Turkey: Turkey - Supply Chain Data Intern (220182-927)

INTERNSHIP TITLE: SUPPLY CHAIN DATA INTERN

INTERN WORKSITE LOCATION: Gaziantep, Turkey

DATES OF INTERNSHIP: April 15th and July 1st (Flexible)

LENGTH OF INTERNSHIP: 3 months, extendable.

FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR THE INTERNSHIP:

• Mercy Corps responsibilities

For the duration of this internship assignment the intern will receive:

• Workstation and laptop
• Accommodation
• Visa
• Travel expenses to and from Turkey
• In-country travel expenses (for business-related travel)
• ISOS emergency med-evacuation

• In addition, in order to help the intern offset part of her/his living expenses, a per diem will be paid by Mercy Corps. The amount of the local per diem is determined by Mercy Corps and may change without notice. As of February 2016, the local per diem for Gaziantep was set at 100 TRY per day.

• Intern responsibilities

Intern will remain responsible for all other expenses including:

• Medical coverage
• Other living expenses
• All other costs associated with the internship

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The context

As the war in Syria enters its fifth year with more than 7.6 million people displaced and front-lines ever more complex with bombing and shelling affecting civilians on a daily basis, Mercy Corps' commitment to maintain life-sustaining assistance to IDPs and the most vulnerable is ever more critical. In addition, since early 2015 the number of beneficiaries who rely completely on our food assistance has increased every month, especially in partially besieged and front-line communities. For those extremely vulnerable communities, regular food deliveries determine whether they can remain in Syria or must join the increasing flow of refugees arriving in Turkey and onward to Europe. In addition, Mercy Corps has built strong response programs in Turkey to address the growing needs of the 2+ million refugees that sought safe harbor in Turkey. Our programs in Turkey seek to increase the access of refugees to services (health, education, legal, ) as well as providing the most vulnerable of them with immediate necessities (blankets, ).

The department

The intern will be part of Mercy Corps Turkey - North Syria (T-NS) Procurement Department and will report directly to the Procurement Manager. The intern will join a team of twenty procurement professionals working across three units (Syria procurement, Turkey procurement, Tenders). The team is responsible for processing over 100 Purchase Requests a month for a total value of $60 million per year. Mercy Corps T-NS's procurement is also marked by its wide variety. A 35-foot boat, thousands of tons of flours, two robots, hundreds of hours of language classes for refugees: these are but a few examples of what we purchased this year.

The mission

In 2015, the Mercy Corps T-NS Procurement department rolled out Podio cloud database as its Procurement Information Management System (PIMS). While the roll-out was a success, the data collected has a lot of potential that has so far remained largely untapped -this is where the intern comes in.

• Through one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions, the intern will assess the business needs of Mercy Corps T-NS related to procurement and financial data.
• The intern will perform a data integrity assessment based on real-time data and will evaluate the potential of the existing data;
• The intern will build dynamic reports and metrics that will inform the management's decisions.
• The intern will make recommendations on what other data points should be collected and generally how to improve data robustness.

In the undertaking of the intern's mission, the intern must always strive for maximum impact and sustainability: any new system put forward by the intern should be built such that it can be maintained by the permanent team, long after the end of the internship.

Another component of the intern's role will be to increase the capacity of the team related to Excel and data management in general. The intern will build and administer a training program for the team.

Depending on the intern's personal skills and interests, the intern will also have the opportunity to gain experience in other areas of procurement such as tender facilitation, market surveys and analysis, compliance and anti-fraud practices.

DELIVERABLES:

• Report 1: Mercy Corps T-NS procurement related business data-needs
• Report 2: Overview of Mercy Corps T-NS current data assets with recommendations for improvement
• Dynamic reports and metrics to assist senior management in decision making
• Training syllabus and training material for "Data in Procurement" module
• 20 hours of training for the procurement team

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Applying your data skills to a real-world problem and saving lives
• Analyzing the data needs of a business unit and proposing new metrics
• Streamlining data integrity
• Building data systems that are both resilient and flexible
• Generating business intelligence from an existing data set
• Gaining knowledge of Citrix's Podio cloud database platform
• Practicing your cross-cultural skills in a professional environment
• Improving your training and competency-transfer skills

IDEAL CANDIDATE SHOULD POSSESS THE FOLLOWING QUALIFICATIONS:

Education

Bachelor or Masters degree in Data Analytics, Statistics, Mathematics, Finance, Supply Chain/Operations Management or any other relevant field.

Technical skills

Extensive knowledge of Microsoft Excel a must (Visual Basic optional)

Knowledge of procurement and supply chain principles a strong asset

An understanding of databases and their architecture would be a plus

Excellent spoken and written English. Arabic and/or Turkish will be preferred but not required.

Interpersonal skills

Empathy

Ability to communicate a vision and convince others

Able to integrate smoothly and rapidly into a young and culturally diverse team

LIVING CONDITIONS: With over 1.5 million people, Gaziantep is a large and modern city. Life is comfortable and the security restrictions are few. Restaurants, bars, cinemas, bowling alleys are available but in limited supply. You will be housed in a hotel or an apartment. You may share an apartment with other coworkers.

Mercy Corps interns and volunteers represent the agency both during and outside of work hours and 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.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Candidates interested in this internship should submit a resume and a statement of interest. In your statement, you are encouraged to discuss any experiences relevant to the projects outlined. You may wish to describe your career interests (specifically as they relate to policy and advocacy, humanitarian aid, or development) and discuss your previous work and educational experiences demonstrating these interests. Your application will be reviewed by the hiring team within 3 weeks of submission and shortlisted candidates will be contacted directly for interviews. All applicants will receive notification once a decision has been made.

Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=aW50ZXJuc2hpcC42OTYxMi4zODMwQG1lcmN5Y29ycHMuYXBsaXRyYWsuY29t