Cash Program Officer (National Role)

Program / Department Summary

The conflict in Ukraine has resulted in over 5M people fleeing the country and many millions more displaced within Ukraine. There are many more who are unable to safely leave their homes. The circumstances and populations are constantly evolving with the conflict. Mercy Corps has reopened its registration and presence in Ukraine as well as offices to support people in neighboring Poland and Romania. This includes partnership models, cash, information provision and other emergency response activities in a very fluid environment. Partnerships with Polish organizations are expected to be a key Mercy Corps approach, which leverages the skills of diverse civil society groups to provide much-needed assistance to Ukrainian refugees. As humanitarian standards and Mercy Corps' standards for subawards are new to most Polish organizations, we will need to adapt and create practical orientation sessions, training, and coaching models to onboard our partners to our processes, formats, and program management standards. In addition, we will want to support organizations with monitoring, evaluation, and accountability in order for us to demonstrate our impact and account for responsible use of funding.

General Position Summary

Working directly with Emergency Program Manager, will be responsible for day-to-day work and support to the Partners - partners onboarding, planning, ensuring all deliverables as per grant agreements are in place. As Mercy Corps Program Officer for cash will be responsive to Partners needs and requests, as well as monitor the evolving context and needs of the target population. Program Officer will be required to conduct program monitoring visits, organize meetings. Therefore, this role will actively engage with partner organizations to right-size support for diverse organizations.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Support Emergency Program Manager in internal partner selection processes and review committees when relevant, including contributing to the development of technical selection criteria.
• Conduct monitoring field visits to ensure the quality of the project.
• Act as the main focal point for all the field cash related issues.
• Assist Partners in developing workplans and other programmatic documents, that will guide project implementation.
• Follow up with partners on any issues that emerge regarding the cash program
• Ensure compliance with donor regulations.
• Assist in the completion of monthly projections and other requested documents.
• Contribute to drafting and reviewing accurate reports (monthly, quarterly and final).
• Collaborate in giving recommendations in order to improve the cash activities and share them with the implementing partner
• Reconciliation of card distributions, tracking the distribution figures, developing distribution pipelines.

Coordination & Communication

• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with all stakeholders - including NGOs, clusters, UN agencies, community based organizations.
• Ensure that information from coordination meetings with partners is shared internally and with other sectors, as appropriate.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning and CARM teams to aggregate and analyze data provided by partners and contribute to reports to the donor and/ or Mercy Corps stakeholders at headquarters or in the region.
• Coordinate closely with the Financial Service Provider

Other

• Adherence to all Mercy Corps policies and procedures as outlined in Mercy Corps policies and procedure manuals.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

Accountability: 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: None

Reports Directly To: Partnerships Coordinator

Works Directly With: Program Departments, Program Accountability and Quality, Operations Team, Security Management, Sub-awards & Compliance and Finance

Knowledge and Experience

• Diploma or University Degree in international studies, social, economic or other relevant field is desired.
• 2 years experience working in non-governmental organizations, preferably in Poland
• Basic understanding of structures and processes of NGOs - including project cycle management
• Demonstrated capacity to collaborate closely with a broad range of stakeholders in different geographic locations; experience with remote management or monitoring a plus
• Familiarity with the MS Office software (i.e., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) is required
• Self-starter — must be productive with minimal direction and flexible to sudden changes in requirements
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills; demonstrated ability to successfully work in a fast-paced environment within and across departments/functions/geographic locations, and develop positive relationships with local and remote based staff
• Required excellent oral and written English and Ukrainian language
• Knowledge of humanitarian standards and codes, including SPHERE, HAP is an asset

Success Factors

Must be able to understand compliance requirements for subawards and have the ability to assist and offer support with partnerships. Excellent multi-tasking, organizational, communication and prioritization skills are necessary. Accuracy and attention to details are required. A demonstrated ability to work quickly, accurately, meet deadlines, and process information in support of changing program activities is necessary. Ability to manage, coordinate and practice empathy with different members/levels of a team. Ability to work in remote project environment and travel between the project locations

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations 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 organization 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 e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential employees. This is done following the conclusion of recruitment and prior to assuming full employment.

Our screening process is designed to be transparent and completed in partnership with new Team Members. You will have the opportunity to disclose any prior convictions at the conclusion of the recruitment process before the check is initiated. We ask that you do not disclose any prior convictions in your application materials or during the recruitment process.