Location: Mercy Corps office location, with flexibility to work or be available in the PST or EST time zones – Remote
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 (Temporary: 5 months, end of January 2025 to end of June 2025, Parental Leave Coverage)
Salary:
- US Starting Salary for this role will be USD $76,800 - $91,200 commensurate on experience.
- Based on local benchmark for candidates outside the United States.
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. 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.
The Team
The Development team works to raise private funds, cultivating and maintaining relationships with private donors; define the agency’s brand, raising our public profile and sharing stories about our work by engaging with the media, the public, and our supporters; and producing a wide range of online and offline communications. We are passionate about Mercy Corps’ mission and dedicated to supporting our worldwide team that’s improving the lives of 30 million people in more than 40 countries.
In support of that mission, the Corporate and Foundations team (CFT) manages Mercy Corps’ relationships with major US corporations and foundations by co-creating strategically restricted grants, leading Big Bet proposal processes, and seeking flexible funding. We set bold agency-wide strategies, manage relationships with partners, and support relationships initiated by our Development team members and Program team members around the world.
The Position
The Climate: Possible Campaign Program Manager will drive the effective management and continuous improvement of the Climate: Possible, a core component of Mercy Corps’ Climate Smart Commitment. This campaign aims to raise $250 million from private donors to advance climate resilience for communities and create transformational impact for millions facing the climate crisis. The Program Manager will oversee the campaign workplan, lead regular working group and leadership team meetings, and coordinate quarterly workshops and progress reporting toward Climate: Possible goals. This role involves maintaining a suite of strategic climate solutions, managing Climate: Possible Pooled Fund initiatives, and supporting high-level donors and prospect engagement efforts. The Program Manager will facilitate cross-departmental collaboration to advance campaign goals (including with Development, Technical Resources & Quality (TRaQ), Regional, Finance, and Programs teams), coordinate regular Development team updates, and drive opportunities to advance fundraising efforts through new campaign assets, technical engagements, and an 'Advisory' Group. Additionally, they will manage impact reporting, support the annual climate donor report, and assist with KPI tracking and pipeline management, as needed.
Essential Responsibilities
CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT
- Oversee the campaign workplan and calendar, ensuring activities remain on track.
- Lead bi-weekly Climate: Possible Development Team Working Group Meetings; including agenda development, member engagement, and follow-up on action items.
- Manage monthly Climate: Possible Leadership Committee Meetings; including input from team leaders, agenda development, and follow-up on action items.
- Coordinate quarterly updates and reporting for Goal 4 of Mercy Corps’ Climate Smart Commitment.
- Continuously identify and implement improvements to the management and operations of the campaign in the most efficient, effective, and equitable ways possible.
IMPACT REPORTING
- Support the finalization of the annual climate donor report; including overseeing project management, supporting report design (as needed), and ensuring dissemination to donors, prospects, and MC teams.
- Manage a system to track and report the impact and reach of climate programs, based on a set of harmonized results measures (including restricted and flexible grants), and ensure Development Team grants are in compliance.
- Develop and manage anchor donor engagement, including bi-annual impact updates and leadership briefings.
STRATEGY AND FUNDRAISING SUPPORT
- Oversee the Climate: Possible Pooled Fund initiatives; including allocation and financial management of fund and awards, tracking initiatives and support/ check-ins as needed, and identifying donor engagement opportunities.
- Support the Senior Directors of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships and the Office of the Chief Climate Officer in launching a second round of Climate: Possible Pooled Fund initiatives, as needed.
- Maintain and update a suite of strategic climate solutions in collaboration with Regional and Country Teams, TRaQ, and Relationship Managers, to utilize in pursuit of private fundraising opportunities; this includes revisiting the suite quarterly with Regional Teams and provide ongoing process support to Regional Teams and Relationship Managers.
- Contribute to the creation and refinement of new and existing campaign assets based on the development of strategic climate solutions and gaps identified in consultation with Relationship Managers and Deputies.
- Ensure progress of a Climate: Possible ‘Advisory’ Group in partnership with the Chief Development Officer and Chief Climate Officer; including support of the overall strategy and individual members’ engagement plans.
INTERNAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION
- Manage quarterly Climate: Possible Fundraiser Meetings; including developing the agenda, coordinating contributions from individual team members, developing the deck and/or supporting materials, and following up with post-meeting action items.
