Sta - Senior Program Officer - Uk or The Hague - London, United Kingdom - Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Location:
Edinburgh, London or The Hague

Position Status:
Full-time, Temporary

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

Mercy Corps implements a variety of programming throughout the Middle East in response to the diverse humanitarian and long-term development challenges of the region.

Mercy Corps has ongoing programs in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine.

The Position

The Senior Program Officer (SPO) supports strategic direction, vision and leadership to ensure impactful, high-quality programming in the Middle East.

The SPO works with the Regional Team and reports to the DRD.

The SPO is the headquarters (HQ) focal point for regional and country level strategic plan processes, regional and country structures and transitions updates and progress on program implementation and impact.

The SPO leads, manages, and mentors a team of Program Officers (POs) and an Assistant Program Officer (APO), ensuring quality work, and instilling a cohesive team dynamic.

The SPO supports country teams in multiple aspects of their programs and plays a key role in connecting the field to HQ resources and represents country/regional interests internally with various HQ teams, as well as with external stakeholders.

The SPO has the ultimate responsibility for overall monitoring of grants/programs for compliance with external (donor) requirements, and adherence to Mercy Corps' internal policies and procedures.

Essential Responsibilities
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT & GRANT ADMINISTRATION

Support coverage for a minimum of one country in the portfolio; provide coverage/surge support for leave and high volume periods.
Supervise ongoing monitoring of programs, including ensuring regular checkins with country teams on contractual, legal and financial requirements (such as cofinancing/match, BvA, etc.);
Actively provide assessment of risk associated with program implementation; mitigation measures and problem solving based on patterns of knowledge across portfolios;
Ensure timely sign off and submission of proposals, as well as both narrative and financial reports, and follow up with donors as necessary;
Ensure Mercy Corps knowledge management systems (e.g. Grant Award Information Tracker) are up to date and accurate.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Identify and highlight promising funding opportunities for country programs and regional initiatives, in line with country strategies;
Identify contractual risk and develop mitigation strategies;
Ensure that proposals are developed in accordance with defined internal processes;
Ensure that lessons learned are incorporated into new programme design;
Oversee submission of proposals and concept notes to donors, and serve as the focal point during any negotiations with donor HQ representatives.

COORDINATION AND REPRESENTATION

Coordinate the flow of information between country programs, the regional management team, relevant HQ departments and donors;
Build and maintain strong working relationships with country offices, resolving issues and maintaining regular contact regarding program implementation, grant regulations, training/ support needs and incident tracking;
Ensure field teams are aware of relevant Mercy Corps resources/tools/best practices
Attend donor meetings on behalf of country programs and/or the region to represent strategies.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

Responsible for managing overall desk support to the region;
Develop individual and/or team work plans or other internal management tools for the efficient use of desk team resources and time; set standards and priorities for the team;
Check the quality and timeliness of all work of the regional desk team at HQ;
Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

OTHER

Support the recruitment, deployment and onboarding process for any Mercy Corps new hires, as needed;
Any other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility
2-3 Programme Officers and 1 Assistant Programme Officer

Accountability

Reports Directly To:
Deputy Regional Director, Middle East

Works Directly With:

ME Regional team, country programme teams, Country Directors, Directors of Programmes, MCE Programmes team, Finance, Compliance, Communications, Policy and Advocacy, New Initiatives, Programme Accountability and Quality, Strategic Partnership Team.

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.

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