Description
Location: Edinburgh, London, UK, or NL - Flexible working environement Position Status: Full timeSalary: The starting salary range for this position in the UK is 37,040 GBP; salary range in the NL is 44,320 Euro Closing date: Please submit application and cover letter by May 6th Current unrestricted work authorization in the location is required at the time of application for this position.
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 in Europe has grown both in terms of the volume of activity and its complexity. With offices in Edinburgh, London and The Hague, we now attract over ยฃ120m in income annually, and employ more than 120 domestic and internationally located 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 and we are always looking for talented individuals who share our passion and commitment. Mercy Corps Europe (MCE), Mercy Corps Netherlands (MCNL) and Mercy Corps Global (MCG) operate as one global organization, sharing the same mission, vision, core values and charitable objectives, as well as operational resources for the support and implementation of programme activities.
The Position
We are looking for a technically skilled Compliance Advisor to join our European team supporting with donor compliance. The role will sit within the European Compliance, Governance and Risk team, working alongside the US based Compliance and Legal teams to ensure that the agency fulfils its responsibility to donors, the NGO community, implementing partners and other stakeholders, and is in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Each Compliance Advisor provides technical advice, support and training to their assigned countries/regions and in addition has responsibility for assigned compliance focus areas and related projects.
The Compliance Advisor plays a vital role in the organisation by:
โ Supporting programmes and finance teams in managing organisational and donor compliance of programmes through our European headquarters;
โ Providing compliance advice and guidance to stakeholders based in over 40 countries worldwide to be compliant with donor rules and requirements and relevant Mercy Corps policies and procedures;
โ Providing training support to teams in relation to donors and subaward compliance;
โ Communicating closely and working collaboratively with a variety of other Headquarters departments and colleagues to ensure that, whenever possible, approaches are globally aligned.
This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious legal or compliance professional who is interested in a career in the humanitarian and development sector. You will be joining the growing European entity of a leading global agency, helping people in some of the world's toughest places turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress.
Essential Responsibilities
DONOR COMPLIANCE (for an assigned portfolio to be confirmed)
โ Lead role on UN and World Bank Awards transition - part of cross organisation working group to support with UN and World Bank Awards, including developing guidance, tools, templates and training materials as need be
โ Headquarters Managed Awards - compliance focal point for awards which are managed out of Headquarters (variety of potential donors)
โ Provide relevant compliance and subaward support to assigned portfolio (to be determined)
โ Review donor agreements, including highlighting main compliance issues and advising on points to negotiate with donor representatives.
โ Provide compliance advice to ensure adherence to donor grant rules and regulations, including acting as the primary compliance โhelp deskโ function for European headquarters for assigned portfolio of countries, supporting programmes, finance, technical and colleagues in the countries and regions where we implement programmes as required. Escalate issues as needed to colleagues.
โ Contribute to tracking and documentation of recurring donor compliance risks and issues.
โ Support with exceptions requests as required.
โ Support donor communication, including responses to Donor Due Diligence and/or donor reports and communications.
โ Provide advice to the Finance team in relation to donor-led audits as requested, including contractual advice and negotiating contested findings where appropriate.
โ Support the Global Ethics team with donor notifications and reporting of fraud and corruption incidents as per internal protocols.
โ Participate in Complex Boards and provide enhanced compliance training and support for complex programmes, as may be required.
SUBAWARD COMPLIANCE (for assigned portfolio)
โ Advise the Programme, Finance and Country teams on the usage and implications of partnering mechanisms (including Subawards) in support of programme implementation. Provide guidance on the appropriate use of subawards and other types of agreements such as consortium agreements and/or service contracts.
โ Ensure the completion of Mercy Corpsโ due diligence and pre-award compliance checks for subawards in accordance with established policies and procedures.
โ In coordination with country and headquarters team members, draft and negotiate subaward agreements and amendments based on policies and procedures. Ensure subaward agreements flow down all relevant Mercy Corpsโ and prime donor requirements.
โ Develop and maintain an effective and efficient process for ensuring subawards are appropriately reviewed, approved and signed by authorised parties, including implementing partners.
โ With review and input from other stakeholders, develop and maintain subaward and amendment templates, as well as other required agreements (such as consortium agreements, MOUs), for use with UN awards and other donors as necessary.
TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES
โ Create, maintain and refresh a suite of donor compliance guidance and internal tools and templates to continue to support Mercy Corpsโ compliance, for example researching and developing donor requirements and issuing reference guides. Lead for UN donors.
โ Develop and manage compliance resources, including comprehensive best practice guidance and training materials on UN donors and other donors may be required.
โ Lead the delivery of compliance training or other start-up activities for European-funded programmes in assigned portfolio.
โ Attend training, conferences and/or programs as assigned, including donorsโ rules and regulations training, periodic webinars, and regional conferences.
โ As required, assist with the development and maintenance of policies and procedures related to compliance and risk.
โ Other tasks as may be required
Supervisory Responsibility
None
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Europe Senior Director of Compliance, Governance and Risk
Works Directly With: Compliance team, Programmes, Finance, Country and Regional colleagues, Mercy Corps Global Grants and Contracts Support Unit
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 stakeh