Budgeting and Financial Analysis Specialist - Syria

**Duration: 6 months

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.

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Program / Department Summary**

Mercy Corps works in places of transition, where conflict, disaster, political upheaval, or economic collapse present opportunities to build more secure, productive, and just communities. Providing emergency relief in times of crisis, we move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to future shocks, and promote sustainable change by supporting community-led and market-driven initiatives. Recognizing both the great potential and the complex challenges faced by the Middle East, since 1989 Mercy Corps has been implementing a range of humanitarian assistance and development programs tailored to the specific needs of the region and of those communities where we work.

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General Position Summary**

The Budgeting and Financial Analysis Specialist is a member of the finance department and works under the direction of the Budgeting and Financial Analysis Lead. They are responsible for supporting MC Syria Finance team in budgeting and budget monitoring systems, policies and processes and ensuring compliance with awards’ conditions and donor rules and regulations. They collaboratively works with program teams to develop systems and tools that ensure that resources are used efficiently, and a wide range of operational needs of the country program is met.

**Essential Job Responsibilities

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**PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
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• Assist/Support the development of budgeting and budget planning processes, including development of internal budgeting guidelines, templates and tools for annual budgeting, grant proposal development and budget modifications.
• Maintain country master budget, regularly analyze country cost coverage for gaps and provide sustainability analysis and recommendations to the Budgeting and Financial Analysis lead, Finance Director and senior management
• Support the monitoring of grants’ performance for all donors. Work with budget holders to ensure that key processes and systems are in place to manage grant risk assessments, donor financial compliance and reporting process. Ensure grant budgets align with MC budgets and
• Lead the grant close out process, including the coordination with different stakeholders (Finance, Ops, Programs, Grants, etc) on various deliverables in line with donor rules and
• Coordinate processes and communications with all program/department budget holders to monitor and revise budgets throughout the year and life of projects. Work with programs and grants units to streamline internal processes to deliver more efficient, more effective, and more useful reports and analysis.
• Support the preparation of regular financial reports and analysis for the Whole Syria program that forecast and reflect trends on budget performance and grants financial
• Manage budget vs actual reporting process for all grants, and work with both MC and MCE HQ and program teams to improve/update templates to accommodate complex program
• Oversee regular update/analysis of the BVAs and Ensure monthly review of transactions for compliance and eligibility under grants
• Support the development of templates and SOPs related to budget
• Propose improved policies and systems regarding spending guidelines, cost saving, cost allocation and annual
• Assist Budgeting and Financial Analysis Lead on special projects requiring financial
• Provide training to staff on budget management processes, systems and best

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Support the development the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career
• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach
• Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

Supervisory Responsibility TBD

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Budgeting and Financial Analysis Lead

Works Directly With: Syria program Finance and Compliance Unit; field finance teams; Program and Operations Managers, Grants Unit, HQ Regional Finance Officer, HQ Compliance unit and other.

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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.

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Knowledge and Experience
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• A BA/S or equivalent in accounting or finance required; advanced degree
• 3-5 years of progressive financial management experience, supervisory experience will be considered an asset
• 3-4 years of budgeting, financial reporting and financial systems work experience, preferably in nonprofit sector
• Demonstrated experience in budgeting and budget planning including development of annual and grant budgets, forecasting and variance
• Demonstrated experience and skill with financial reporting preparation and presentation and proven ability to translate technical financial data into informative
• Thorough knowledge of major donor rules and regulations and implications on budgeting and budget monitoring
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft excel and experience with financial systems integration
• Demonstrated problem solving skills and ability to find creative solutions
• Proven ability to prioritize projects and initiate and follow through, with meticulous attention to detail
• Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational and prioritization
• Excellent oral and written English skills required
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive

Success Factors

The successful candidate will have an ability to interact effectively across international and national program and finance teams successfully, both in a managerial as well as training capacity. They will be able to support programmatic objectives with timely and meaningful financial information, have a demonstrated ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing program activities. An impeccable professional standard of finance and procurement ethics and the willingness and ability to enforce compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures is essential. The Budgeting and Financial Analysis Specialist must be willing to travel regularly to Mercy Corps field offices and project sites. 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

The Budgeting and Financial Analysis Specialist is based in Amman and is required to travel to the field locations up to 20-25% of their time. It is a secure location with access to main medical and other amenities. Housing is individual accommodation with unlimited freedom of movement beyond the house/office. The location is unaccompanied.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.