Description

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 Department

The Ethics and Compliance Department (ECD) supports and monitors ethical, contractual and legal compliance across Mercy Corp’s various affiliates and global operations. This team interacts with and supports all functional areas of Mercy Corps, including executive and senior management, programs, social ventures, policy & advocacy, resource development, safeguarding, finance, and human resources, as well as the various functional areas that report into these departments. Within the Ethics and Compliance team, the Intake and Investigations team is responsible for the intake and investigation of all reports of ethics violations including fraud, corruption, and Code of Conduct and Global Human Resources complaints.

The Position

The Strategy and Operations Manager will deploy specialized expertise, and provide direct project management support, counsel, and advice in support of Mercy Corps’ organizational priorities. They will work across the ECD to implement and maintain more streamlined project management processes to create more cohesion, organization, and clarity within and outside of the ECD as it relates to our objectives and organizational commitments. Working closely with CECO, the Strategy and Operations Manager engages and leads strategic opportunities and cross-organizational projects to strengthen decision-making, communications, and progress toward achieving ECD objectives.

The Strategy and Operations Manager serves as a strategic advisor to the ECD Leadership Team and will execute a knowledge management framework, building guidance for the internal process of resources creation, roll-out and retention. They will champion the best practices and platforms to harness technology in service of effective communication and engagement across the agency as it relates to the Ethics and Compliance department functions. They will serve as the primary support for the Joint Ethics and Safeguarding Committee. Additionally, they will facilitate operational improvements for the ECD and to the CECO.

Essential Job Responsibilities

EXECUTIVE SUPPORT - THE OFFICE OF THE CECO

• Develop streamlined routines and practices for seamless operations for office of the CECO
• Maintain CECO calendar, schedule recurring meetings, including meetings with direct reports, working groups, and other individuals; ensure the CECO has access to briefings and papers in advance of the meeting             
• Equip CECO for external engagements, including support for and compilation of briefing materials, PowerPoint presentations, as needed
• Proofread, edit, and format department documents
• Support internal and external CECO and department communications
• Attend meetings led by CECO and prepare meeting minutes
• Arrange travel, visas, and accommodation for the CECO as necessary

STRATEGIC PLANNING

• Support realization of ECD strategy and identify key opportunities for partnership and outreach with safeguarding/HR, fraud and corruption and internal audit teams.
• Proactively develop organization-wide ethics initiatives, including policy rollouts, key communications campaigns, mandatory trainings, webinars, and in-person events.
• Create avenues for interdepartmental dialogue to identify emerging trends, risks, and time-sensitive issues to be communicated agency-wide.
• Proactively develop organization-wide ethics initiatives, including policy rollouts, key communications campaigns, mandatory trainings, webinars, and in-person events.
• Collaborate with leadership at all levels to ensure buy-in and partnership on ECD initiatives.
• Establish and maintain mechanisms to gather and integrate feedback from a broad range of agency stakeholders to ensure appropriateness, effectiveness, and reach of training and communications. 

ANALYTICS AND SYSTEMS

• Lead on the design and implementation of a ECD Analytics Strategy
• Innovate around analytics solutions to solve complex integration related issues
• Design and integrate solutions with existing systems/technology, other organizational workflows and operational contexts
• Develop high-quality, standardized Power BI dashboard templates for safeguarding core standards reporting internally; user-friendly and concise
• Reviews current operations, identifying areas where improved performance and optimized solutions are needed in order to enable users to meet objectives
• Support the ECD on providing data for presentations and reports, including internal Board reports, the externally published Annual Safeguarding Report, donor assessments and other various internal communications
• Cultivate networks in colleague agencies to facilitate exchange of ideas and collaboration across the sector, identifying potential areas for innovation and influence

OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS

• Provide planning and logistical support for key department meetings, conferences and training events, including arrangement and preparation of venue, collection and dissemination of necessary documents, logistical support for participants and communication and required follow-up with all parties involved.
• Oversee or coordinate the development of Memoranda of Understanding, agreements, and consultancy contracts as required
• Oversee and support financial records of the ECD, manage use of department credit card, support submission of invoice payment request, EERs, and other financial documentation as required, and ensure expenses fall within budget and are coded correctly
• Support recruitment of new Team Members as required
• Develop and maintain onboarding process for ECD new team members, including materials, schedule, and equipment distribution
• Act as liaison between ECD and partner teams within the agency

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Lead planning, logistics, and management of several key strategic workstreams, working groups, and projects
• Lead management and department projects and interdepartmental projects owned by the ECD
• Develop planning, sequencing and tracking of the above, including systems to do so efficiently.
• Steward and refine the ECD key products, deliverables and tools including work plans and reports.
• Drive effective teamwork, communication, and collaboration across multiple stakeholder groups and liaise with the HQ and global teams to provide information and follow-up on inter-team projects and initiatives.
• Identify key inputs and metrics to determine trends, insights, and progress on strategic ethics initiatives.
• Create ECD’s “voice” and “brand”, including visual imagery, tagline, and communication style. Ensure regular, effective communication from the CECO and ECD to the rest of the agency.
• Work across teams (including Learning Development, Strategic Leadership, Global Internal Communications, Marketing, Legal, Brand, country leadership and other key departments) to source and transform messages into appealing and consistent content, which may include global emails, social media posts, videos newsletters, posters, and live events.
• Create and manage content of the ethics public webpage and various Hub pages. 

