Internal Risk Management Group Project Manager; National Position; Kampala

Internal Risk Management Group (IRMG) Background

In line with global trends, international non-government organizations in Uganda are increasingly identifying fraud, corruption, safeguarding lapses and code of conduct breaches, including sexual exploitation and abuse, as growing risks to the aid sector’s ability to deliver accountable and high impact programs. As well as undermining program effectiveness, these issues also have the even more serious potential to compromise the safety and protection of program participants or staff and erode the trust of the populations being served by aid agencies and the sector as a whole. Thus, in the interests of accountability and safeguarding, the management and mitigation of these risks must be taken seriously.

In order to address these challenges, fifty one INGOs based in Uganda have taken the initiative to form an Internal Risk Management Group (IRMG) – attended only by country directors. The members of the IRMG envisage the creation of a safe space to discuss misconduct and risk issues, raise awareness of risks with the entire INGO community, and share information and experience, including best practice in detecting misconduct and handling allegations. Organizations will support and learn from each other, share information and generally increase the risk management capacity and accountability of the humanitarian and development sector in Uganda.   In 2019, membership was extended to national NGOs, and the aim is to integrate an additional 10 NGOs into the IRMG in 2020.  After an initial year of funding from DFID, the IRMG is in the process of securing funding from Sida for phase 2.

The IRMG will be facilitated by a full time project manager, hosted by Mercy Corps.  The position reports on a regular basis to the chair of the IRMG Steering Committee, and day to day management of the project manager is assumed by Mercy Corps.   

The goal of the IRMG is to increase the safety of NGO program beneficiaries and improve the overall impact, accountability and effectiveness of NGO programs in Uganda.   The specific objective is to mitigate the risks of fraud, corruption and sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse or breaches of organizational codes of conduct by INGO staff and partners including local partner organizations, sub awardees, vendors, contractors and volunteers.  This will be done by three interrelated outcomes:

Outcome 1: (continuation of Y1 project) Improve organizational culture concerning dealing with fraud and corruption, through implementing the recommendations from year one assessment of best practices and gaps on fraud and corruption prevention, detection and management. 

Outcome 2: Improve the safeguarding practices of INGOs and reduce the risks of SHEA and child abuse in NGO programs.

Outcome 3:   Leverage lessons learned and knowledge of the IRMG to benefit the wider civil society sector in Uganda to improve on managing wrongful conduct, including safeguarding practices and the prevention of fraud and corruption.

Overall Responsibility

The IRMG Project Manager will provide leadership and management of the second phase of IRMG activities.  Working closely with the IRMG Steering Committee, s/he will ensure that the project meets targets and deliverables on-time and within budget.   The IRMG project manager will take direct responsibility for ensuring all activities related to improvements in internal risk management (prevention, detection and management of corruption and fraud) are implemented according to plan for both INGO and NGO members, and will work closely with the Safeguarding advisor to make sure all activities related to improvements in safeguarding for INGO and NGO members are completed on time, on scope and on budget.  The Project Manager will supervise the Safeguarding Advisor and ensure accountability to Mercy Corps policies and donor rules and regulations.  S/he will coordinate closely with the MEL Advisor at Mercy Corps to ensure appropriate MEL activities are planned, and supervise the management of MEL activities on the ground, ensuring that analysis of data coming from the ground feeds into the learning agenda for the programs, and ensures higher level impact for program participants (ie - INGOs and NGOs operating in Uganda who are members of IRMG).   He/she will report and work closely with the chair of the IRMG Steering Committee and MC Country director to engage in program representation to donors, relevant government entities, partners, other implementers and external stakeholders.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Staff and Program Management

• Conduct overall administrative management of the initiative including work planning, budget management and reporting to donors.
• Facilitate monthly meetings of the IRMG, and support information gathering and analysis to support effective discussions during these meetings.
• Oversight of all staff members on the project, coordinate and implement activities in line with approved project proposal, budget and within the agreed time frames.
• Ensure compliance to all Mercy Corps, Donor and Government of Uganda policies, procedures and guidelines that relate to the implementation of the program with limited supervision.
• Ensure project deadlines, quality standards and targets are met, redesigning deadlines, quality standards and targets as needed.
• Lead the coordination, management and motivation of project team through ensuring that they have clear objectives/individual work plans as part of performance management and receive constructive feedback on their performance. Ensure work plans are designed collectively with staff and other key stakeholders.

