Turkey: Finance and Compliance Director - North Syria

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PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:**
As Mercy Corps seeks to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression around the world we recognize that instances of sudden change within a country or region, are rare moments of opportunity. Mercy Corps is interested in strengthening presence for early as well as longer term programming for Syrians, including those who have been displaced, and will be present initially in the north, with expansion of programming to other regions over time. It is imperative that Mercy Corps present itself as a key and reliable partner with various donors, INGOs, government authorities and civil society actors, to be part of the process of positive change. Mercy Corps, with its global experience in working in countries undergoing major transitions, will be a key contributor in the process, bringing knowledge, expertise and strong management skills to position the agency as a partner of choice for progressive change in Syria, as well as in response to refugee and vulnerable populations in Turkey. Syria is currently in the midst a major humanitarian crisis impacting the entire country as well as a number of the neighboring countries. The main thrust of the work of Mercy Corps along with its national and international partners for the foreseeable future will be primarily focused on meeting urgent war-related humanitarian needs across the country. The heightened insecurity and continuous acts of violence and war make the humanitarian response not only more challenging, but increasingly complicated.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
The Finance and Compliance Director leads the Finance Department and as such, is responsible for all aspects of financial management of the Mercy Corps North Syria Program (and the Turkey Program until its separation from the North Syria Program), in Gaziantep, Turkey, working collaboratively to ensure compliance with Mercy Corps internal policies and procedures as well as donor regulations. S/he works under the direction of the North Syria Director, and is responsible for all financial functions in the country, including accounting, payments and banking, payroll, budgeting, internal control, financial reporting and grant financial management and compliance. The Finance and Compliance Director in support of the Program Department, provides timely reports and assistance to the North Syria Director and the Program team to ensure that financial resources are used efficiently and effectively. The Finance and Compliance Director has supervisory responsibility for the team under his/her management and manages a diverse portfolio of approximately USD 80 million with a number of international and national staff working at multiple locations.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Strategy and Vision
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment of empowerment.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to country-wide strategy development.

Representation
• Interface with the donor representatives to convey information about programs as appropriate.
• Communicate with our partner, as well as sub-grantees, to verify their systems and that they understand and follow all appropriate procedures and archiving.
• Participate in sharing best practices with NGOs and governmental agencies.

Team Management
• Create a sustainable work environment of mutual respect that attracts motivated, skilled and effective team members and enables them individually and collectively to strive to achieve excellence.
• Supervise and lead a diverse team of direct and indirect reports in field offices.
• Contribute to country team-building efforts; build constructive internal relationships; help team members identify problem solving options and ensure integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

Operations – Accounting and Compliance
• Set up country finance systems and procedures based on the Mercy Corps Field Finance Manual and local laws
• Establish finance policies in accordance with Mercy Corps and donor rules and regulation and disseminate amongst team members.
• Maintain banking relations and plan and monitor country cash flow requirements to ensure the smooth implementation of Mercy Corps programs.
• Ensure timely and accurate payment of staff payroll
• Provide monthly standard accounting submissions to Mercy Corps Headquarters, including general ledger files, account reconciliations, required subgrantee reporting, as well as other financial information in a timely and accurate manner.
• Support the program team in subgrant and partner managements regarding financial matters
• Orient and train all new team members on financial policies and systems

Operations – Budget Monitoring and Reporting
• Provide monthly management reports and Budget Pipeline analysis to the North Syria Director and program teams, including expenditures by award/project, subgrantee reporting and other financial information, in a timely and accurate manner.
• Develop budgets for new proposal development, and develop and implement grant budgeting and forecasting systems with Program Managers.

Operations – Internal Control / Systems Improvement (this function may be split in the future)
• Ensure effective, transparent use of financial resources in compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures.
• Maintain appropriate local insurance coverage in coordination with the Admin. Department, to protect Mercy Corps.
• Support actively the Program team and other departments in designing new systems and tools before implementation of the activities.
• Ensure proper setup and monitoring of internal controls in all departments; and lead internal and external audits
• Support all departments in improving systems, in particular regarding fraud prevention and proper compliance.

Operations – Incident Monitoring (this function may be split in the future)
• Support the team in putting in place incident report systems and mitigation measures, including tracking, monitoring and reporting, in accordance with internal policies and donors’ requirements.
• Support the team in assessing risks and define proper mitigation measures.

Accountability: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Organizational Learning: As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve - we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Finance and Compliance team members
ACCOUNTABILITY
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: North Syria Director
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: HQ Regional Finance Officer (with authority for technical financial matters); members of Operations, Program, Security, HR, TSU team members, and others.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
• An advanced degree in nonprofit administration/management, finance, or a related business field is required..
• 5- 7 years progressive financial management experience, including supervisory experience required.
• 5 years’ experience in grants management as well as an understanding of USAID, DFID and OFDA regulations with international NGO/PVO field office experience.
• Demonstrated experience and skill with budget preparation and analysis, financial reporting preparation and presentation and the proven ability to translate technical financial data into informative reports.
• Strong accounting skills and experience, including management of the general ledger, journal entries, payroll, payables and balance sheet.
• Prior management experience and strong organizational skills.
• Prior experience of sub-grantee management
• Advanced computer skills in MS Office programs, particularly Excel.
• Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational and prioritization skills.
• Strong oral and written English skills required. Proficiency in Arabic and/or Turkish is preferred.
• Experience with remote management preferred.
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
• Ability to deploy quickly.
• Previous experience in insecure environments, and experience in the Middle East preferred.

SUCCESS FACTORS:
The successful candidate will have an ability to interact effectively across international and national program and finance teams successfully, both in a managerial as well as training capacity. S/he will be able to support programmatic objectives with timely and meaningful financial information, have a demonstrated ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing program activities. An impeccable professional standard of finance and procurement ethics and the willingness and ability to enforce compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures is essential. The Finance and Compliance Manager must be willing to travel regularly to Mercy Corps field offices and project sites. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

LIVING CONDITIONS:
The Finance and Compliance Director is based in Gaziantep, Turkey. The location will be unaccompanied. An apartment is provided and there is access to good medical services. This position requires (20% of time) of travel by vehicle to field offices and partner agencies in some less secure environments.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Apply here: https://app.jobvite.com/j?cj=omhb3fwB&s=ReliefWeb