Temporary Senior Contracts Manager – 6 months – UK or Netherlands

  • Contractor
  • London or Edinburgh, Netherlands
  • TBD USD / Year
  • Mercy Corps profile




  • Job applications may no longer being accepted for this opportunity.


Mercy Corps

LOCATION: EDINBURGH, LONDON, UK,

**POSITION STATUS: FULL-TIME, TEMPORARY 6 MONTHS DURATION

SALARY: EDINBURGH: CIRCA 45K-50K; LONDON: CIRCA 52-58K

APPLY WITH CV AND COVER LETTER BY APRIL 3RD

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE THE RIGHT TO WORK IN THE UK AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT.
**

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.

Mercy Corps Europe (MCE) has grown rapidly both in terms of the volume of activity and its complexity. With offices in Edinburgh, London and Geneva, we now attract over £80m in income, and employ around 100 domestic and expatriate field team members. The breadth and impact of our programmes makes Mercy Corps a unique and truly rewarding place to work. Our teams are proud of what we achieve in the field and we are always looking for talented individuals who share our passion and commitment.

The Program / Department / Team

Mercy Corps Europe has adopted an ambitious resource mobilisation strategy that seeks to build more strategic partnerships with bilateral and multilateral donor agencies to increase our income, influence, and programmatic impact. MCE’s revenue now stands at around £80m – a portfolio which has doubled in size over the past four years.

The Senior Contracts Manager (SCM) sits within the Strategic Partnerships team, which is focused on strengthening and extending bilateral relationships with key governments and institutions. The SCM will also work seamlessly with the global New Initiatives (NI) team, which is responsible for supporting all Mercy Corps programme development of high strategic value.

The Position

The SCM will support strategic programme development efforts in response to commercial contract opportunities tendered by European institutional donors. Using a risk-based approach, the SCM will engage across the following main areas:

  1. Strategic pre-positioning: ensuring regional and country teams track opportunities and are well-positioned to pursue them where appropriate
  2. Leading and/or supporting bid development: acting as a ‘technical advisor’ to bridge the knowledge gap between grant and contract work, and taking on more substanative roles where appropriate
  3. Strategic oversight of, and support to, Contract Delivery: from mobilisation and inception, through to implementation and close-out.
  4. Leading on Donor and Partner Relationships: both for specific opportunities but also to develop a strong network within the contracts landscape

He/she will help enhance agency competitiveness by working with a range or teams, from Finance and Compliance to New Initiatives and HR to develop/improve tools, guidance and institutional knowledge on commercial contract bid development and delivery processes. Throughout, it will be important to capture and act on lessons garnered from our ongoing contract work.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGIC PRE-POSITIONING

● Maintain awareness and obtain intelligence of upcoming commercial contract opportunities from relevant European institutional donors, and liaise with country/regional offices in support of pre-positioning activities.

● Manage engagement with donor portals and funding websites in tracking contract opportunities.

● Manage Mercy Corps’ engagement within Framework Agreements.

LEADING AND/OR SUPPORTING BID DEVELOPMENT

● In the first instance, act as a ‘technical advisor’ on the contrac-specific element of bid development

● Analyse tender documents and understand competitive landscape in order to present a coherent case for pursuing specific opportunities.

● Working closely with a designated Bid Team Leader, support commercial contract bid development process, guide and coordinate inputs from programme, technical, compliance, finance and recruitment teams ensuring a coherent, competitive and well written bid package. For specific tenders, this will involve travel to support teams in country offices, and will include:

  • Responsibility for managing large and dispersed proposal teams with many actors including coordination between HQ and field offices;
  • Responsibility for overseeing negotiations with numerous actors (local and international) both for ‘prime’ and ‘sub’ roles for the organisation;
  • Liaising with Finance team members to develop budgets ensuring adequate coordination between technical design and budget development processes;
  • Overseeing large, high-pressure recruiting processes for proposal bids.

STRATEGIC OVERSIGHT OF, AND SUPPORT TO, CONTRACT DELIVERY

● Lead HQ support during mobilisation phase of successful contracts.

● Support teams during Inception Phases, potentially including design/facilitation of start-up workshop, coordination of technical team input on assessment planning and implementation, and support for key early deliverables such as workplans.

● Advise at key stages of delivery, including transition from Inception to Implementation, year-end, Exit Phases and Close-Out.

● Channel oversight and support through appropriate (and tailored) mechanisms – e.g. Complex Program, Contact Oversight Group, ad hoc calls etc)

● Work with field teams and HQ support functions to ensure invoicing and payment processes are effective and timely.

● Ongoing help-desk function throughout contract life cycle.

LEADING ON DONOR AND PARTNER RELATIONSHIPS

● Identify and qualify funding and partnership opportunities in pursuit of supporting MCE’s programme objectives.

● Support Senior Director of Programmes, Funding and Operations in the development of strategic partnerships with NGOs, private sector consultancy firms, specialist organisations (M&E, technical, etc.) and academic institutions.

● Lead identification of consortium partners for specific opportunities and manage the on-going relationship.

● Develop professional relationships with key individuals within target donors; from contract negotiation to reporting.

● Act as primary focal point on particular bids with the donor’s procurement department. ∙ Attend NGO and private sector networks as required, to raise Mercy Corps’ profile and engagement externally.

Supervisory Responsibility

None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Senior Director of Programmes, Funding and Operations

Works Directly With: New Initiatives, Programmes, Finance, HR and Compliance

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

● Master’s degree and previous extensive experience in international development.

● Extensive knowledge of commercial contracts including successfully developing and managing commercial tenders for UK Government or other European donors.

● Successful track record in programme design and proposal development in a variety of sectors and geographic locations.

● Proven ability to work productively with a wide variety of stakeholders to produce quality products under tight deadlines, while ensuring a participatory, collaborative approach.

● Experience with European institutional donor (DFID, EC, SDC, Sida) commercial contract procurement processes and proposal development.

● Previous experience in field-based programme and staff management.

● Strong negotiation skills and experience developing and negotiating multiple-partnership arrangements for proposal development.

● Strong understanding of personnel and staffing requirements for European institutional donor contracts.

● Experience developing budget and commercial tender submissions for European institutional donors.

● Experience with professional representation (e.g. donors, partner agencies, host governments, etc.).

Success Factors

● Master’s degree and previous extensive experience in international development.

● Extensive knowledge of commercial contracts including successfully developing and managing commercial tenders for UK Government or other European donors.

● Successful track record in programme design and proposal development in a variety of sectors and geographic locations.

● Proven ability to work productively with a wide variety of stakeholders to produce quality products under tight deadlines, while ensuring a participatory, collaborative approach.

● Experience with European institutional donor (DFID, EC, SDC, Sida) commercial contract procurement processes and proposal development.

● Previous experience in field-based programme and staff management.

● Strong negotiation skills and experience developing and negotiating multiple-partnership arrangements for proposal development.

● Strong understanding of personnel and staffing requirements for European institutional donor contracts.

● Experience developing budget and commercial tender submissions for European institutional donors.

● Experience with professional representation (e.g. donors, partner agencies, host governments, etc.).

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Edinburgh, UK and may require travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.

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. 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.

How to apply

Please apply with CV and cover letter at the following link: https://jobs.jobvite.com/mercycorps/job/oPz5ifwv

 


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