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
Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of over 400 people working in Eastern DRC. The overall country's goal is to support vulnerable communities through crises, while fostering programs that build resilience and promote long-term change. Mercy Corpsโ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Kasai. Mercy Corps DRCโs key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs to 1) Improve water service delivery and ensuring equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas; 2) Improve food security and nutrition; 3) Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development; 4) Support peacebuilding and local governance. Mercy Corps DRCโs humanitarian programs aim specifically to assist populations affected by the conflict and crisis in Eastern Congo.
Mercy Corps DRCโs portfolio is one of the largest (implementing 50M USD annually in programming) and the most complex across the agency. Mercy Corps DRC is recognized as a leader in humanitarian and development programming in Eastern Congo, with large-scale impact in communities. We champion and lead innovative solutions in a complex operating environment and are well positioned to influence stakeholders (donors, peer organizations, private sector and government) to implement solutions that will have a lasting impact and bring about real change at the community level.
General Position Summary
The Ethics Director is a member of the Country Officeโs senior leadership team and working under the direction of the Country Director and in close collaboration with HQ and Regional Ethics and Safeguarding Teams. The Ethics Director will serve as the Mercy Corps DRCโs focal point for ensuring compliance with Mercy Corpsโ Codes of Ethics, and ethics and safeguarding policies and procedures. He/she will examine, review, and analyze records, reports, financial information and management practices to ensure compliance with laws, regulations and Mercy Corpsโ policies and procedures and will investigate potential violations of these Codes of Ethics. The Ethics Director will also assist the country management team in developing, implementing and monitoring effective controls across all departments (Finance, Operations, HR (Human Resources) and Programs) to mitigate risk. In addition, the Ethics Director may provide guidance to the senior leadership team on compliance-related issues or other strategic support as necessary.
Essential Job Responsibilities
STRATEGY & VISION
Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment of empowerment.
Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve objectives and contribute to country-wide strategy development.
Lead the development and implementation of an Ethics and Safeguarding team department multi-year strategy and annual work plan.
Ensure the ethics team collaborates proactively and closely with all departments through regular communication and joint planning.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Develop the capacity of the Ethics and Safeguarding team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary
INTERNAL CONTROLS
Provide reasonable assurance to country office Senior leadership that there are efficient policies and procedures in place, well understood by team members and that Mercy Corps DRC conforms with all Mercy Corps and donor regulatory requirements
Assist the country management team in determining effective and efficient solutions to operational issues that ensure compliance with Mercy Corpsโ policies and donor regulations, mitigate the risk of fraud or corruption, and facilitate the achievement of program objectives.
Assist program, operations and finance teams with implementing standard procedures or, as necessary, developing and documenting enhanced procedures for high-risk program activities, particularly those providing a direct financial benefit to participants (e.g. vouchers, cash distributions), requiring high value procurement, or the distribution of in-kind goods.
In coordination with the country management team and program managers, maintain the country- level Risk Register to identify key risks and document strategies to mitigate these risks. Manage the quarterly update process and ensure communication of action plans.
In coordination with relevant teams, perform periodic internal control reviews of in-country financial, procurement, human resource/admin, programs and logistics procedures in both the main country office and field offices. In coordination with program and monitoring and evaluation staff, conduct field reviews of program activities to ensure that adequate controls are in place and are functioning properly. Communicate findings and work with the relevant departments to correct weaknesses and improve controls as needed.
As agreed with the program and finance teams, advise on the development of monitoring plans for partners, including subrecipients, key vendors and other partners that must adhere to ethics policies. In coordination with relevant teams, perform periodic compliance reviews of partners.
In coordination with the country management team and HQ Finance, assist with the follow-up and resolution of external audit or Mercy Corps Internal Audit findings.
Develop training programs to ensure team members understand policy and procedure issues and corrective measures needed for non-adherence and better risk management.
RESPONSEFollowing Mercy Corpsโ policies and procedures, serve as country focal point for the internal reporting of any allegations of Code of Ethics violations, including fraud, conflicts of interest, corruption, bribery, human trafficking and safeguarding.
Lead in-country high risk ethics and safeguarding investigations or inquiries to ensure compliance with Mercy Corps Ethical codes of conduct in close collaboration with HQ and regional Ethics, HR and Safeguarding Teams.
Maintain the country Incident Register and dashboards and liaise with the Headquarters Ethics team, and other teams as needed, in the resolution of all reported incidents.
Collect, analyze and document the results of investigations and communicate observations and recommendations with the collaboration of the Country Director and senior management team, as appropriate.
In coordination with the Headquarters Ethics team and the country management team, assist in the preparation of any final reports to fully document the investigation and resolution of incidents.
Liaise closely with the PAQ Department in implementing the country Complaints Response Mechanism (CARM).
Respond to Code of Ethics violation referrals received through the CARM and manage the ethics team responsible for intaking complaints/feedback into the country CARM system.
PREVENTION AND CAPACITY BUILDINGIn coordination with established on-boarding processes, assist with the on-boarding of new country team members to ensure awareness and understanding of Code of Ethics policies. Conduct and/or coordinate regular anti-corruption, fraud prevention, Safeguarding and other Code of Ethics training for country staff and partners.
Lead awareness-raising, training and capacity building efforts across all DRC teams and departments on Code of Ethics policies and procedures. This will target Mercy Corps employees, partners and contractors.
Ensure capacity building efforts are adapted based on trends from response efforts, internal audits or other compliance check processes.
INFLUENCE & REPRESENTATION
Effectively and efficiently engage external advisors as appropriate
Participate in sharing best practices with NGOs and governmental agencies.
SECURITY
Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
Supervisory Responsibility
All Ethics Department Team
Directly: Ethics and Assurance Manager, Safeguarding Manager and Ethics Officers
Accountability
Reports Directly to: Country Director
Works Directly with: All Department Directors, Program Directors/Program Managers, Heads of Field Offices, all MC DRC team members, HQ Ethics, HR and Safeguarding Teams as appropriate.
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
B.Sc. university degree in finance, accounting or a related business field is required; and an advanced degree is a plus;
7 years+ related work experience with a not-for-profit organization implementing international programs; in compliance, systems, internal controls and Investigations.
Relevant experience in fraud investigation or auditing. Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) or Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designations are strongly preferred.
Solid understanding of a wide range of ethics violations, including fraud, corruption and human trafficking in humanitarian and/or development settings; Understanding of best practice in ethics management and accountability within INGOs, including best practices for investigations of ethical violations;
Demonstrated experience in successfully working with administrative and program staff at all organizational levels; including insecure regions such as the DRC.
Solid organizational and research skills with a broad understanding of various program sectors and activities;
Demonstrated experience in financial and operational data analysis;
Advanced computer skills in MS Office programs, particularly Excel;
Fluent written and oral communication in English. Fluency in French and Swahili is preferred
Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.