Operations Manager – Syria (Based in Amman)

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.

The Program / Department / Team

Since 2012 the Mercy Corps Syria program provides emergency, life-saving programming to displaced and besieged populations across the country through three operational hubs. Mercy Corps’ continues to position itself as the implementing partner of choice for Emergency relief programming, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, Shelter and Livelihood programming. Furthermore, Mercy Corps operates with a wide network of local implementing partners to advise, support, and coach targeted Syrian civil society organizations to better and more efficiently serve conflict-affected communities.

The Operations department is committed to implementing and maintaining the highest standards of efficiency and integrity in the logistics, administration and procurement of goods and services across the Syria country program and across three operational hubs, all while maintaining compliance with Mercy Corps’ and donor policies, procedures, regulations and specifications.

The Position

Based in Amman and reporting to the Director of Operations, the Operations Manager, Procurement & Operational Strategy is expected to contribute to organizational strategic thinking, planning, and overall coordination efforts, in order to enable excellence in all operations functions across hubs. The Operations Manager shall also oversee, both directly and indirectly, the procurement portfolio for the full Syria program, across multiple hubs and in different capacities. Working with in-country resources and with technical assistance from the Global Procurement and Logistics units, shall be a key actor in ensuring that the Syria country program is at the forefront of the Syria response as a data-driven, forward-thinking and innovative operational hub, with an eye toward creating plurality and innovation in the contracting of suppliers and service providers. The Operations Manager, Procurement & Operational Strategy will be hands-on with all operational hubs across the response and will feed directly into Mercy Corps’ best practices in procurement, logistics, facilities and office management functions while seeking synergies across operational hubs and ensuring compliance in adherence to Mercy Corps global policies and protocols.

Essential Responsibilities

PROCUREMENT OVERSIGHT

• Understand MC procurement policies and formats. Provide training to staff on these policies, while also developing new protocol under Modified Procurement Procedures, where necessary;
• Ensure the active participation and measurable outputs by Program and Operational staff as part of quarterly procurement planning exercises and meetings;
• Ensure that the procurement filing system is in place and in accordance with the Procurement filing procedures in both the Mercy Corps Field Procurement Policies and Procedures as well as best-practices in the MC Syria program context;
• Coordinate with the Finance Department to ensure that payments to vendors are made on-time and without any unnecessary strain on the financial systems of MC; and
• Develop capacity development strategies for all Procurement staff, both under direct and indirect supervision, planning toward the strengths of individuals while simultaneously looking to further develop skillsets with an eye toward career growth.

OPERATIONS OVERSIGHT

• Collaborate and Support Hub Operations leads to ensure timely, accurate processing and documentation of procurements and use of Mercy Corps’ Field Policies and Procedures for Procurement, Inventory, Assets and Fleet Management practices;
• Drive operational excellence to achieve optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness in all functions and operations of each field office;
• Ensure strong communication and collaboration lines are maintained with Hub Leads, and Syria Country Office management;
• Deploy and maintain management information system tools that effectively captures performance data from all hubs and field offices. Work with hub Operations Managers to proactively identify, analyze and respond to trends either through reinforcement or corrective action;
• Ensure that compliance monitoring processes are developed and effectively implemented;
• Liaise with finance to ensure compliance and payment schedules; maintain service contracts across hubs; and
• Ensure proactive involvement of key processes with the Financial department actors, including budget versus actual report input and necessary information for operational budget accuracy.

STRATEGY & ANALYTICS DEVELOPMENT

• Build, develop and maintain data models, reporting systems, data automation systems, dashboards and performance metrics support that support key operational decisions;
• With the Director of Operations, support the design and building of technical processes to address operational issues and risk areas within the Syrian response context;
• Collaborate with hub Operations Leads to ensure accuracy of data and deliverables of Procurement, Logistics and Administrative staff with policies and processes; and
• With the Director of Operations and Global GPL resources, ensure that quality controls and departmental standards to ensure quality standards, organizational expectations, and donor and institutional requirements.

RISK MANAGEMENT

• With the Director of Operations, support departmental risk identification and mitigation actions which align with organizational and regional risk-management initiatives;
• Support Hub Operations Managers on risk management and mitigation;
• Provide input including operational risk analysis and recommendations to the Directors of Operations and Finance related to operations spending and effectiveness of in-country reporting and planning systems;

COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Work with finance compliance to mitigate fraud, conflict of interest and legal ramifications of Mercy Corps activities;
• Assure effective monitoring of Mercy Corps systems and processes in operational hubs by ensuring that remote management plans are resilient and contextually appropriate; and
• Play an active role in supporting Operations departments in preparing internal and external audits, ensuring that recommendations related to operations are followed and all necessary measures to address audit findings are taken.

REPRESENTATION

• Interface with relevant government authorities responsible for International NGO’s;
• Supporting hub Operations Leads in maintaining productive relationships with all stakeholders, vendors, suppliers, etc.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission; and
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility

Procurement Coordinator – MSS/NWS, Procurement Coordinator – NES, Operations Coordinator – NWS.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Operations

Works Directly With: Support Service Director, MSS/NWS Procurement teams, NES Procurement Teams, Hub Level Operations Leads, Area Directors, PAQ Department, Finance Department.

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 Qualification & Transferable Skills

● Degree in relevant business field is desirable;

● A minimum of 4-5 years’ field experience setting up and managing administration, procurement and logistics with humanitarian NGOs with supervisory responsibilities;

● Demonstrated understanding of supporting complex programing in challenging environments;

● Demonstrated experience with data management, mining, workflow and analytical tools;

● Working knowledge of data mining principles: predictive analytics, mapping, collecting data from multiple data systems on premises;

● Experience in ERP or Procurement Management System is desired.

● Demonstrated attention to detail, following procedures, meeting deadlines and problem-solving independently and cooperatively;

● Strong organizational skills; ability to interact effectively with international and national personnel.

● Excellent oral and written English skills; Fluency in Arabic is desirable.

● A demonstrated ability to multi-task and process information into action as to not delay program activities.

Success Factors

The successful Operations Manager, Procurement & Operational Strategy will be good at problem-solving and have the ability to work out methods to deliver successful programs while demonstrating excellent stewardship of donor funds and compliance with Mercy Corps and donor regulations. The individual will maintain strong cooperative relationships with other departments and interact effectively with international and national personnel both in a managerial as well as training capacity while demonstrating the ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing program activities. The individual will be able to work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment and be willing to travel regularly to other offices. 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 / Environmental Conditions

This is an accompanied position based in Amman, Jordan with an estimated 40% travel required to more austere locations in North East Syria and other Mercy Corps offices.

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.