Country Director - Myanmar

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

Mercy Corps works in Myanmar to build more resilient communities with increased economic opportunities and protection from hazards, improved public health and strengthened civil society networks. Myanmar is ranked as one of the 49 Least-Developed Countries in the world and ranked 132^nd out of 177 nations in the Human Development Index. The under-five mortality rate is the second highest rate outside of Africa after Afghanistan. One in five children aged five are moderate to severely malnourished. Maternal mortality is among the highest in the region and Myanmar has the highest HIV rate in Southeast Asia. Once one of the most developed nations in Asia, Myanmar’s per capita GDP is now estimated as the 13th lowest in the world. Myanmar’s economy is largely agricultural, with 44% of GDP coming from agriculture and more than half of poor households working in the agricultural sector. Mercy Corps works in the Ayeyarwady Delta, the Central Dry Zone, and has partnerships with local NGOs in several parts of the country. The main objectives of program activities are enhanced food security mainly through agri-business value chain improvements and civil society capacity building.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Country Director (CD) is the senior management position for Mercy Corps in Myanmar with supervisory and managerial responsibility over designated in-country personnel, programs and policies. The CD is responsible for ensuring staff safety and security, provides overall leadership and direction to the Security Management Team, and ensures compliance with the Mercy Corps Myanmar Safety and Security Plan and Minimum Operating Security Standards. The CD is responsible for developing and implementing the overall strategic plan for programming in cooperation with Mercy Corps’ senior management team and local and international partners; developing proposals and pursuing funding opportunities; cultivating donor relations; and overseeing program implementation. S/he is also responsible for implementing systems, policies and procedures for Mercy Corps’ operations in Myanmar according to donor and agency regulations. The CD will oversee management of all field office functions ensuring high quality performance from staff and program delivery focused on planned results, ensuring offices are using sound programmatic and operational practices. The CD is responsible for ensuring Mercy Corps registration in country including MOUs with the government and ensuring we are compliant with OFAC regulations. The CD’s role is to navigate ways to work that are legal and responsive to the needs of Myanmar population.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Vision, Leadership and Strategy - Communicate a clear vision of Mercy Corps’ current and future program goals; provide leadership and direction; develop a program strategy to be widely communicated; identify, develop, and pursue opportunities for new program funding as possible under shifting registration status.

Regularly detail the options for Mercy Corps involvement in Myanmar including possibilities for longer-term programming around strategic partnerships and relationships. Develop recovery and development strategies which maximize internal and external resources and relationships based on clear need and Mercy Corps’ value-added.

Explore, evaluate and present new country and project funding opportunities that leverage impact and integrate initiatives and activities particularly focused on moving from recovery to development as appropriate with registration and which leverage partnerships with other INGOs and local groups. Support and direct related fund-raising activities with both institutional and private donors.

Formulate a clear vision of present and future strategy and program goals that can be clearly communicated to team members, local beneficiaries, government, partners, Mercy Corps colleagues and donors. Includes briefing materials based on strategic documents.

Lead the Country Annual Planning Process. Provide timely quarterly reporting on this plan and strategic updates to ensure the plan is a living, responsive document.

Create an organizational culture of accountability, responsibility and quality of services.

Representation & Diplomacy

Actively pursue Mercy Corps’ registration in Myanmar/Burma in coordination with the RPD, Director of Mercy Corps Europe and Mercy Corps’ legal counsel. Ensure programs are executed within Myanmar legal regulations.

Build strong constituencies to include Mercy Corps headquarters and regional teams, international and local NGOs, government officials, donor community officials, diplomatic corps and embassies, vendors, media and the general public.

In coordination with the Public Affairs Team and senior management, formulate, lead, document, and communicate Mercy Corps’ public relations and advocacy messages with the media, donors, colleague NGOs, local partners and the government in Myanmar

Develop and maintain both internal and external relationships to ensure program opportunities to include Mercy Corps headquarters and regional offices and staff, international and local NGOs, government officials, donor community officials, diplomatic corps and embassies, vendors, media and the general public.

