Director I – Global Overseas Operations

JOB DESCRIPTION

NOTE: This is a global remote position; CRS will give preference to candidates who are based in countries where we have existing offices that are compatible with US time zones. CRS does not sponsor visas for remote employees.

About CRS:

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Background:

Global Overseas Operations (OO) is comprised of several global teams and departments who support CRS’ Overseas work. The teams and departments include: The Program Impact & Quality Assurance (PIQA) Department; the Institutional Donor Engagement and Advancement (IDEA) Department; the Global Risk and Compliance (GRC) Unit; the Ethics Unit; the Knowledge Management and Learning Department; the OO Executive unit; and the Health Safety and Security Unit (HSSU). Approximately 220 staff members are part of Global Overseas Operations. This position will provide leadership to these teams on operational issues and will manage operational and administrative staff to support these teams.

Job Summary:

As Operations Director, you will provide overall operations leadership for the Global OO teams to include support in the areas of finance, human resources, supply chain, contracts, procurement, subawards, audit, and other administration needs. This position requires strong demonstrated experience in the areas of operations, finance, procurement and subawards, human resources and program management, as well as knowledge of donor funding mechanisms and compliance requirements. The Operations Director ensures that all of Global OverOps, including global grants, are supported to effectively meet articulated needs, manage risk, and maximize efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. S/he ensures that all global OO teams have corresponding processes and systems in place and that applicable CRS and donor policies are consistently applied. The Operations Director supports activities to assess and strengthen the capacities of partners in these same functions. S/he manages a team of finance and administrative staff, supporting high quality performance and professional development.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

Responsibilities of the Operations Director include but are not limited to the following:

Leadership and Management

• As a member of the Global OO senior management team, work with Global OO and project-level colleagues to coordinate efforts particularly around issues of risk/compliance and efficiency.
• Incorporate operations issues into Global OO and Global Grants program strategic planning processes. Assess and advocate for needed investments in operations capacity.
• Liaise regularly with management from Finance, Finance Planning & Analysis and the Insight team to resolve issues, improve processes, and identify gaps and bests practices.
• Work with Global OO Directors as needed to improve operations capacity, including systems and staffing.
• Support Global Grants and Strategic Change Platforms for operations, procurement, subawards and finance functions.
• In collaboration with Global Grants Senior Management teams, ensure support to start-up of Global Grants activities, ensuring that systems are in place, staff are recruited, and activities are running smoothly.
• Lead and coordinate the review of donor agreements, and the development and relevant updating of all consortium-level or subrecipient agreements during project startup and otherwise as needed for Global Grants and Strategic Change Platforms
• Ensure all other agreement approvals within Global OO follow internal policy.
• Identify inefficiencies in operations within Global OO and steward changes forward.
• Support learning among Global OO finance and operations staff and facilitate efficiencies across the team.

Finance

• Ensure the strategic management of global grant financial resources, including expense financial forecasts.
• Oversee the management of complex budgeting, forecasting, and expenditure monitoring processes.
• Oversee and support work of all relevant finance and operations staff.
• Support development or review of cost applications, budget modification and budgets for global awards as needed.
• Review expense reports and financial statements to ensure budget conformity.
• Support the annual budgeting and planning process across teams for Global OO.
• Provide support and mentoring to budget managers; ensure budget managers are trained in financial systems and support their professional development in financial management.

Grants Management and Donor/Government Compliance

• Conduct periodic checks to ensure that all funding within Global OO complies with CRS and relevant donor standards, and to ensure responsive support to staff, programs, and partners.
• Supervise assessment/vetting of subrecipients and grantees as needed.
• Identify management system weaknesses, establish priorities, provide recommendations for improved systems performance and ensure compliance.
• Oversee compliance with US Law as it pertains to CRS and Global Grants operations, in coordination with HQ Office of Legal Counsel. This includes the Patriot Act, FFATA, U.S. export licensing regulations under OFAC and Commerce programs.
• Oversee compliance with local laws as relevant. Ensure that legal commitments are made in accordance with local law and US law where applicable.

Human Resources

• Help ensure the integrity (accuracy, security) of information in HR information systems and accuracy of labor allocations to budgets and forecasts.
• Support Global Grants COPs and Strategic Change Platform leads ensure that projects and platforms are adequately staffed to meet the needs of the program.
• Support recruitment for Global Grants and other units as needed, to ensure diverse and broad candidate pools per policy and industry best practices.
• Supervise Global OO financial and operational staff and ensure appropriate performance management and ongoing career development for those staff.

Partner Capacity Strengthening for Global Grants and Subaward Management

• Lead or supervise pre-award partner capacity assessment process and provide guidance on next steps and capacity improvement plans.
• Support relevant CRS staff to help partners identify and resolve operations issues, and to continually improve quality including the development of internal controls, mechanisms for financial forecasts, payment and reporting.
• Liaise with OGC as needed for unique sub-awarding and agreement situations pertinent to Global Grants and international subrecipients.
• Suggest and champion improvements to subaward policies to better serve Global Grants and international subrecipients while managing risk to CRS.

Procurement and Supply Chain

• Establish, document and supervise a consistent and compliant procurement and purchasing process, including consultancies, across departments and units.
• Work with requesters as needed to ensure efficiency and value-for-money for all Global OO and Global Grants procurements including consultancy agreements.
• Liaise regularly with management from Global Supply Chain / Procurement team to resolve issues, improve processes and identify gaps in procurement practice.
• Advise and train Global OO teams on procurement / contracting best practices.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of procurement and general office administration/management issues
• Understanding of CRS financial and administrative systems, policies, and procedures a plus
• Ability to work in a complex environment and to lead and work with multi-cultural teams
• Strong communications and analytical abilities.
• Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills.
• Desire and proven ability to work in a collaborative, proactive, and multicultural team environment, but able to work independently.
• Ability to maintain strong customer service.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s Degree in International Development, International Relations or a relevant technical area.
• At least 7 years’ management experience in a non-profit, development, and/or humanitarian organization, with at least two years of this in a developing country outside the candidate’s country of origin.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience successfully managing large, complex awards preferably from USG donors, and knowledge of relevant regulations.
• Experience in the development and monitoring of complex budgets for large initiatives.
• Experience in working with partners in strengthening finance and administration capacity.

Required Languages – Fluency in written and spoken English required; ability to work effectively in French or Spanish a plus.

Travel– International and domestic travel (10-20%)

Supervisory Responsibilities: The Operations Director will directly supervise a Finance Manager and Financial Analyst responsible for global grants, a Financial Analyst responsible for HQ OO, and four Administrative Assistants. The Director also will provide oversight and support to global grants project level operations staff.

Key Working Relationships: Internal: Global OO Directors,Global Grants staff, project start-up teams; Overseas Finance; Domestic Finance; Procurement/Supply Chain; HQ Human Resources; Global Knowledge Information Management; Office of General Counsel; Country Representatives and Heads of Operations; Regional Offices (particularly the DRD-Operations) External: Consortium members, partners, donors, local Government, and auditors

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer