Turkey: Program and Strategy Advisor - Turkey

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.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: Mercy Corps is an international NGO operational with emergency and life-sustaining activities in North Syria since 2012. Mercy Corps currently operates with multiple institutional donors and a rigid, reporting regime.

The Program and Strategy Advisor will support the Director of Programs in building and administering the country program's portfolio of project grants. This includes coordinating the program and technical unit teams for overall performance and implementation at agency and donor standard. S/he will support the implementation of strategy planning, the design of new programs and proposals; internal and external reporting; information management, accountability and MEL. This will require oversight of the project management processes. He/she will supervise the Grants Officer, and will work collaboratively with the Sector Managers, Technical Advisors, Operations Director, Finance Director, and Finance Manager among others.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Program Strategy and Development:

• Support the conceptualization and design of cost effective, innovative and high quality programs, ensuring relevance to stakeholders and agency strategy. Ensures the country and program strategies are reflected in program design and implementation.
• IIs the primary interface with Mercy Corps headquarters and the regional office to stay abreast of donor strategic priorities, specific requirements and deadlines.
• Coordinate the development of high quality concept notes and proposals and act as the focal point of the entire process and ensure timely submission of proposals. This includes coordinating closely with Mercy Corps technical, finance and operational staff, as well as headquarters and regional Technical Support Unit to facilitate input, and ensuring donor compliance.
• Serve as the lead writer of concept notes and proposals.
• Coordinate and oversee the proposal development calendars and plans in country. Ensure deadlines, donor priorities and requirements are communicated and understood by the team.
• Ensure proposals and reports are compliant with donor requirements and compile all necessary documents.
• Support the Director of Programs, Finance Director, Operations Director and Sector Managers on the development of program budgets; make sure the project narrative is consistent with proposed costs.
• Support the overall strategic and annual planning.

Program Quality and Implementation Support:

• Support the creation of an evidence-based learning culture through consistent analysis of lessons learned and best practices to encourage adaptive management.
• Identify strategies and build/strengthen systems, processes and tools to facilitate greater efficiency between program/MEL, finance and operations teams, including information sharing internally and externally.
• Actively support improvements to program quality, including M&E, beneficiary communication, partnership, and mainstreaming of gender, protection and youth centered approaches.
• Ensure full compliance with PM@MC minimum standards for program management. Conduct regular audits of adherence to PM@MC.
• Oversight of high-level project management tools including: funding trackers, grant trackers, dashboards, reporting templates and reporting calendars; and ensure the team is aware of these timelines.
• Lead monthly coordination meetings with finance teams, program managers and technical units on:
  • Financial projections
  • Ensure of compliance guideline
  • Budget vs. Actual meetings

Key, Program indicators and projections

• Work with grants holders and Sector Managers to ensure proper tracking for various grants.
• Support the roll out and operation of TOLA (an internally built, Open Source, data management software solution), including linking to organizational level program management processes.

Program Reporting:

• Work with the Director of Programs, Sector Managers and Finance to track project spending, with particular attention to program budget lines. In collaboration with Finance, advise on solutions for under/over-spending; assist programs and operations teams as necessary.
• Responsible for the coordination of donor reports. All reports should be of high quality, submitted on time, and adhere to donor and Mercy Corps standards before submission.
• Oversight of the Reporting Officer and ensure the hard and soft filing system for North Syria grants.

Organizational Learning

As part of Mercy Corps' agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

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.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Grants and Reporting Officer

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Director of Programs

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Program Managers, Coordination Unit, HQ-based Program Operations, Finance, and TSU staff

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• BA degree in relevant field; MA preferred
• 5+ years of experience related to humanitarian or developmental work with demonstrated strengths in grant management; preferred strengths include donor reporting, communications, grants coordination, and compliance
• Demonstrated success with program development and design, including conceptualizing and articulating programming ideas in concept notes and proposals, and knowledge of major institutional donors regulations
• Demonstrated experience with coordinating funding proposals and progress reports from key institutional donors (USAID, DFID, ECHO, EC).
• Experience from complex and complicated settings with time sensitive deliverables in unstable environments
• Ability to deal with competing priorities
• Excellent oral and written communications skills and demonstrated ability to produce and edit documents under deadline pressure
• Working knowledge of budget development and management
• Experience working in a multi-cultural and high-stress setting
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving.
• Ability to effectively represent Mercy Corps and its interests to key stakeholders including host governments, and national and international NGOs.
• Excellent oral and written English skills required; proficiency Arabic is a plus
• Internationally recognized qualification in project or program management or a commitment to obtain the qualification in the early months of work.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful candidate will combine exceptional organizational abilities, writing skills and experience in maintaining grants. S/he will have an outstanding ability to track and design programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the area. S/he will have previous experience in working in large-scale emergency programs in insecure and conflict contexts. S/he will also have proven experience with cross-cultural team and capacity building, individual staff development and strong mentoring skills. The successful candidate will be able to provide technical oversight to large relief programs in an austere environment; be focused on capacity building of national staff; have strong program support skills, good information management skills and maintain a sense of humor.

LIVING /ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

The position will be based in Gaziantep with frequent traveling to locations within Turkey as required for coordination and project management purposes. This post is non-accompanied with R&R but no hardship. Personnel in this location are expected to follow all security protocols. Good medical services are available. City electricity is available and running water is reliable also. Internet connectivity and communication is reliable in most locations. In general, road conditions in Turkey are good.

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.

PI95228939

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