Compliance Advisor - Edinburgh, United Kingdom - Mercy Corps

Description

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.

Mercy Corps in Europe has grown both in terms of the volume of activity and its complexity. With offices in Edinburgh, London and The Hague, we now attract over £120m in income annually, and employ more than 120 domestic and internationally located team members. The breadth and impact of our programmes makes Mercy Corps a unique and truly rewarding place to work. Our teams are proud of what we achieve and we are always looking for talented individuals who share our passion and commitment. Mercy Corps Europe (MCE), Mercy Corps Netherlands (MCNL) and Mercy Corps Global (MCG) operate as one global organization, sharing the same mission, vision, core values and charitable objectives, as well as operational resources for the support and implementation of programme activities.

The Position

We are looking for a technically skilled Compliance Advisor to join our European team supporting with donor compliance. The role will sit within the European Compliance, Governance and Risk team, working alongside the US based Compliance and Legal teams to ensure that the agency fulfils its responsibility to donors, the NGO community, implementing partners and other stakeholders, and is in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Each Compliance Advisor provides technical advice, support and training to their assigned countries/regions and in addition has responsibility for assigned compliance focus areas and related projects.

The Compliance Advisor plays a vital role in the organisation by:

●Supporting programmes and finance teams in managing organisational and donor compliance of programmes through our European headquarters;

●Providing compliance advice and guidance to stakeholders based in over 40 countries worldwide to be compliant with donor rules and requirements and relevant Mercy Corps policies and procedures;

●Providing training support to teams in relation to donors and subaward compliance;

●Communicating closely and working collaboratively with a variety of other Headquarters departments and colleagues to ensure that, whenever possible, approaches are globally aligned.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious legal or compliance professional who is interested in a career in the humanitarian and development sector. You will be joining the growing European entity of a leading global agency, helping people in some of the world's toughest places turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress.

Essential Responsibilities

DONOR COMPLIANCE (for an assigned portfolio to be confirmed)

●Lead role on UN and World Bank Awards transition - part of cross organisation working group to support with UN and World Bank Awards, including developing guidance, tools, templates and training materials as need be

●Headquarters Managed Awards - compliance focal point for awards which are managed out of Headquarters (variety of potential donors)

●Provide relevant compliance and subaward support to assigned portfolio (to be determined)

●Review donor agreements, including highlighting main compliance issues and advising on points to negotiate with donor representatives.

●Provide compliance advice to ensure adherence to donor grant rules and regulations, including acting as the primary compliance 'help desk' function for European headquarters for assigned portfolio of countries, supporting programmes, finance, technical and colleagues in the countries and regions where we implement programmes as required. Escalate issues as needed to colleagues.

●Contribute to tracking and documentation of recurring donor compliance risks and issues.

●Support with exceptions requests as required.

●Support donor communication, including responses to Donor Due Diligence and/or donor reports and communications.

●Provide advice to the Finance team in relation to donor-led audits as requested, including contractual adviceand negotiating contested findings where appropriate.

●Support the Global Ethics team with donor notifications and reporting of fraud and corruption incidents as per internal protocols.

●Participate in Complex Boards and provide enhanced compliance training and support for complex programmes, as may be required.

SUBAWARD COMPLIANCE (for assigned portfolio)

●Advise the Programme, Finance and Country teams on the usage and implications of partnering mechanisms (including Subawards) in support of programme implementation. Provide guidance on the appropriate use of subawards and other types of agreements such as consortium agreements and/or service contracts.

●Ensure the completion of Mercy Corps' due diligence and pre-award compliance checks for subawards in accordance with established policies and procedures.

●In coordination with country and headquarters team members, draft and negotiate subaward agreements and amendments based on policies and procedures. Ensure subaward agreements flow down all relevant Mercy Corps' and prime donor requirements.

●Develop and maintain an effective and efficient process for ensuring subawards are appropriately reviewed, approved and signed by authorised parties, including implementing partners.

●With review and input from other stakeholders, develop and maintain subaward and amendment templates, as well as other required agreements (such as consortium agreements, MOUs), for use with UN awards and other donors as necessary.

TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES

●Create, maintain and refresh a suite of donor compliance guidance and internal tools and templates to continue to support Mercy Corps' compliance, for example researching and developing donor requirements and issuingreference guides. Lead for UN donors.

●Develop and manage compliance resources, including comprehensive best practice guidance and training materials on UN donors and other donors may be required.

●Lead the delivery of compliance training or other start-up activities for European-funded programmes in assigned portfolio.

●Attend training, conferences and/or programs as assigned, including donors' rules and regulations training, periodic webinars, and regional conferences.

●As required, assist with the development and maintenance of policies and procedures related to compliance and risk.

●Other tasks as may be required

Supervisory Responsibility

None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Europe Senior Director of Compliance, Governance and Risk

Works Directly With: Compliance team, Programmes, Finance, Country and Regional colleagues, Mercy Corps Global Grants and Contracts Support Unit

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 programmes.

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills

●Educated to Bachelors level, ideally in Law, International Relations or Business or a related subject, or equivalent experience.

●Ideally 3+ years of experience in fast-paced work environments, with some exposure to working in a multinational organisation.

●Experience in a legal, compliance and/or grants management role (or similar).

●Experience of identifying compliance issues and providing guidance and or developing toolsto improve compliance.

●Experience managing or working with partnerships and/or grants is highly desirable.

●Experience designing and/or delivering training is a plus

●Able to conduct research. Some experience in drafting legal agreements would be beneficial.

●Excellent written and spoken English.

●French or Spanish language skills are considered a strong advantage

Success Factors

●Detail-oriented multi-tasker, with excellent organisation skills.

●Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal), able to work successfully in a multinational, multicultural organisation.

●Able to build and maintain effective internal and external relationships.

●Skilled in anticipating and solving problems, involving others as needed.

●Able to cope with changing priorities, often at short notice, and work well under pressure.

●High levels of motivation and professionalism; proactive attitude.

●An exposure to and clear interest in international development issues is important, as is an appreciation of the complex challenges faced by teams operating in overseas environments.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in one of our European headquarters locations and may require up to 20% national or international travel (although typically less than that), sometimes on short notice to areas with limited access to medical facilities and amenities.

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. 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 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 a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential 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.