Compliance and Risk Technical Advisor (N-25-05)

Compliance and Risk Technical Advisor (N-25-05)

The International Potato Center (CIP) is looking for a highly qualified and experienced Compliance and Risk Technical Advisor to join our team. This position is instrumental in ensuring adherence to organizational policies, donor requirements, and international standards, as well as identifying and mitigating potential risks to CIP’s operations. The selected candidate will report to the Director of Operations.

Key responsibilities:

• Cultivate a culture of risk awareness by leading and supporting initiatives to enhance skills and capabilities in governance, risk, and compliance across CIP.
• Periodically review and assess the effectiveness of our Policy Framework, Risk Appetite, and Risk Operational Guidelines and tools, and propose adjustments as necessary.
• Strengthen and establish a globally consistent organizational Risk and Controls Program.
• Identify root causes of issues, collaborate with control and process owners to recommend holistic corrective actions and improvements, and provide oversight to ensure proper escalation in accordance with Issue Management and Escalation Policies.
• Ensure compliance with the Escalations Policy and manage all related tracking and reporting processes (Risk Registers).
• Oversee risk and control assessments or coordination for programs across various risk categories, ensuring the presence of sufficient subject matter expertise to manage these risks effectively within the organization.
• Lead Internal Control Framework initiatives, supporting the Director of Operations in strengthening the second line of defense.
• Coordinate with process owners to ensure process narratives and flowcharts are current and accurate.
• Regularly review Segregation of Duties matrices and propose mitigation actions for emerging conflicts.
• Conduct periodic testing of control design deficiencies and operational effectiveness, reporting findings and recommendations as part of the second line of defense.
• Monitor financial compliance with donor grants and recommend process improvements.
• Review and coordinate follow-up on Internal and External Audit observations.
• Coordinate Donor Project (External and Internal) Audits globally with all programs and corporate service units.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in Risk Management, Compliance or other related functions
• Risk/Control and second line and/or audit background is preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills for interfacing with all levels of senior management and self-confidence to drive decisions across the various partners.
• Excellent written, verbal, and analytical skills.