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE & VISION

• Facilitates the ECD’S PwP/All Voice Survey Learning Journey; ensures progress against our work plan Provide strategic support to the management team regarding the vision and practice of knowledge management for the ECD especially in relation to the new agency strategy.
• Develop and implement a knowledge management framework, guidance, and training for ECD;
• including an internal process for resources creation, roll-out and retention.
• Drive adoption of Microsoft 365 and organization of ECD SharePoint; lead the ECD in building a uniform structure for the ECD.
• Manage the implementation, adoption, and effective use of technology to promote and transfer ECD knowledge and learning to internal stakeholders.
• Work in conjunction with other departments, as needed

JOINT ETHICS AND SAFEGUARDING COMMITTEE (JESC) SUPPORT

• Serve as the CECO’s primary liaison with Board members of the JESC
• Work with CECO to maintain a calendar for the preparation, review and assembly of JESC materials is developed well in advance and communicated to all parties involved. Support the timely assembly and delivery of materials meeting the requirements for JESC
• Provide planning and logistical support for JESC meetings, including arrangement and preparation, collection and dissemination of necessary documents and reports, logistical support for participants and communication and required follow-up with all parties involved, including Board members.
• Capture Committee key take-aways and action items and ensure necessary follow up is executed by responsible parties
• Draft meeting minutes, ensuring up to date records of proceedings of JESC meetings, in compliance with the Minutes Policy
• Prepare professional reports, summaries, and presentations as requested.

EXECUTIVE SUPPORT - THE OFFICE OF THE VP, GLOBAL POLICY AND ADVOCACY

• Provide primary administrative and executive support for the Vice President, including coordination and maintenance of her appointment and travel schedule, expense reports, visa applications, itineraries, etc.
• Maintain systems for tracking and reporting on team budget, including some budget reconciliation functions.

GRAPHIC DESIGN (FORMERLY TASKED WITH THE OFFICE OF HEATHER CUMMINGS)

• Design and implement mandatory ethics reporting posters in all Mercy Corps offices.
• Use suite of Adobe tools and other graphic design software to create visually captivating communications in line with the ECD’s brand.

Supervisory Responsibilities

None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer

Works Directly With: Safeguarding, Fraud and Corruption, and HR Directors and Investigators, Board members, , Manager of Communications and Training– Ethics and Compliance, Manager of Case Intake– Ethics and Compliance, Senior Digital Librarian, Technical Project Manager– M365, office of

the CEO, People Team stakeholders, external contractors, other HQ units and Safeguarding field partners such as Safeguarding Managers, Focal Points and Co-investigators.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

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

and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills

• 5+ years of professional experience working in a fast-paced environment
• 4+ years of experience working as part of an administrative and executive support team, in an
• NGO is preferred
• BA/S in International Development or a relevant field is required
• International, non-profit, and/or government experience required.
• Experience managing multiple projects and delivering in a timely manner
• Experience with executive staffing, schedule management, and travel arrangements strongly desired.
• Demonstrated proactive approach to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability.
• Adaptable, forward-looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions
• Demonstrated ability to lead strong collaborative initiatives with internal and external stakeholders
• Strong interpersonal skills: demonstrated relationship management experience, strong networking and communication skills, and an ability to work collaboratively with others across differences
• Demonstrated ability to handle quickly evolving and changing work streams, including managing learning from experience.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality both giving and receiving
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to effectively gather and summarize large amounts of information from various sources.
• Excellent writing, editing, and research skills required
• High proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Success Factors

The successful candidate is well organized, a problem-solver, a collaborator, and results driven. They are able to manage a significant amount of information, navigate and track multiple work streams for

the timely completion of work plan deliverables. They are a clear communicator, a good writer and able

to develop and utilize strong relationships with team members and across functional units in the organization to achieve project objectives. Flexibility and willingness to engage in a wide range of activities, including proactive program and knowledge management and support activities, including repetitive and detail-oriented administrative tasks.

Living Conditions

This position is ideally based in Portland, OR or Washington, D.C. although remote work may be a possibility for other US based locations. Travel may be required up to 20% of the time.