Director Systems and Policy Review for Emergency Response - Global Emergency Response Team

Location: US, UK/Europe, Africa, MENA

Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based is required at the time of application for this position.

Position Status: Full-time, Regular, Exempt (Temporary: 12 months, the assignment can be extended, depending on business needs)

Salary:

• US Starting Salary for this role will be USD $90,000 to $114,000 commensurate on experience.
• Based on local benchmark for candidates outside the United States.

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 Team

Mercy Corps works to achieve real and lasting impact in the world’s toughest humanitarian emergencies. We save lives and help people live with dignity in crises of all kinds. At the same time, we create the conditions to pivot to recovery quickly and effectively. We work wherever local capacity is overwhelmed, connecting people to the opportunities they need to strengthen their community in recovery. Whether it is a sudden shock or a slowly emerging crisis, whether the threat is natural or man-made, Mercy Corps is committed to rapid, needs-driven assistance. Mercy Corps supports a response that is market-driven and leverages the capacities of both traditional and non-traditional aid partners—and ultimately gives people the ability to make their own decisions and secure their own lives and livelihoods.

The Global Emergency Response Team (ERT) provides the agency with timely and effective leadership to prepare for, respond to, and learn from humanitarian emergencies, develops sharp, well-timed and influential humanitarian analysis to inform program design and implementation, and supports agency leadership and regional and country teams with safety and security expertise.

The Position

The Director, Systems and Policy Review for Emergency Response (SPR-ER) is a critical new position on the Global Emergency Response Team and will provide oversight and leadership to lead a global systems and policy review process to ensure Mercy Corps core policies are adapted appropriately for emergency and humanitarian response. Reporting to the Vice President of Emergency Response, the Director will be responsible for developing the review methodology, workplans, working group and stakeholder consultations for the systems/policy review process - generally overseeing efforts related to the streamlining of our top-level systems and policies to make us more efficient and effective in emergency response. They will collaborate and coordinate with key actors and stakeholders across the agency (global, regional and country level) to ensure that this workstream, which is an important action as part of the organization’s FY25 priorities, is adapted to the needs of our teams on the ground. This role will interact heavily with members of the senior leadership team.

The Director will need to successfully build strong working relationships with the working group members and stakeholders and drive the working group forward and stay on task in order to undertake the necessary policy reviews and adjustments that span multiple domains. This role also directly contributes to the strengthening of Mercy Corps’ global policies and systems and ultimately enabling more effective emergency and humanitarian response in order to support people impacted by crises.

Essential Responsibilities

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Provide leadership and vision, assuming full responsibility as the Project Management Lead for the systems/policy review project for Emergency Response, taking on full ownership of leading the review initiative.
• Lead the development of the project vision, TORs, workplan, coordination mechanisms and stakeholder consultation/feedback process.
• Approach the initiative from a practical and streamlining perspective, ensuring that policy revisions are reflective of the feedback from our country and regional practitioners who have supported emergency/humanitarian responses.
• Establish and lead a cross-functional working group to lead the systems/policy review initiative including the prioritization of which policies to review, review timelines, consultative processes for obtaining stakeholder input on the policy adaptations/revisions, making the necessary revisions, and developing a socialization plan for any updated policies.
• Act as a primary driver of change, working with all stakeholders to align efforts and drive forward the systems/policy review project.
• Propose ideas and directly contribute to the revision process as appropriate.

REPORTING AND COMMUNICATIONS

• Establish clear mechanisms to provide regular progress updates on the review initiative to the project board, senior leadership team meetings, email communications and organization priority quarterly tracking/monitoring.
• Produce progress reports, status updates and other internal/external communications about the status of the initiative.
• Directly engage department leaders as appropriate to trouble-shoot, identify solutions and ensure the initiative remains on track as per the workplan.
• Coordinate the communication and rollout plans for updated policies as part of this initiative.
• Foster strong stakeholder relationships within the organization, including senior leadership, country teams, and other functional units.
• Continuously engage with stakeholders to understand their needs, gather feedback, and address concerns during the implementation phase.

LEADERSHIP AND FACILITATION

• Demonstrate exceptional leadership by consistently exceeding expectations and maintaining composure, even in challenging situations.
• Embrace a growth mindset, actively seek diverse perspectives, and remain open to feedback for continuous improvement.
• Strike a balance to ensure good collaboration, consult a variety of stakeholders, and ensure the initiative moves forward. Address any bottlenecks directly by proactively engaging relevant stakeholders to identify solutions and move ahead.
• Facilitate discussions, brainstorming exercises and workshops as appropriate to identify/prioritize revisions, reaching consensus when possible.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

External consultants or interns brought on to support the initiative and facilitate the working group.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Vice President - Global Emergency Response

Works Directly With: Global Emergency Response team, Department heads (People, Finance, Global Procurement and Operations, Legal, Compliance, Program support units), Regional and Country leaders and stakeholders.

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 & Transferable Skills

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant nonprofit field and international experience required.
• 6+ years of professional experience in a fast-paced humanitarian or development environment.
• Certification in a Project Management methodology, or demonstrated experience in Agile project management in lieu of certification.
• Experience managing complex cross-team projects, including budgets and timelines, and projects that are done remotely required.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, research, and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to effectively gather and summarize large amounts of and at times, complex information from various sources.
• Strong facilitation skills and excellent collaboration skills required.
• Past experience with program implementation in emergency/humanitarian settings required.
• Understanding of operational policies and compliance is preferred.
• Experience in emergency start up, scale up, close out, or restructuring experience a plus.
• Demonstrated experience with project management tools, software, or platforms is preferred.
• Familiarity with HQ functions, including accessing necessary support, building effective relationships, and navigating complex organizations.
• Experience developing or delivering strategies at a project, country, regional, or organizational level; past responsibility for driving key elements of strategy preferred.
• Ability to take initiative and complete work or solve problems with minimal guidance while prioritizing tasks across the department.
• Demonstrated ability to work well under pressure and cooperatively with team members
• Strong presentation skills required.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will translate the strategic vision into an actionable and implementable work plan, which can be managed and validated via accountability mechanisms. They are an effective communicator both verbally and in writing - as well as a good listener, able to understand different perspectives, open to feedback, and importantly able to identify realistic and workable compromises. They are also a strong influencer with the ability to effectively help shape Mercy Corps' strategy and decisions, and equally strong conveners and facilitators with the ability to meaningfully engage and leaders and their teams in key processes and changes designed to deliver on our Pathway to Possibility as well as build true ownership of the strategy by all and maximize effectiveness in the required changing behavior.