Finance Manager – Mercy Corps Innovation & Ventures

**This is a part-time 20hr/week position for approximately 6 months (June 2021 – January 2022) and will serve as coverage for the Finance Manager who is on parental leave.**

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.

In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Mercy Corps’ Innovation team aims to spark and support the scaling of innovative models for social impact to address some of the world’s most pressing problems in a sustained manner. We focus on use of technology, catalytic partnerships, learning and adaptation.

MC Ventures (MCV) is an initiative of Mercy Corps to provide high-impact enterprises with investment capital, value-added support and catalytic partnerships so they can scale solutions for underserved populations in fragile frontier markets.

Program / Department Summary

The Innovation team at Mercy Corps is tasked with establishing an agency-level vision and environment that supports all agency teams to jointly achieve success against our Innovation Cornerstone Objective. The team drives the identification, acceleration and development of Breakthrough Solutions, those disruptive initiatives designed to solve for major challenges at scale. Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV) is part of the Innovation team at Mercy Corps. MCV leverages the global resources and reach of a leading development agency to provide high-impact social enterprises with investment capital, value-added support and catalytic partnerships so they can scale solutions for underserved populations in fragile, frontier markets. MCV designed our capital and support to help ventures overcome critical barriers, professionalize faster and scale smarter. We are generating a pipeline of impactful, scalable companies that are de-risked and ready for later stage investors – and can bring idle impact investing dollars to the table. Our team is diverse, driven, hardworking and highly committed to the mission of helping entrepreneurs move their ideas forward to market.

General Position Summary

The MC Innovation & Ventures Finance Manager (FM) will provide strong financial management of specific innovative initiatives. Beyond this, they will be a strategic thought-partner with agency leadership in growing these departments and the innovative models they support – strategically. The FM will also play a key role in working with cross-departmental teams to create more efficient and effective financial systems in service of the agency’s overall Innovation goals.

The FM will ensure that all financial reporting, procurement, and grant compliance standards are met for MCV and will be responsible for reviewing and reporting accurate and timely financials, oversight of grant and corporate compliance issues, and all back office finance support. The FM will work closely with the Sr. Managing Director MCV on financial management to support strategic growth for Ventures.

The FM will also work with VP-Innovation, Sr. Director MCV and others to design and carry out measures that create and systematize more supportive finance and operations systems for innovative initiatives. They may support reporting and financials for Breakthrough Solutions initiatives within Mercy Corps and manage the Innovation team budgets.

Finally, the FM will be responsible for leading strategic scaling and agency change-initiatives such as overseeing changes in systems support to specific Breakthrough Solutions or helping lead on strategic decision making with innovation initiative leads on guiding global agency systems adjustments.

Essential Job Responsibilities
STRATEGY and SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT (25%)

• Financial management and planning in support of strategic growth for MCV
• Support strategic visioning for innovative initiatives and agency investments
• Lead sprint sessions, time-bound consultancies and other initiatives to provide needs systems and operations support to Breakthrough Solutions
• In conjunction with others, lead agency initiative to create more supportive financial and operations systems for innovative initiatives in Mercy Corps

FINANCE ADMINISTRATION (75%)

• Manage back office administrative & finance functions of MCV investments and program activity
• Support HQ Regional Finance Officer (RFO-MCG) and International Finance Officer (IFO-MCE) in preparation of required financial reports and payment requests to donor agencies, as needed
• Provide financial & operations support to other internal innovative initiatives
• Support with management of audits in coordination with RFO, IFO and other relevant Finance and Compliance team members
• Establish relationships with all finance team members involved with accounting for innovative initiatives including MCV to facilitate accurate and timely reporting
• Monitor grant reporting and compliance with various HQ and field offices as needed
• Prepare proposal budgets submitted to donor agencies and ensure their proper coding
• Develop annual budgets with department budget holders, and develop and implement department and grant budgeting and forecasting systems with team Leads
• Serve as the financial review function for procurements and other expense reviews for which the FM is authorized, and provide guidance related to Mercy Corps’ policies
• Ensure financial resources are used in compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures

Supervisory Responsibility

None. However, this position will oversee special consultancies and working groups as required with time-bound initiatives.

Accountability
Reports Directly To: VP- Innovation and Senior Director, MCV

Works Directly With: HQ Regional Finance Officer (RFO-MCG) and International Finance Officer (IFO-MCE) (with authority for technical financial matters), International Finance, Corporate Accounting, Treasury and Human Resources teams of both MC HQ Portland and MC Europe, the Innovation team, and leaders of Breakthrough Solutions

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S or equivalent in accounting or finance; advanced degree or CPA preferred
• At least 3+ years of progressive financial management experience
• At least 2+ years of experience in grant management, including compliance with donor regulations
• Demonstrated experience and skill with budget preparation, analysis and management; experience in financial management and/or accounting for enterprises/private sector strongly preferred
• Experience preparing and presenting financial reports with proven ability to translate technical financial data into informative reports
• Strong accounting skills, including management of the general ledger, journal entries, payables and balance sheet
• Strong relationship-building and interpersonal skills; success with geographically dispersed and culturally diverse stakeholders a definite plus
• Proven ability to prioritize workload and function effectively, to work well under pressure, and meet demands and deadlines with minimal supervision
• Experience leading or contributing to change management processes strongly preferred
• Expertise with MS Office Suite

Success Factors

This successful Finance Manager will exhibit a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments, support a culture of inclusivity and make effective communication a priority in all situations, including with partner organizations and donors. They will have excellent attention to and comprehension of details, while being equally adept at visualizing and engaging with the “big picture.” They will effectively synthesize information and draw meaningful conclusions. They will proactively identify and negotiate win-win solutions and support successful change processes.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is part-time (.5 FTE – 20 hours per week) and will be based remotely until office conditions in Portland, OR allow for re-opening.

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