ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Strategy and Vision

• Contribute to the country strategic planning process.
• Provide support and supervise Contract Management unit in Mercy Corps North Syria Mission.
• Participate in problem solving with contracts and demonstrate in written to reflect contracts performance.
• Read all program proposals and effectively contribute to program implementation and development

Team Management

• Ensure that Contract Management Unit staff are properly trained to perform excellence.
• Work closely with program management to facilitate program planning and upcoming contract implementation needs.
• Liaise with Tendering Unit for drafting and negotiations of the contracts.
• Support Tendering Unit in tendering process to ensure invitational documents adequately and appropriately align with anticipated contractual terms and conditions.
• Assist and advise Operations Manager to establish procurement norms and strategies.
• Assist teams in understanding their roles and responsibilities in terms of interaction with operations.
• Liaise with programme teams regularly to ensure their needs are being met in terms of purchases and contractual obligations.
• Manage and work with quality control team to ensure that contractors are meeting their contractual obligations in terms of content and specification of goods provided.
• As needed, provide guidance on contract matters to project managers or operational staff, including training to new project managers and other employees in contracting practices and procedures.
• Work with Finance to ensure adherence to broader finance and risk requirements defined in donor agreements or donor policy.
• Be responsible for full and proper implementation of Mercy Corps systems of procurement and contract management, compliance and control as described in Mercy Corps field manuals contained in the Office in a Box.
• Work with finance compliance to mitigate fraud, conflict of interest and legal ramifications of Mercy Corps activities.

Operations Management – Contract Management

• Oversee major functions of contract management and execution.
• Serve as the MC point of contact on contractual matters for major vendor contracts.
• Manage a transparent and fair supplier contacts.
• Develop a detailed and time bound project procurement plan implementation for each vendor during commodity deliveries.
• Monitor and shepherd review, approval, reconciliation, and amendment processes to ensure timely movement of contract actions through the MC workflow processes.
• Liaise with vendors on troubleshooting contractual obligations and demonstrate communications in writing.
• Liaise with finance (both Turkey and HQ) to ensure compliance of contract implementation with Mercy Corps and donor requirements.
• Reconcile documents such are invoices and waybills with Mercy Corps GRNs and other data before submitting payments to finance.
• Process payments to finance for contracts based on payment terms and conditions.
• Advise when specific tenders and market-testing exercises need to be conducted, and provide commercial advice, assistance and/or leadership of these exercises.
• Ensure that signed contracts are communicated to all relevant parties to provide contract visibility and awareness, and assist with interpretation of contract terms to support implementation.
• Develop contract management system including control mechanism for monitoring of implementation as well as for troubleshooting contractual obligations.
• Prepare cash monthly cash projections for on-going contractual obligations.
• Monitor transaction compliance (milestones, deliverables, invoicing, etc.).
• Monitor contract close-outs, extensions and/or renewal.
• Prepare necessary documents and justification in case of contract terms are to be changed during implementation.
• Prepare amendments to contracts as necessary to reflect changes in contract terms and conditions.
• Provide regular reviews and updates on status of ongoing contracts to Expanded Strategic Management Team.
• Adapt language in standard Mercy Corps contract templates to create new contract templates that meet the specific needs of the MC Turkey office.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge on relevant country business norms, legal conditions, and customs, and ensure this information is incorporated in contract agreements as required.
• Coordinate closely with Mercy Corps headquarters staff to secure additional technical, financial, contract, and legal support as needed.
• Develop and implement procedures for contract management and administration in compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies. As appropriate, contribute to or influence company policies.
• Conduct field visits to vendors place to ensure vendors project implementation capacities remains strong
• Monitor vendor satisfaction with our terms and conditions and contracting practices.
• Recommend changes to improve Mercy Corps ability to procure needed goods and services on an ongoing basis.

Personal Leadership

• Consistently demonstrate flexibility, resilience and ability to maintain positive relationships and composure, even under difficult circumstances.
• Maintain high ethical standards and treat people with respect and dignity.
• Demonstrate an awareness of his/her own strengths and development needs.

Representation

• Interface with vendors and suppliers for coordinating supply chain and commodity delivery via the appropriate communication channels.
• Communicate with vendors in a manner consistent to the program team in terms of paperwork and documentation of goods.
• Establish and maintain productive and transparent relationships with all stakeholders, vendors, suppliers, etc.
• 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.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• At least 5 years of field experience in Contract Management, Procurement, Administrative or Logistics support functions with a humanitarian non-governmental organization.
• Experience setting up and managing contract management, procurement and/or tender management systems.
• Minimum of two years’ experience in humanitarian assistance field emergency/relief settings.
• Demonstrated understanding of complex emergencies, related security concerns, and appropriate responses to such emergencies.
• Excellent English writing and communications skills are required.
• Excellent negotiation, representation, skills and the ability to work comfortably with an ethnically diverse staff.
• Effective verbal and written communication, organizational, prioritization and computer skills in Microsoft Office applications.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Critical to demonstrate successful written communication with vendors and address issues to be reflected in contract management systems.
• Proven ability to solve problems independently without direct supervision.
• Knowledge of Arabic and/or Turkish desirable.
• Knowledge of Mercy Corps systems and procedures (particularly Mercy Corps Procurement and Logistics systems) highly desirable.