**Location:** Washington DC, Portland, OR or US Remote. Can consider candidates based in UK locations.
Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based (US or UK) is required at the time of application for this position.
**Position Status:** Full-time, Regular, Exempt
#### **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.
#### **Program / Department Summary**
Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps partners with communities as they move from a place of fragility to resilience, meeting urgent needs while addressing root causes –always powered by the belief that a better world is possible. For 40 years and in more than 40 countries, Mercy Corps has helped communities forge new paths to prosperity in the face of disaster, poverty and the impacts of climate change. More so than other humanitarian organizations, Mercy Corps brings a comprehensive approach, partnering with local governments, forward-thinking corporations, social entrepreneurs and people living in fragile communities to develop bold solutions that make lasting change possible. Mercy Corps helped transform nearly 28 million lives last year.
The Office of the COO was recently created to maximize Mercy Corps’ operational efficiency and effectiveness to achieve its vision. This Office will be responsible for operational leadership, which will include process efficiencies and change management. The Office will focus on improving systems and operations with the goals of increased alignment, accountability, and the efficient allocation of
resources as we work to execute the organization's new strategy.
#### **The Position**
The Director of Operations Management will serve as a strategic thought partner to the COO and Strategy Realization Unit on strategy, operational effectiveness, change management, and other elements to maximize our impact as an organization.
In line with the 3As - accountability, alignment, and allocation of resources – this position will help ensure global operations and all departments are strategically aligned, impact and evidence-driven, and appropriately structured to deliver right-fit services and support to the country programs, regional, and headquarters teams.
#### **Essential Responsibilities**
* Streamline, and where necessary, develop procedures and systems that drive efficiencies across the agency.
* Develop/enhance governance structures for program management and prioritizing major cross-functional initiatives in coordination with other departments such as Finance, People, Programs, Legal, MC in Europe, etc. to ensure the sequencing works for country teams implementing these initiatives.
* Be accountable for achieving significant improvement in performance of Operations teams across Mercy Corps. A primary focus of this role will be working closely with various Operations teams in developing appropriate service delivery structures, processes, operating models, and metrics to track progress.
* Work closely with the leadership teams across the organization to develop a robust framework for Global/Regional/Country teams to work efficiently. This will ensure we support our country/regional leaders to optimize the performance and allow their teams to focus on delivering desired outcomes, aligned with P2P.
* Develop a medium to long term roadmap to drive optimization of costs for delivering operational support to programs. Explore opportunities to consolidate work processes, leverage better technology and other creative ideas to improve service delivery.
* Define, develop, and implement scorecards for measuring effectiveness of operational support at both HQ and country program level.
* Work closely with other Operations teams to develop a standard approach for the rollout of new systems, including communications and change management.
* Collaborate with relevant teams to ensure business continuity plans are developed, updated, and useful to the organization.
* Collaborate with management to gather and analyze operational information and share it with relevant leaders and groups so that it is being used by the organization to prioritize and make informed decisions.
* Prepare change management strategies to maximize efficiency and consult with relevant stakeholders to identify and manage anticipated resistance.
* In partnership with other departments ensure that Mercy Corps is identifying, reviewing, and mitigating organizational risks.
* Work closely with ELT members to ensure initiatives are coordinated and sequenced to maximize impact.
* Track implementation progress and reporting of various initiatives.
* Support development of materials for Board presentations.
* Other duties as assigned.
#### **Supervisory Responsibility**
External consultants contracted for this work.
#### **Accountability**
**Reports Directly to:** Chief Operating Officer
**Works Directly with:** Programs Department, Strategy Realization Unit, Finance Department, People Team, Internal Audit, Global Procurement, and Logistics, Facilities, IT, and others
**Coordinates With:** a variety of internal stakeholders engaged in strategic planning or strategy realization
#### **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 field projects.
#### **Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills**
The ideal candidate will be:
* Highly skilled at defining, analyzing, and executing process improvements that require a high level of change management and cross-functional alignment, and comfortable navigating ambiguity with ease.
* Expert at building strong relationships, earning trust across organizational levels, and supporting change management.
* Experienced working at Country/Region and HQ in a humanitarian/development setting to understand the opportunities and challenges across all levels.
* Experience in bringing together a wide range of stakeholders in partnerships to deliver a common goal.
* Demonstrable ability to translate a strategic vision into an actionable and implementable work plan, which can be managed and validated via accountability mechanisms.
* Strong written communications and narrative development to distill complex ideas into easily understood communications.
* Able to communicate effectively and confidently orally and in writing with front-line staff and senior executives.
* Self-starter, with demonstrated ability to operate independently with minimal direction.
* Experienced in a fast-paced, unstructured environment where there has been success in implementing a structure, reliable operations, and continuous improvement.
* Data-driven and always incorporating evidence in decision making.
* Able to demonstrate cultural understanding across regions/countries and sensitivity to a variety of viewpoints.
Specifically seeking:
* Bachelor's degree in public policy, business administration, or a related field.
* Knowledge of, and experience in, change management principles and methodology.
* Proficiency in spreadsheet software such as Excel.
* Ability to influence others and achieve common goals.
* Excellent communication skills and ability to build strong relationships.
* Exceptional ability to solve problems and think analytically.
* Great organizational, project, and time management skills.
* Experience in country and/or regional structures; start-up, scale-up, closeout, or restructuring experience a plus.
* Experience managing large projects and budgets in complex environments
* Experience managing cross-departmental projects a plus
* Familiarity with HQ functions, including accessing necessary support, building effective relationships, and navigating complex organizations
* Experience developing or delivering strategies at a project, country, regional, or organizational level; past responsibility for driving key elements of strategy preferred
**Success Factors
**
The successful candidate will be insightful, results-driven, able to multi-task, and able to work successfully across different departments and teams. This role will require strong analytical and communication skills.
**Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
**
The position is based in Washington, District of Columbia, Portland, Oregon, or a remote location as determined in coordination with the VP of Strategy Realization. Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/short-term assignment to a field posting. Staff is 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.
**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** **Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme****.** 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 Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies 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 US-Based 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.**
#### **Covid-19 Vaccine Policy for US-Based Employees**
Mercy Corps has determined that, in an effort to protect the health, safety, and well-being of all Mercy Corps employees working in the United States, all U.S.-based employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, regardless of prior COVID-19 infection status. This policy is necessary to ensure not only the safety of our workforce, but the ongoing functionality of the organization.
This policy will be revised as needed to comply with federal, state, and local requirements, and to respond to changing guidance from public health authorities.
For new employees this requirement goes into effect **within 10 business days of employment.** Team members that travel are expected to comply with host-country requirements, including vaccinations. Failure to comply may impact your employment. Proof of vaccination or exemption must be provided.