importantly to build the financial and compliance capacity of partners.

The Position (General Position Summary)

Under the supervision of the Partnership Operation Coordinator and in close collaboration with the program team, the position-holder will provide technical support in operations and HR to partners during the design and delivery of their humanitarian sub-projects in Syria. S/he will serve as a resource within the sub-award team (for both Mercy Corps staff and sub-awards partners) on support services, with a focus on HR & administrative issues.

The position is not responsible for overseeing programmatic elements of implementation, as the sub-award team program does not directly implement programs in Syria. Instead, working in close collaboration with the Partnership Operations Coordinator, s/he will be responsible for providing remote support and technical assistance to partners in critical areas of support services (HR, administration, operations), with an emphasis on HR and administration such as recruitment and human resource management developing and documenting policies and procedures. The successful candidate will enjoy collaborating with and coaching his/her Syrian NGO counterparts, employ a learning-by-doing approach throughout the project lifecycle, and be able to problem-solve creatively, communicate effectively, and provide feedback constructively.

Essential Responsibilities:

Project Design and Planning Support to Partners

• Support the Partnership Operation Coordinator in developing and organizing a comprehensive capacity building plan related to operations (including logistics and HR) for each partner; incorporate it with the overall program capacity building work plan to ensure provision of effective support throughout the project lifecycle.
• Identify, update, and contextualize high-quality resources and learning materials for capacity building topics mainly in HR policies and procedures.
• Contribute to the development of partners’ support services policies and procedures to help them more effectively meet donors’ regulations and fulfill partner requirements.
• Provide updates and results about capacity development and coaching activities with the line managers through weekly or monthly meetings and feedback on progress.

Remote Technical Support to Partners- HR, administrative systems and procedures

• In collaboration with relevant MCS support departments, serve as sub-award’s technical resource for project partners in HR, and administration throughout the sub-grant lifecycle.
• Support partners to strengthen and improve their administrative systems, processes and policies in support of their organizations’ mission for instance the recruitment plan, recruitment related processes, human resource management processes (such as attendance tracking, onboarding and training, payroll and performance management).
• Work closely with partners to ensure that their administrative and HR procedures and practices are well defined, documented and consistently applied.
• Contribute to sub-award processes, such as pre-award assessments, review of partners’ proposed project packages and budget, partner finance report packages, and close-out documents.
• Follow up with partners on any administration, and HR issues that emerge from on-going sub-project monitoring.
• In collaboration with other Subawards team members, work closely with partners to develop or revise manuals and procedures (admin, HR, …etc.) when prioritized in capacity development plans.
• Develop and deliver capacity strengthening tools and materials to support development and implementation of partner HR, administrative systems and procedures.

Coordination and Communication

• Use coaching and mentoring techniques to provide ongoing technical assistance to partners throughout the subgrant lifecycle, and in line with agreed-upon capacity development plans.
• Collaborate closely with other project staff to ensure capacity development support to partners is tailored, targeted and responsive to their operational needs and priorities.
• Monitor performance and anticipate any changes in work environment that could affect the work plan and adjust plan to adapt to the changes.
• Complete other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility: None.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Partnership Operations Coordinator.

Works Directly With: Partnership Program Coordinators, Partnership Finance Coordinator and Officers, Program Manager, Administrative Staff and counterparts in MCS support departments.

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 Qualifications & Transferable Skills:

• University Degree or higher in relevant field
• At least 3 years of experience working in a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on humanitarian assistance, relief or development work required; experience in a local NGO preferred.
• Direct experience implementing, overseeing, or advising on NGO operations, ideally in a humanitarian context.
• Basic understanding of structures and processes of NGOs – including sub-grant mechanisms- required; familiarity with US government donor rules is required.
• Ability to analyze complex problems, interpret operational needs, and develop integrated, contextually appropriate creative solutions.
• Experience with procurement and logistics is preferable.
• Experience with administration and HR is required.
• Commitment to capacity building and demonstrable past experience engaging and working with local civil society organizations or community groups.
• Demonstrated capacity to collaborate closely with a broad range of stakeholders in different geographic locations; experience with remote management or monitoring a plus.
• Familiarity with the MS Office software (i.e., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) is required.
• Working knowledge in oral and written English skills
• Demonstrated knowledge of the Syrian conflict context and understands project needs is a plus.

Success Factors

In addition to a strong technical background in operations, the ability to multi-task, build consensus, negotiate, and effectively communicate key information in support of changing program activities is necessary. A willingness to creatively solve problems, juggle multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and to calmly and diplomatically deal with unexpected and sudden events impacting program operations is also essential. Most importantly, the successful candidate is committed to mentoring and supporting- rather than monitoring and supervising- local partners.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Amman, Jordan or Beirut, Lebanon

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

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse 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. 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.

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