Assistant Programme Officer, Strategy Realization Unit - UK or NL

Location: Edinburgh, London, UK, or NL

**Position Status: Full-Time, open term

Salary range: London: circa 25K; Edinburgh : circa 21K, NL: circa 27K

Apply with CV and Cover Letter by September 12th

The applicant must have the independent right to live and work at the location of assignment (ie., not require visa sponsorship)**

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

The Strategy Realization Unit ensures that Mercy Corps has the strategies and vision that will enable it to be a world-class, cutting-edge humanitarian and development organization creating transformational change in the world. The Strategy Realization Unit’s goal is to drive forward the agency’s 10-year strategy - Pathway to Possibility - providing a unifying vision while also enabling teams to be adaptive. The underlying intention is to create clarity and focus to enhance decision-making at all levels and locations of the organization. Though its mandate and scope are still evolving, it is anticipated that the Strategy Realization Unit will:

●        Provide oversight and coordination for the Pathway to Possibility

●        Serve as an ‘incubator’ for strategic initiatives, such as localization or climate

●        Advise decision-makers on strategic and organizational priorities for effective realization

●        Facilitate the right working groups / accountability structures to move initiatives forward

●        Track progress on various initiatives, identifying any overlapping work and helping remove roadblocks

●        Design and implement the governance and accountability measures for the strategy -including the 3As – in collaboration with others

●        Support the change management process by working with various teams and leaders to deliver on the aspirations outlined in Pathway to Possibility

The Strategy Realization Unit is accountable to the CEO via a Vice President that sits on Mercy Corps’ Executive Team; the Unit also works closely with leadership across the organization, including with Regional Directors, Country Directors, HLR and TSU senior leaders, HQ Function Leads, Department Heads, and others.

General Position Summary

This position provides an exceptional opportunity to sit at a focal point of many of the critical decisions and strategic directions that the agency is taking. The right candidate will have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in all aspects of Mercy Corps and support the agency in reaching the next level in terms of setting and managing high impact strategy, and distinguishing itself as a leader within the relief and development world.

In this role as the APO, you will be situated in the Strategy Realization Unit (SRU), providing structured planning, and administrative support to he VP for Strategy Realization and the wider SRU. The major responsibilities of the APO are to ensure that key strategic initiatives and processes have the administrative and analytical support required as well as support team coordination.

The APO will play a key role in managing information and communications between the VP and wider team to enable her to be as effective as possible in his role. This will include liaising with a range of internal and external stakeholders, triaging information and drafting communications on behalf of the VP. You will also provide support to streamline processes and increase efficiency for SRU team members. The APO will also pro-actively identify opportunities to continually improve processes and ways of working in order to facilitate the efficient operation of the SRU.

The APO will have  exceptional organisational and communication skills, with the ability to excel in a diverse and busy team. They must have demonstrable experience of supporting a Senior level position and be able to efficiently prioritise and manage their time, whilst adopting to adapting needs and circumstances.  They are someone with a positive, can-do approach, who enjoys the pressure of working together as a team in adherence to tight deadlines. Strong communication skills are vital, as you will be operating in a truly international environment and engaging with a range of stakeholders.

Essential Responsibilities

Strategy

●        Support the Strategy Journey Map key milestones and processes, including meeting coordination and logistics and support oor task forces, working groups, meetings and workshops led by the SRU, as needed.

●        Support and track SRU workplan progress in close partnership with VP for Strategy Realization and other team members

●        Support additional enabling initiatives linked to the strategy, such as for example the top-team effectiveness journey for the Executive Team led by Aberkyn.

●        Support the crafting of agency-wide quarterly reports documenting progress towards strategic initiatives.

●        Support the drafting of communications related to strategic processes.

●        Data analysis and visualization.

Administrative

●        Provide administrative and scheduling support  to the VP Strategy Realization Unit (VP SRU) and to the Chief Climate Officer (CCO)

●        Arrange travel, visas, accommodation and facilitate meetings hosted by the VP and CCO

●        Acting as a liaison between the VP and the wider organization, handle and triage the flow of information, managing expectations, troubleshooting and pre-solving issues when appropriate.

●        Coordinate internal meetings and external speaking engagements, researching and preparing background materials, presentations and talking points, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities.

●        Facilitate linkages between the different parts of the SRU and others as appropriate and liaise with the SRU team to ensure sign off and approvals from the VP for things such as submissions, grant agreements and contract Manage procurement processes and coordination with external consultants.

●        Draft communications as needed.

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 and Transferable Skills

●        BA/S or equivalent in a relevant field.

●        4-5 years’ international NGO program experience in the field or HQ role preferred.

●        Project Management experience

●        Strong analytical and visualization skills - able to synthesize data into concise digestible formats. Strong presentation skills. ●

●        Ability to work with Google and Microsoft 365 programs and interest to work with other, new technical platforms a strong plus.

●        Excellent writing skills; and strong attention to detail.

●        Proven excellence in interpersonal skills.

●        Ability to produce compelling, polished, professional documents and presentations.

●        Country Experience desirable.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: VP for Strategy Realization

Works Directly With: SRU team members, Localization Core group, Internal Communications team

Coordinates With: .Additional stakeholders from different geographies and levels of the agency will be identified to engage in participatory consultation processes and / or lead elements of the road mapping process described above.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Uk or NL

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.