- Develop and distribute the bi-monthly Climate: Possible Development Team newsletter; including tracking content over time, soliciting input from team members, and engaging team members on improvements.
- Support quarterly ‘Climate Connect’ technical engagements with TRaQ, program, and research teams to strengthen Development Team technical knowledge, as needed.
- Facilitate communications to Mercy Corps leadership about Climate: Possible, as requested by the Chief Development Officer.
- Collaborate with the Development Team and other Mercy Corps teams to seek out and implement ways to enhance internal accessibility and knowledge-sharing of the campaign.
PIPELINE AND OPERATIONS SUPPORT
- Regularly review Climate: Possible revenue and pipeline dashboard, addressing issues with Development Operations, as needed.
- Support accurate campaign pipeline management, in coordination with the Director of Fundraising Strategy & Services and Development Operations, as needed.
- Track cumulative Climate: Possible KPIs, in partnership with Team Leads and Development Operations.
Supervisory Responsibility
The Climate Possible Campaign Program Manager has no supervisory responsibilities.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Senior Director, Foundation Partnerships
Works Directly With: Senior Directors of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships, Strategic Partnerships and Philanthropy, and MCinE Development, Director of Fundraising Strategy & Services, and VIP of High Impact Philanthropy; key stakeholders in Development, including the Communications and Operations teams; the Office of the Chief Climate Officer; Technical Resources and Quality (TRaQ); Regional Program Teams, including Regional leaderships, Program Officers, Country Directors, Technical Advisors; and Finance.
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills
- Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) and 5+ years of progressive experience in increasingly responsible roles with program and/or fundraising teams.
- Proven ability to effectively manage projects while prioritizing competing priorities.
- Excellent project and work management skills, including the ability to organize tasks, establish priorities, and follow through in a timely manner.
- Understanding of climate adaptation, international aid, and development required.
- Experience in fundraising campaigns is a plus.
- Proficiency in English (spoken, written, and reading) is required. Fluency in an additional language, such as French, Spanish, or Arabic, is a plus.
- Excellent writing, editing, and communication skills are required, with a proven ability to “translate” technical language into compelling content.
- Outstanding written and verbal communications skills.
- Strong problem-solving, interpersonal, and intercultural skills.
- Experience developing and executing strategies within diverse, international, and distributed teams is highly desirable.
- Intermediate or higher proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Teams, SharePoint, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
Success Factors The successful Climate: Possible Program Manager will be an outstanding project manager and relationship builder, particularly with internal Mercy Corps stakeholders. They will skillfully coordinate cross-functional teams to complete projects and work required, help Mercy Corps reach its campaign goals, and support communities in strengthening their resilience to climate change. They will be able to articulate Mercy Corps’ mission and engagement opportunities with passion and professionalism. At Mercy Corps, we value team members who embrace curiosity, act with integrity, and foster an environment of inclusion and collaboration. Our successful team members work effectively in evolving and dynamic environments, prioritize clear communication, and build collaborative relationships across departments. They interact with all global team members with an inclusive approach and excel at multitasking, meeting deadlines, and processing information to support our changing program activities. Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions This position is open to any Mercy Corps office location and offers flexibility for remote work; the role requires flexibility to work and be available in either PST (Pacific Standard Time) or EST (Eastern Standard Time) to facilitate effective team collaboration across time zones. This is a temporary assignment to cover parental leave for approximately 5 months, starting at the end of January 2025 and extending through the end of June 2025. No travel is expected or required for this position. Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a business trip to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps'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 and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. 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 an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org). Covid-19 Vaccine Policy for US-Based Employees Mercy Corps has determined that, in an effort to protect the health, safety, and well-being of all Mercy Corps employees working in the United States, all U.S.-based employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, regardless of prior COVID-19 infection status. This policy is necessary to ensure not only the safety of our workforce, but the ongoing functionality of the organization. This policy will be revised as needed to comply with federal, state, and local requirements, and to respond to changing guidance from public health authorities. For new employees this requirement goes into effect within 10 business days of employment. Team members that travel are expected to comply with host-country requirements, including vaccinations. Failure to comply may impact your employment. Proof of vaccination or exemption must be provided.