Technical Leadership on Activities to support IRMG members to improve Internal Risk Management Practice (focusing on Prevention, Detection and Management of Corruption and Fraud cases)

• Coordinate dissemination of assessment of risk management and accountability practices among INGOs working in Uganda (completed in phase 1)
• Coordinate dissemination of guidelines for risk management and accountability for INGOs in Uganda;
• Work closely with a consultant to carry out an assessment of specific internal risk management concerns for local NGOs to supplement the already existing assessment for INGOs, and adaptation of guidelines based on these.
• Facilitate awareness raising sessions and training to increase INGO capacity to prevent, mitigate and respond to risks. This will include working with training providers to adapt/develop curriculum taking into account the needs and priorities of INGOs of varying sizes.
• Facilitate awareness raising sessions and training to increase local NGO capacity to prevent, mitigate and respond to risks. This will include working with training providers to adapt/develop curriculum taking into account the needs and priorities of INGOs of varying sizes.
• Support advocacy by the group to a wide range of donors and UN agencies.
• Coordinate establishment and support to subgroups of IRMG member staff on specific topics, identified in the risk assessment, during the workshops or in other IRMG learning and sharing forums.
• Other activities as agreed by the IRMG Steering Committee and in line with project scope, budget and timeframe.

Partnership Management/ External Representation

• Work closely with the Chair and Co-Chair of the IRMG Steering Committee to coordinate and prepare for communication between the IRMG and donors, the Ugandan Government and other stakeholders
• Work closely with the safeguarding advisor to support active engagement with the UNHCR led Steering Committee on Refugee Feedback, Referral and Resolution Mechanism (FRRM) and the common system that UNHCR plans to pilot in a number of settlements.
• Coordinate information dissemination and advocacy workshops with targeted messaging to various stakeholders
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring positive recognition to Mercy Corps.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)

• Take a leadership role in working with the MERL Advisor / Manager at Mercy Corps to develop MEL system linked to indicators to measure program achievements.
• Coordinate data gathering and management with project staff and take overall responsibility for MEL, with technical support as required from the MERL Advisor / Manager
• Oversee scheduling and production of formal and informal reports on all aspects of program, with a high level of quality, requiring minimal revision.
• 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. Project Manager is responsible for ensuring that other staff are able to engage in this organizational learning and career development opportunities.

Program Support Operations:

• Coordinate and support of finance, operations and administration staff to ensure operational systems are in place to support field activities including logistics (transport, warehousing and asset management), procurement, security, administration and human resources.

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.

Ethics and Integrity

All Mercy Corps staff are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate highest integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination.

Supervisory Responsibility: 

Directly Supervises:  IRMG Safeguarding Advisor

Works closely with:  IRMG Steering Committee Members, Internal Risk Management Technical Consultant, IRMG member agencies, and the MEL, Finance, Operations, HR and Internal Risk Management Departments at Mercy Corps.

Reports to:   IRMG Steering Committee Chair (monthly meetings), and Mercy Corps Deputy Country Director (day-to-day management)

Qualifications, Knowledge and experience

The position will be open to national and international candidates with strong skills and a proven track record at a senior level in risk management or a related field. 

• Sc. or MA university degree in human resources, business administration, finance, accounting or a related business field is required (A certification in the field will be an advantage, e.g. CPA, CIA).
• 5 years+ related work experience with a business or not-for-profit organization;
• Proven project management experience is essential
• Experienced in delivering training or mobilizing capacity building initiatives with professionals in the NGO sector
• Strong background in compliance, safeguarding and internal controls; experience in auditing or investigating wrongful conduct preferred.
• Thorough understanding of aid accountability, codes of conduct, and principles around protection and safeguarding.
• Ability to work with various administrative and program levels in the organization;
• Strong organizational and research skills with a broad understanding of various program sectors and activities;
• Extensive knowledge of compliance and safeguarding donor rules, regulations including USAID, ECHO, DFID, UN, etc is an advantage.
• Strong interpersonal skills, diplomacy, tact and ability to achieve results collaboratively with individuals not under supervisory control.
• Skilled in collecting, synthesizing and analyzing and disseminating information.
• Self-motivated and able to deliver without close supervision.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

• A strong leader and team player, with good communication, negotiation and diplomatic skills.
• Proven ability to work independently as part of a regional team and with international professionals.
• Excellent analytical and information management skills.
• Good organizational skills and ability to work under stress
• Flexible and creative in planning and problem solving.
• Attention to detail, ability to follow procedures and meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Proven excellence maintaining professional internal and external relationships.
• A focus on building staff capacity
• A high professional standard of finance and procurement ethics as well as the willingness and ability to enforce compliance with Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures is essential.
• Understanding and strong belief in the importance of safeguarding

Living/Environmental Conditions

The IRMG Project Manager will be based in Kampala with travel field locations in Uganda. Kampala provides a secure living environment. The location is secure with unlimited freedom of movement beyond the house/office. Staff have access to medical, electricity, water, etc.

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. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Closes 24th March 2020