General context
Médecins Sans Frontières is an international independent medical-humanitarian organization, which offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.
MSF is a civil society initiative that brings together individuals committed to the assistance of other human beings in crisis. As such MSF is by choice an association. Each individual working with MSF does it out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF.
The MSF movement is built around six operational directorates. MSF OCBA is one of those directorates. The operations are implemented by field teams and the mission coordination teams; together with the organizational units based in Barcelona and decentralized in Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. The field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit and other departments supporting operations, including Finance and Projects & IT.
General objective
MSF OCBA needs to define its new roadmap for finance management information systems to be implemented between 2024 and 2027, to count on more robust, modular technology architectures that constitute the basis for future development of financial practices: multi-year forecasting, better treasury management, intersectional interoperability, continuous integration with digital end-user tools and, overall, improving transparency & accountability towards donors. MSF OCBA is as well working in the implementation of its Supply Chain processes through a new, best-of-breed ERP technology through its AKIBA project.
With the overall goal in mind for the future financial systems, the initial phase of this project will include:
- Identifying the needs and processes related to financial management in the organization, both at field and HQ level.
- Analyzing the context of technological solutions that could respond to the needs, and particularly whether the technology selected for the AKIBA project could fulfill the needs to maximize efficiency and data integration benefits.
- Confirm critical financial processes and structure to be integrated with the future supply chain solutions.
- Define the project delivery, change management strategy and detailed estimates that support decision making on the go/no-go for implementation and deployment.
In this context, the Financial Information Systems (FIS) Project Manager will be initially responsible for the successful delivery of the initial phase of the project. In the case that MSF OCBA decides to go for the subsequent implementation and deployment based on the results this initial phase, the FIS Project Manager would potentially lead and manage the full cycle project.
The FIS Project Manager will work within the Projects & IT team, and initially s/he will be hierarchically and functionally accountable to the Projects & IT Lead. The FIS Project Manager will report to the Project Steering Committee for governance and key decision making, and more specifically to the Finance Director/Finance Director Deputy in their role of sponsorship.
Main responsabilities, functions and tasks
Manage the plan and the scope of the project
- Assist in the definition of project scope and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility.
- Develop project management & execution plans and manage their implementation.
- Manage day to day work alongside the project team and ensures project targets (scope, schedule, cost, quality) are constantly monitored to ensure project delivery & success.
- Ensure that the project is delivered on-time, within scope and within budget, managing any changes to those constraints prior proper validations.
Manage the project budget and resources
- Meet budgetary objectives and makes adjustments to project constraints based on financial analysis and prior approval of the sponsor / steering group.
- Constantly monitor cost with the support of the Finance Department and review invoices to ensure that proper payment timings and allocation.
Manage suppliers & third parties
- Lead any tender processes linked to the project and related contracting processes, with the participation of the designated internal stakeholders and the support of different teams (PMO, Procurement, Legal, DPO, etc.), in order to count on the most suitable services and suppliers for achieving the objectives of the project.
- Ensure the appropriate execution of the administrative tasks required for the project.
- Establish and maintain relationships with third parties / vendors that participate in the project, coordinating as well joint work between internal resources and third parties/vendors for a flawless execution of the project.
Manage the project team
- Directly manage the assigned project team to ensure project objectives and stakeholders’ expectations are met.
- Work closely with other roles, such as managers, subject matter experts, and those involved with business analysis, to ensure the project objectives are aligned with other projects and with overall MSF strategic ambitions.
Manage stakeholders, communication & change
- Work with the IT Leadership and the Finance Direction to understand the strategic objectives of the project and ensure, the alignment with those of the Finance Department and overall for MSF OCBA social mission.
- Lead communications with the steering group, sponsorship, team members, and other stakeholders, including providing direction and vision for the success of the project.
- Closely manage relationships with the steering group, relevant stakeholders and overall OCBA staff through appropriate meetings, targeted communications, reports, expectation management, gathering and providing feedback.
- Ensure successful relationship management by building trust, satisfying concerns, seeking consensus, balancing competing and/or opposing needs, applying persuasion, negotiation, compromise, and conflict resolution skills, developing and nurturing personal and professional networks.
Manage risks, opportunities and issues
- Manage project risks to minimize their impact, and similarly manages project opportunities to maximize their potential benefit. This includes defining mitigation / maximization strategies and plans, as well as their follow up.
- Initiate, record, manage and resolve project issues, that could arise during the lifecycle of the project, and escalate when needed for appropriate decision making.
- Work with the IT leadership and the Finance Direction, as well as other key stakeholders, to address political and strategic issues that may impact the project.
Manage project control & reporting
- Perform quality control on the project throughout development (planning) and monitoring project metrics to maintain the standards expected.
- Conduct project review and create detailed reports on performance and status.
Apply standard frameworks and IT overall guidelines, participate in cross project coordination, and manage project documentation
- Ensure MSF standard Project Management guidelines are followed, with the support of the PMO & IT Governance unit, though always adapting practices to ensure smooth and successful management of the project.
- Carefully observe and ensure implementation of guidelines and policies related to information security/cybersecurity and privacy compliance, establishing the required coordination mechanisms with the Information Security team (IT) and the DPO (GRC).
- Involve key areas in Projects & IT for key technology decision making, and very specially with the Architecture & New Solutions area, carefully ensuring that the future Finance Information Systems are fully aligned and integrated into the overall OCBA technological ecosystem and are optimized for efficient service provisioning and future business-as-usual running mode.
- With the support of the P&IT Lead, proactively interact and coordinate work with other project managers and teams, to ensure potential cross-impacts between projects is properly managed, and resources are prioritized in the best way to meet overall MSF strategic ambitions. Strong coordination will be specifically required with the AKIBA (Supply Chain) project team.
- The PM is responsible for all project documentation, and oversees their communication in/out, ensuring they are properly gathered and stored or archived in MSF information management systems.
Selection criteria
- Academic background: advanced degree in computer science, engineering or business management.
- Min. 6 years’ experience working with business applications, from which at least 4 years in project management, ideally with strong experience having led the implementation of an ERP solution.
- Demonstrable relevant knowledge on key financial concepts and processes is a must to succeed in this role.
- Managerial acumen and strong communication skills, with the ability of translating complex technical concepts into easy to understand ideas.
- Excellence in key project management disciplines: change management & transitioning, stakeholder management, communications, budget & cost management, risk management.
- Relevant knowledge of some of the top market ERP technologies (SAP, MS Dynamics, Oracle, etc.), data integration, cloud solutions.
- Good knowledge and experience with project management frameworks and methodologies: PMBOK, PRINCE2, agile & hybrid delivery.
- Used to work in matrix reporting environment with various stakeholders.
- Fluency in English and Spanish is required; French will be an asset.
- Field experience with MSF or other humanitarian organizations will be considered an asset, even more in the case of having managed finances in an MSF mission.
Conditions
- Position based in any MSF-OCBA Hub (Barcelona, MSF-Spain office delegations, Amman, Dakar or Nairobi). Final location will be subject to the employability of the preselected candidate (residency, work permit, etc.).
- Full-time job.
- Duration: 1 year with possible extension.
- Annual gross salary: HQ-4A (divided into 12 monthly payments) + secondary benefits based on the MSF-OCBA Reward Policy.
- Starting date: ASAP.
How to apply
To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter:
Closing date: February 19th, 2023, 23:59 CET (Central European Time).