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 (MCinE) has grown rapidly both in terms of the volume of activity and its complexity. 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 in the field and we are always looking for talented individuals who share our passion and commitment.
Position Summary
The Senior Contracts Finance Analyst (SCFA) position will play a key role in supporting the strategic commercial development efforts in response to contract opportunities from European institutional donors. This will include involvement in pre-positioning efforts, leading and/or supporting the commercial bid development process as well as offering support and guidance to teams during the implementation of contracts. They will also be key in contributing to the development of tools, guidance and institutional knowledge on commercial contract bid development and the financial management processes of such bids. The role will include conducting financial due diligence on these opportunities (and potential partners), and assessing commercial viability and risk on a case-by-case basis.
As we begin an intentional expansion of our contract work โ to include new donors across Europe โ this is an exciting time to join the Contracts Team and be a meaningful part of developing our contract portfolio and expertise.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Strategic Bid Development
Bid Pre-positioning
Tracking and Approvals: Participate in bid tracking and Go/No-Go decisions / contract approvals, particularly areas including cash flow analysis, risk and competitiveness.
Engagement: Where appropriate, attend information-sharing meetings on potential opportunities e.g. FCDO Early Market Engagement Events.
Develop draft budgets: Work with relevant HQ teams and in-country teams to develop draft budgets and commercial offerings, incorporating past experiences and lessons learned from previous bids
Due Diligence: Participate in any Due Diligence of Lead Contractors or Subcontractors, to protect the organisation from any finance-related risks of association
Bid Development
ITT analysis: Participate in analysis of Invitation to Tender packs, with a focus on finance-related requirements and commercial-related evaluation criteria.
Bid development workshops: Where appropriate, participate in and support bid development workshops, or consortia meetings โ either face-to-face or through conference calls.
Budget development: Manage the development of pricing models, cost proposals, detailed budgets and commercial tenders, including support on development of internal budget, as well as translation into donor format (e.g. rolling up into fee rates) โ working with relevant HQ teams and in-country teams, to ensure all bids are both competitive and commercially viable.
Commercial narrative: Contribute and lead on the development of the narrative sections of the Commercial Tender, including financial plans, financial methodologies, value for money etc.
Contract Implementation and Management
Financial monitoring: Support relevant HQ and in-country teams in the delivery of Contracts, focusing on accurate financial reporting and monitoring the financial position to ensure the commercial success of a given Contract.
Cash-flow management: Work with country teams to ensure invoicing and payment processes are effective and timely.
Analysis: Where appropriate, provide insightful analysis, develop KPIs and guide reporting requirements, in order to drive operational performance.
COG participation: Participate in regular Contracts Oversight Group meetings.
In country & Field visits: Where necessary, undertake field visits to train, support and monitor implementation teams.
Development of policies, procedures and tools
Policies maintenance: Maintain and where necessary feed into the development of policies related to the organisationโs engagement with Commercial Contracts โ e.g. Commercial Contracts and Cost Allocation; Commercial Contracts and FX rates; Applying Management Margin on Subcontractorsโ fee rates.
Tool development: Develop and refine relevant tools to enable the organisation to make informed decisions about pursuing contracts and to successfully implement them โ including cash flow projections, risk assessments, budget-to-fee rate translators, rate cards.
Training and orientation: Contribute to the development of training and orientation sessions on relevant areas of commercial contracting and deliver them to appropriate audiences โ including HQ and in-country teams โ to ensure adoption of best-practice.
Internal Engagement: represent the Contracts Team and participate in relevant internal working groups focused on financial and commercial topics.
External Engagement
Negotiations: Contribute to negotiations with both potential and actual partners, as well as with donors, leading on the commercial finance aspects including, but not limited to: payment by results, fee rates, budget allocations.
Partner support: Where partners are unfamiliar with Commercial Contracts, provide orientation, support and guidance on invoicing processes & requirements; reporting; budget templates and due diligence topics.
Sector groups: Engage in sector platforms to contribute to relevant advocacy points and share information with peer organisations, e.g. through BOND Funding Group/Contracts Working Group.
Team Management
This role may have line management responsibilities which will include:
Monitor individual performance, providing the tools and information needed to work efficiently and successfully, and solve problems.
Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
Supervisory Responsibility
As a Senior Analyst, they will support team colleagues through mentoring and technical advice. The SCFA may also have line-management responsibilities within the team.
Reports Directly To: Senior Contracts Finance Manager
Works Directly With: Senior Contracts Finance Analyst will work with a variety of other team members and departments including global support functions such as Programmes, Compliance, New Initiatives & Finance as well as Mercy Corpsโ counterparts based in our country offices.
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
5-7 years' experience in a commercial, financial or proposal development role in a wide variety of sectors, donors and geographic locations โ with a proven track record of success
Extremely strong commercial acumen and understanding of building contract fee rates, as well as financial modelling of profit and loss analysis, cash flow forecasting, planning, budgeting and management reporting.
Demonstrable experience of tendering for and/or implementing commercial contracts funded by FCDO, European Union and other institutional donors, either for non-profit or for-profit organisations, desirable but not essential
Strong negotiation skills and experience developing and negotiating multiple-partnership arrangements during proposal development, with a key focus on financial and commercial areas
Solid understanding of contractual and financial management principles and systems applicable to various contracts and subcontract types, including but not limited cost reimbursement, time-and materials, fixed price, frameworks, and performance / milestone-based.
Very strong communication skills, both verbal and written business English. Able to communicate clearly to staff in different functions across the agency.
Proven ability to work productively with a wide variety of stakeholders to meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products.
Proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) - with an advanced proficiency in Excel preferred.
Experience of computerised accounting packages is required.
Qualified Accountant is desirable but not essential
Experience in the humanitarian or development aid sector is desirable.
Native level spoken and written English. Additional European language (especially French, German, Dutch, Swedish (proficient or fluent)) desirable, but in no way essential.
Success Factors
The successful candidate will demonstrate clear empathy with organizations aims and values. They will be highly analytical and have attention to detail. They will be able to build effective and lasting relationships with colleagues and partners and will be able to motivate others while leading with energy. They will have excellent organisaitional, planning and time management skills, are a self starter and able to work both independently and as part of a team. They will be able to prioritise in a fast changing environment while working well under pressure. They have willingness and ability to travel internationally as required.
Living/Environmental Conditions
The position is based in the UK and may require occasional travel to areas with limited access to medical facilities and amenities. Mercy Corpsโ team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues