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.

The Department

The Philanthropic Growth and Engagement (PG&E) team advances Mercy Corps’ strategic goals by raising flexible funds, profile, and influence. Our team is made up of dynamic professionals: gift officers, direct response fundraisers, digital specialists, analysts, database managers, and storytellers. Together, we ensure that our systems, processes, and operations enable fundraisers and partners across the globe to maximize their impact.

The Position

The Deputy Director, Strategic Fundraising Operations strengthens the operational backbone of PG&E by ensuring our systems, processes, and cross-team partnerships are strategic, efficient, and aligned with long-term fundraising goals. This role has broad visibility and influence, representing PG&E in senior-level cross-departmental planning and decision-making forums.

The Deputy Director provides operational leadership and governance, serving as the principal liaison between PG&E and Finance (FP&A), Procurement, and Legal. The role is accountable for ensuring financial stewardship, contractual compliance, and operational alignment at scale. This includes driving annual and quarterly financial planning, leading KPI development and reporting, and managing strategic projects that advance the effectiveness and resilience of PG&E.

The Deputy Director plays a critical role in shaping team culture, building capacity, and ensuring PG&E leadership has the insights and systems required for strategic decision-making.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS & PROJECT MANAGEMENT

●        Serve as the lead project manager and strategic communicator for all high-priority fundraising initiatives, ensuring alignment across PG&E and with organizational goals.

●        Design and implement comprehensive project plans, accountability frameworks, and stakeholder engagement strategies, positioning PG&E as a model of operational excellence.

●        Oversee and optimize DevOps project management systems, tools, and resources to strengthen collaboration, efficiency, and visibility across fundraising functions.

●        Lead the development and monitoring of annual and quarterly KPIs for PG&E fundraising teams; produce executive-level reporting with actionable insights for senior leadership.

●        Direct the Development Operation's cross-functional emergency fundraising efforts, ensuring PG&E is prepared, coordinated, and able to execute effectively in urgent contexts.

BUDGETING & FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT 

●        Serve as the lead project manager and principal PG&E liaison for annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and financial strategies.

●        Provide strategic oversight and on vendor invoice management and expense coding, strengthening financial accuracy, compliance, and operational efficiency.

CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

●        Provide strategic leadership on the lifecycle management of PG&E’s vendor and partner agreements.

●        Establish forward-looking contract strategies, including re-compete schedules aligned with PG&E’s business needs and organizational policies.

●        Partner with Procurement to design and advise stakeholders on RFPs, ensuring that vendor engagements advance fundraising strategy and operational resilience.

●        Act as a primary liaison between PG&E and HQ partners, including Procurement, Finance, and Legal

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

●        Represent PG&E in cross-departmental forums, serving as the primary liaison with Finance, Procurement, and Legal.

●        Ensure PG&E’s operational needs and perspectives are clearly communicated and advanced in organizational decision-making.

●        Build and maintain strong relationships across HQ teams to strengthen alignment and resolve cross-functional challenges.

TEAM LEADERSHIP & OPERATIONS

• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement within PG&E operations.
• Oversee State charitable registrations, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Provide leadership within PG&E operations with the potential for future managerial responsibilities as the team grows.

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

This role currently has no direct reports but may include managerial responsibilities in the future.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Senior Director, Development Operations & Analytics

Works Directly With: PG&E colleagues, FP&A, Procurement, and other internal stakeholders.

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 experience in nonprofit management, business administration, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in fundraising operations, program management, or nonprofit strategy roles.
• Strong project management skills with proven success leading cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience with contract oversight, vendor management, or liaising with procurement teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex needs into actionable solutions.
• Supervisory experience with demonstrated success in coaching and supporting staff.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to balance multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Success Factors

The successful Deputy Director will be a collaborative problem-solver who thrives at the intersection of operations and strategy. They will balance detail-oriented execution (e.g., invoicing oversight, KPI tracking, contract management) with high-level alignment and stakeholder engagement. They will be a strong communicator, able to build trust across departments and ensure PG&E’s operational needs are clearly represented and advanced. They will be comfortable with ambiguity and enforcing roles/responsibilities with stakeholders to strengthen operational alignment. They will approach their work with a curious and solutions-oriented mindset, and not afraid to ask questions to achieve departmental goals. They will be skilled at communicating with team members of varied working styles and backgrounds effectively.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in LOCATION and it requires up to 40% travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.  Housing for this role is in individual housing and staff will have access to good medical services and the living situation is of a high standard.

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]).

As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential US-Based employees. This is done following the conclusion of recruitment and prior to assuming full employment.  Our screening process is designed to be transparent and completed in partnership with new Team Members. You will have the opportunity to disclose any prior convictions at the conclusion of the recruitment process before the check is initiated. 

We ask that you do not disclose any prior convictions in your application materials or during the recruitment process.