Nurture appropriate Mercy Corps public relations, visitor/donor and other agency relationships, represent Mercy Corps to national and international media and provide appropriate fund-raising and other public relations materials to Mercy Corps-HQ as requested.

Reporting, Monitoring and Evaluation - Establish and maintain effective program reporting, monitoring and evaluation systems for both internal and external use.

Ensure programs are based on sound design principles, including need assessments and baselines. Utilize MC and donor required M&E systems for creating logframes for all interventions and design a realistic M&E plan for each program and the country’s overall strategy.

Establish and maintain effective and timely program/ grant reporting systems for all donors. Ensure program teams are responsible and capable of conducting on-going program monitoring.

Security

Conduct prudent and timely assessments of security environment, initiate and/or enforce necessary security protocols balancing program needs with security constraints.

Manage security and safety of the entire country team and MC assets according to best practices, MC operating standards and field realities.

Ensure an up-to-date MC country security plan is in place and fully understood by all team members.

Ensure all team members are fully oriented and have the necessary level of security training for their respective roles. Includes oversight of the country security focal point.

Liaise with the emergency responde director and Regional Program Director on crucial events, high risk periods, incident reporting or security policy changes.

Commitment to Staff Development

Establish leadership, direction and personal credibility with expatriate and national staff; Implement and maintain a clearly understood chain of authority and accountability.

Maintain an adequate human resource plan consistent with Mercy Corps’ policies, including current position descriptions for all positions, expatriate and national, personnel orientation and professional development plans, personnel evaluation systems, field personnel policy manual, and personnel grievance procedure system.

Recruit, manage and motivate an informed, skilled and efficient team; incorporate staff development strategies and performance management systems into team building process. Manage with an emphasis on excellence and achievement; encourage a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation.

Fiscal, Compliance Management and Accountability

Coordinate overall country budget; manage budget within approved spending levels and establish an annual cash flow plan to ensure a steady and adequate supply of funds for program activities. Oversee budget management of sub-grantees/sub-contractors.

Build and maintain operational structures that ensure proper segregation of duties between finance and operations and which fully support field programs.

Ensure adherence to operational imperatives as per internal/ external audit requirements; utilize best practices based on MC Office in a Box to ensure program support is accountable.

Ensure accurate and timely financial reporting to donors and Mercy Corps’ headquarters. Directly supervises the in-country finance manager and maintains relations with the regional finance officer in HQ.

Exercise sound judgment to ensure program expenses are reasonable, allowable and prudent. Ensure all program funds are spent in accordance with donor rules and regulations including private funds.

Organizational Learning As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

Accountability to Beneficiaries Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: All Mercy Corps Myanmar team members

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Regional Program Director - East Asia

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Mercy Corps HQs including a focus on legal and finance Departments, HQ-based Regional Program Operations, Technical Support Units , Resource Development Department, PALM and regional teams.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• MA/S or equivalent in social science, management, international development
• Five years experience in international relief and development with multi-sector programming, including food security, agriculture/ livelihoods, community organization and/or economic development programs
• Proven program development and proposal writing skills.
• Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational, prioritization skills are necessary.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required.
• The ability to work comfortably, effectively and creatively within Myanmar cultural environment and areas of poor security is required. Experience in Myanmar highly desired.
• History of working effectively and respectfully with host country government, private sector, INGO and NGO partners in complex environments.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful Country Director will apply strong representation and diplomatic skills, program design and proposal development skills to the transition of recovery to development country program. Ability to liase successfully with the Government of Myanmar is key. Ability to grow new programs and country team while maintaining a high level of communication and coordination with a large variety of stakeholders, including donor representatives, local government officials, community leaders, and partner organizations. The most successful Mercy Corps leaders have a strong commitment to communication and team development and maintain a sense of humor at all times.

LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

Myanmar is a diverse country with pockets of occasional unrest, but Yangon is a safe and secure city with modern amenities and several international schools. Housing and other living conditions are generally adequate, but health care and access to clean water can be limited outside of Yangon.

The position is based in Yangon.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Staff 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.

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Please apply directly at http://mercycorps.silkroad.com/epostings/submit.cfm?fuseaction=app.dspjo...

Mercy Corps is an AA/EOE