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 a long-term impact.
The Program
Mercy Corps has been operational in Sudan since 2004, and currently has a country office in Khartoum and field offices in South Darfur, South Kordofan, North Kordofan and Gedaref states. We work with Sudanese communities to build resilient scalable solutions that interrupt the cycle of fragility and crisis due to conflict and climate change by improving food and water security, peace and governance and enabling economic opportunities in the agricultural sector. With the eruption of violence throughout the country in April 2023, Mercy Corps is rapidly shifting its portfolio to respond to the crisis in urban and peri-urban centers in the East and center of the country, with an aim to address basic needs for conflict-affected populations, with an initial focus on food security, shelter and NFIs, and protection.
As Mercy Corps scales its response activities and pivots existing programs to take into account the crisis in Sudan, we are seeking an Operations Director to lead, adapt and execute support processes needed for the Sudan team to shift their strategy while coordinating with operations departments at Mercy Corps regional and global levels to ensure we are in compliance with the wider agency, donor, and government expectations.
The Position
Mercy Corps is seeking an Operations Director for the Sudan office for the purpose of providing proactive leadership for effective and timely delivery of humanitarian aid to crisis-affected people. The Operations Director will be responsible for ensuring operational policies, procedures, and team work plans to ensure effective support from logistics, procurement, security, and IT, and ultimately implementing the delivery of our in-kind and programmatic assistance to participants. Reporting to the Country Director, the Operations Director shall provide coordination across the Logistics, Operations, Admin, and Security functions and collaboration with Financial Management teams. The Operations Director shall work with regional support and field-led operations to consolidate management systems that facilitate the delivery of support services. They will ensure that the Sudan team is supported, prepared, and resourced to deliver high quality humanitarian programming both directly and in partnership with local and international organizations at scale.
Essential Responsibilities
STRATEGIC OVERSIGHT
Maintains systems to ensure efficient and transparent capture of program operational data for decision-making and timely and informative internal and external reporting.
Manages reliable and cost-effective operations and supports effective implementation of Mercy Corpsโ country portfolio and underlying programs, including supervision of general facilities and office management, information technology, procurement, asset management, fleet management, security, government relations, and warehouse management.
Risk Management through identification and mitigation of risks associated with the operational landscape. This includes tracking incidents, implementing safety measures, and evaluating the effectiveness of risk management strategies.
Works closely with the Country Director and the senior management team to ensure all operational departments are streamlined and working in close collaboration with Programs & MEL to facilitate smooth, efficient and effective implementation;
Ensures regular coordination between each Program, together with Finance, HR, and Operations take place, as well as internally within the Operations team;
Advises on operations strategies, policies and plans affecting operations, program deliverables and staffing.
Analyzes Mercy Corps' operating environment in the country and adjusts operations, providing advice on contextual changes and response scenarios to Senior Management Team.
Ensures operational compliance to policies, procedures, and other requirements defined by Mercy Corps, donors and host governments.
Maintains regular control over operations budget and identifies any exceptions or possible implications of under / over spending in a timely manner.
Innovation and continuous improvement: Promote continuous organizational learning culture with the empowerment of individuals and teams with the identification of learning needs. Create learning opportunities and ensure access to available learning resources.
IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Ensures full compliance of operations with Mercy Corps Global Procurement and Logistics policies, procedures and processes, including risk mitigation and SOPs.
Provides strategic, technical and managerial leadership in implementation of Global Procurement and Logistics in the country program.
Acts as focal point from operations for all internal and external audit matters in coordination with country management.
Provides expert advice on Mercy Corps policies regarding resource management, tools, etc.
Development of local policies and procedures with the support of country management and implementation of them.
Works closely with the Heads of Office in each field site to ensure that support systems and structures are in place and compliant with relevant internal and external policies and procedures.
Ensures that field office operations create an enabling environment for smooth program implementation.
Conducts frequent field visits to all project sites for supervision and support, and maintain close collaboration with the Heads of Office in each field site to ensure operational and programmatic cooperation.
Upholds Mercy Corpsโ Zero Tolerance policy to corruption and work closely with support leads to monitor opportunities for fraud, conflict of interest, or other behavior presenting legal ramifications for Mercy Corps;
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Ensures effective management of resources and reporting in a systematic, transparent and efficient manner to country management.
Responsible for provision of high quality and timely procurement and other program support.
Exercises oversight over procurement processes and logistics ensuring compliance with Mercy Corps procurement policies and procedures as well donor rules and regulations.
Oversee provision of transport and travel support (international and domestic).
Oversight on maintenance of proper custody of Mercy Corps assets, warehouse inventory and general inventory.
Supports developing budgets for operations activities of country programs as an integral part of program proposal development and country level budgeting.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Track performance of the operations team based on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as service lead times and quality of service metrics
Develops the capacity of the team, deepens understanding of their roles and assists with career development.
Assists team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
Promotes accountability, communicates expectations and provides constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
Creates and sustains a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
Hires, orients and leads team members as necessary.
Works with all Mercy Corps staff to ensure smooth introduction and adoption of operational systems.
Works closely with the Operations Manager, Finance, and HR to provide supervisory/performance feedback to the Sudan support team members to ensure that support systems and structures are in place and compliant with relevant internal and external policies and procedures;
Represents Mercy Corps as required in coordination with country management. As a senior management team member, the operations director will have certain representation at the discretion of the country director.
SECURITY
Maintain oversight of access provisions to ensure Mercy Corpsโ continued ability to access our most vulnerable and hard-to-reach beneficiaries.
Ensures compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
Proactively ensures that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
Assist the Country Director in the day-to-day security management of the country mission
Supervisory Responsibility
All Country Operations (Procurement, Security, Logistics and Facilities, Government Liaison, and Office Management) Direct reports: Operations Manager, Safety Security & Access Manager, IT Manager.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Country Director
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 Qualification & Transferable Skills
BA/BS degree in a relevant field.
Minimum of 5 years senior management experience in a corporate or an INGO sector, including experience in operational support including developing strategies with supervisory responsibilities.
Proven ability in planning and organizing substantial tasks includes complex situations in both development and emergency contexts.
Willingness and ability to change for the events of emergencies and good working relationships with incoming HQ teams (i.e. HLR, TSU, GPL).
Developing credibility with colleagues and stakeholders at all levels of Mercy Corps.
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to lead multi-disciplined and multi-cultural teams, sometimes in insecure and volatile environments.
Demonstrated leadership skills, including the ability to lead and motivate qualified and experienced individuals with strong personal values.
Analytical, decision making and strategic planning skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities at various levels.
Skills of coaching, mentoring, delegating and providing guidance to team members in the country program.
Team building skills and understanding the key success factors in working in a team environment.
Commitment to the humanitarian principles and to the organizational and programmatic goals of Mercy Corps.
Effective verbal and written communication, organizational, prioritization and Microsoft Office applications.
Excellent oral and written English skills required; proficiency in Arabic is a plus.
Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
Success Factors
The successful Operations Director will be good at problem solving and have the ability to work out methods to deliver successful programs while demonstrating excellent stewardship of donor funds and compliance with Mercy Corps and donor regulations. They will maintain strong cooperative relationships with other departments and interact effectively with international and national personnel both in a managerial as well as training capacity, while demonstrating the ability to multitask, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing program activities. They will be able to live and work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment and 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.