Strategic Response Manager - Strategic Leadership Team at Mercy Corps

Program / Department Summary
The Strategic Leadership Team’s (SLT) experience, problem solving, and leadership skills support country teams, strategic programs, and organizational initiatives to achieve and maintain high performance. The Team is organized around two key priorities: 1) Support portfolio leadership to maximize program performance and quality and minimize adverse impacts of transitions on programs and teams; 2) Engage cross-organization teams and experiences to continuously improve quality implementation of strategic programs (including “Complex Programs”). The SLT works with the People Team to manage surge support talent at the program and portfolio level and provides additional process and management support to strategic programs.

General Position Summary
Often called upon for extended onsite support to global programs and portfolios, the Strategic Response Manager is an accomplished senior manager who is equally comfortable leading and managing country or regional teams and portfolios and managing individual programs or change management projects. They are a flexible facilitator and problem-solver with a clear commitment to operational and program excellence and healthy teams. They facilitate beneficial connections between program, country, regional, and global teams and partners to ensure quality programming is supported by effective and integrated systems and the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed. The Strategic Response Manager is a highly adaptable leader responsible for resourcefully managing and guiding teams through strategic change. They provide support to change scenarios, such as support for the start-up of new Complex Programs or coverage for leadership transitions. They engage remotely with country teams to rapidly assess circumstances and provide recommendations. Job responsibilities will vary depending on emerging organizational priorities, shifting strategies, and the context of specific assignments. The Strategic Response Manager will have variable supervisory responsibility within country teams when deployed on specific assignments. When not deployed, the Strategic Response Manager will provide remote support to country teams to manage challenges - internal and external - and will lead or contribute to initiatives that support portfolio leadership and Complex Programs.

Essential Job Responsibilities
PLANNING STRATEGY & VISION

• Contribute to the development and delivery of a clear Strategic Leadership Team vision and strategy.
• Support country teams to realize organizational, regional, and country visions and strategies. Contribute to the development or refinement of country strategies as needed during assignments.
• Engage in the development of strategies and plans to optimize leadership continuity, Complex Program performance, and other SLT-led processes.
• Prioritize resources during assignments and in projects to achieve objectives in variable scenarios including urgent change circumstances, crises, and emergencies.
• Facilitate program planning when on assignment to identify future resources and support needs.

LEADERSHIP & PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Foster an equitable and inclusive work environment where individual and team wellbeing is prioritized.
• Provide leadership and managerial support to programs and portfolios through effective coordination, supervision and performance monitoring designed to enable achievement of program objectives.
• Deploy to support urgent change scenarios such as country start-up/close down, staffing transitions, start-up of new strategic programs, and identify and implement solutions to management challenges.
• Facilitate the finding of coverage for urgent change scenarios when direct assignments by an SRM are not possible or not the preferred option.
• Lead and/or contribute to the definition and implementation of cross-departmental change management projects to improve the efficiency and accountability of country portfolios and Complex Programs.
• Contribute to shaping and fulfilling the strategy and purpose of the SLT, while fostering a supportive team culture.

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

• Facilitate integrated planning in support of program and portfolio excellence.
• On in-country assignments, support full and proper implementation and adoption of policies, procedures, and systems for quality team management, compliance, procurement, hiring, HR, logistics, warehouse, fleet, asset, and administrative functions.
• Support adoption and accountability of all Mercy Corps policies, including the Program Management Policy.
• Work with agency counterparts to mitigate risk, including fraud, corruption, safeguarding, conflict of interest, security and safety, and legal ramifications of Mercy Corps activities.

INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION

• Maintain productive relationships with all stakeholders.
• Facilitate or strengthen beneficial connections between program, country, regional, and global teams.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Model Mercy Corps’ Core Behaviors in all aspects of the role.

Supervisory Responsibility

• While on assignment, the incumbent will supervise the team members working on the program or portfolio to which they are assigned. When not on assignment, the incumbent will not have supervisory responsibilities but may coordinate matrixed project teams.

Accountability
Reports Directly To:

• Senior Director – Strategic Leadership Team (note: the incumbent may have additional reporting lines when deployed; for example, to country or regional leadership)

Works Directly With:

• Program, country, and regional leadership, Global Response Team, Global Procurement and Logistics, People Team, and other technical and cross operational teams.

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 programs.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

Success Factors and Transferable skills: Any skills you have gained through education, volunteer, work, or life experience that are relevant for the position will be considered. Be sure to fully explain transferable skills and success factors and how they apply to this position in your cover letter.

• BA/BS degree in a relevant field.
• A minimum of 7 years experience in humanitarian or development programming, including in direct program management and senior leadership roles.
• Experience in insecure environments, including managing programs or teams in complex emergencies.
• Knowledge of Mercy Corps processes, systems, and procedures is desirable.
• Knowledge of rules and regulations governing the compliance/regulatory management of grants from US Government, FCDO, EC, and other donors is an advantage.
• Experience effectively mentoring and training others.
• Excellent oral and written English and French skills required. Proficiency in Arabic and/or Spanish is an asset but not required.