Global Policy Senior Manager

Location: Portland, OR; Washington, D.C.; U.K. (May be remote, with approval)

Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based is required at the time of application for this position.

Position Status: Full-time, Regular, Exempt

Salary Level: US: Starting salary for this role will be USD $76,800 to $91,200 commensurate on experience.

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.

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 is a thriving, fast-growing, dynamic organization that has continued to support the needs of the communities it serves through COVID, the effects of climate change, and crisis. In the last two years, Mercy Corps has bolstered key systems to support its entrepreneurial growth including the creation of an Ethics and Compliance infrastructure, the launch of a comprehensive plan to improve gender, equity, diversity, and social inclusion in the organization and our programming, new community accountability mechanisms, and a larger and more robust safeguarding operation to ensure that staff and participants remain safe and protected in their interactions with the organization.

The Department

The Legal Department provides legal counsel and support to all areas of Mercy Corps, including executive and senior management, programs, ethics and compliance, social ventures, policy & advocacy, resource development, finance, and human resources as well as corporate governance services to the Board of Directors.

The Position

Reporting to the General Counsel, the Global Policy Senior Manager contributes to the strengthening and development of Mercy Corps’ policy framework and Mercy Corps’ policies and procedures, ensuring effective development, management, communication, and implementation across Mercy Corps global operations.

Essential Responsibilities

• Manage Mercy Corps’ global policy framework among all three Mercy Corps headquarter entities (Mercy Corps Global, Mercy Corps Europe, and Mercy Corps Netherlands)
• Provide leadership and vision for team members on the policy framework, including providing a strategic review and implementation of the organizational policy management process and policy.
• Conduct regular reviews of policies to ensure consistency among policies, promote effective integration of policies into processes, and ensure efficient functioning of internal controls.
• Draft, review, or otherwise support other teams and departments in the development or update to global policies; ensure documentation is submitted to appropriate reviewers; work with relevant Mercy Corps team members to ensure timely communication.
• Produce other policy framework documents, such as templates, guidance, and forms.
• Provide training on the process or policy framework as required.
• Develop and lead the communication strategy for the policy framework within the organization.
• Ensure that management policies are reviewed and updated by policy owners in accordance with established processes and revise cycles.
• Maintain up-to-date status of Mercy Corps global policies and procedures and track submissions to the Digital Library, ensuring compliance with Mercy Corps’ policy standards.
• Coordinate the communication and roll out of new policies, procedures, and guidance to ensure that relevant parties are well informed of their roles and responsibilities.
• Support General Counsel’s office with the accountability framework for policies, particularly Board/Committee governance and oversight of applicable global policies and meeting retention, review, and reporting requirements as applicable.

Supervisory Responsibility

The Global Policy Senior Manager has no supervisory responsibilities.

Accountability
Reports Directly To: General Counsel

Works Directly With: European Senior Director of Compliance, Governance & Risk, various team members and leaders

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and work experience
• 5+ years’ experience working on policy development and implementation; preference for prior experience in non-profit sector or global organization.
• Demonstrated leadership, excellent written and verbal skills.
• Working knowledge of and demonstrated experience with internal and external compliance requirements and standards.
• Excellent interpersonal and executive organizational skills
• Strong technical skills; practical application of digital and computer technology – Microsoft
• Office suite, document formatting, storage, etc.; knowledge of developing dashboards (e.g. Power BI) is a plus.

Success Factors

The successful team member will be an avid learner, self-directed, innovative and action orientated. Furthermore, they must have the ability to work independently, employ effective time management skills, handle frequent interruptions and shift priorities, exhibit effective customer service skills and work effectively with a wide variety of individuals including team members based overseas. Additionally, the individual will thrive in a fast-paced environment prone to rapid change and be willing to increase their responsibility level in the assigned areas. The most successful Mercy Corps team members have a positive approach, a strong commitment to teamwork, personal accountability and flexibility and prioritize effective communication in all situations.