Location: London or Edinburgh, UK - Flexible working environement
Position Status: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: Salary salary for this role at GBP 44,320 - commensurate to professional experience
Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based (United Kingdom) is required at the time of application for this position.
Closing date: Please submit application by March 20th
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 Contracts Pricing Advisor (CPA) position will play a key role in supporting the strategic commercial development efforts in response to contract funding opportunities from European institutional, Foundation and Corporate donors. Partnering with country programmes and other functions, this role will develop high quality commercial proposals, cost analysis and value for money analysis. This will include involvement in pre-positioning efforts, leading and/or supporting the commercial bid development process as well as offering pricing support and guidance to teams during the implementation of contracts. They will ensure overall quality and commercial viability of cost proposals and bid submissions, while strengthening the capacity of regional and in-country teams to create cost-effective proposals and budgets. 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 – to include new donors across Europe – 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
○ Cost & Pricing Development
Contract Mobilisation, Implementation and Management
○ Contract Implementation: Support ongoing budget realignments (when required), both internally with HQ, regional and country teams and externally with donor positioning
○ Financial monitoring: Support relevant HQ and in-country teams in the delivery of Contracts, focusing on accurate financial reporting and monitoring the financial position, against internal cost budget, to ensure the commercial success of a given Contract.
○ Analysis: Where appropriate, provide insightful analysis, develop KPIs and guide reporting requirements, in order to drive operational performance.
○ Feedback & Lessons Learned: Ensure that any financial / commercial lessons learned from implementation programmes are considered and factored in to future bids
○ In country & Field visits: Where necessary, undertake field visits to train, support and monitor implementation teams, particularly during the mobilisation phase.
Development of policies, procedures and tools
○ Policies maintenance: Maintain and where necessary feed into the development of policies related to the organisation’s contracts growth strategy– e.g. contracts and cost allocation; contracts and FX rates and application and utilisation of organisational margin
○ Tool development: Develop and refine relevant tools to enable the organisation to make informed decisions about pursuing contracts and to successfully implement them – including cash flow projections and risk assessments
○ Donor specific budget templates: creation of donor specific pricing templates to assist with the mapping of internal costs to fee rate budgets, pricing & rate cards
○ Training and orientation: Contribute to the development of training and orientation sessions on relevant areas of contract pricing & budgeting and deliver them to appropriate audiences – including HQ and in-country teams – to ensure adoption of best-practice.
○ Internal Engagement: represent the European Contracts Team and participate in relevant internal working groups focused on financial and commercial topics.
○ Negotiations: Contribute to negotiations with both potential and selected partners, as well as with donors, leading on the commercial finance aspects including, but not limited to: payment by results, fee rates, budget allocations etc.
○ Partner support: Where partners are unfamiliar with contracts and contract pricing, provide orientation, support and guidance on budget creation, invoicing processes & requirements (where needed); 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.
Reports Directly To: Senior Contracts Finance Manager
Works Directly With: a variety of other team members and departments including global support functions such as Programmes, Compliance, New Initiatives & Finance as well as Mercy Corps’ 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
Success Factors
The successful candidate will demonstrate clear empathy with organisations 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 organisational, 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 Corps’ 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
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organisations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organisation with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
Read Full Description