Field Service Advance Team Lead, Togo

**The compensation range for this position is $55,000–$60,000. This is a full-time, 5 months fixed-term assignment based on-site in Togo, with the selected candidate required to be in-country by October 26. The listed compensation range applies to U.S.-based hires; actual compensation may vary based on the selected candidate’s location**.

Application Deadline: October 11.

Mercy Ships is seeking an experienced Field Service Advance Team Lead for its work in Togo. The Field Service Advance Team Lead leads Mercy Ships’ mobile Advance Team and is accountable for the delivery of country-specific Advance activities required to prepare for vessel arrival and Field Service implementation.

Working in partnership with the Country Director, the role leads a multidisciplinary team of specialist liaisons and coordinates Advance planning, operational readiness, risk management, stakeholder coordination, reporting and issue resolution. The role ensures Advance activities are delivered against an integrated readiness timeline and that responsibilities, commitments and operational knowledge are effectively transitioned into Field Service operations.

How You Will Contribute:

Advance Team Leadership & Capability
•    Lead, coach, develop and manage Advance Team personnel and specialist liaisons, establishing clear priorities and accountability for delivery.

•    Allocate work and ensure individual responsibilities, milestones and deadlines are understood and managed.

•    Recruit, onboard and develop Advance Team members as required, including succession planning and longer-term capability development.

•    Promote consistent standards, tools, processes and ways of working across country Advances.

•    Build an effective multidisciplinary team culture that works collaboratively with Country Teams, ship leadership and technical functions.

•    Contribute to the continued development of Mercy Ships’ Advance model and organizational readiness capability. 

Advance Planning & Delivery
•    Lead the planning and execution of Advance activities required to prepare a country for vessel arrival and Field Service implementation.

•    Develop and maintain the integrated Advance activity schedule, ensuring activities, milestones, dependencies, responsible owners and timescales are clear.

•    Coordinate specialist Advance workstreams and their interfaces with Country Team, vessel and organizational readiness activities.

•    Ensure operational requirements relating to areas such as ship logistics, customs, immigration, facilities, licensing, security, staffing and Field Service support are appropriately planned and progressed.

•    Monitor overall readiness, identify emerging risks and dependencies early, and coordinate corrective action or escalation.

•    Ensure protocol commitments and other operational requirements relevant to Field Service readiness are understood, assigned and tracked.

•    Ensure effective transition and handover into Field Service operations, including outstanding actions, commitments, risks, documentation and operational relationships. 

Stakeholder Coordination & Governance
•    Work in partnership with the Country Director, who retains overall ownership of government, institutional and external stakeholder relationships.

•    Coordinate the operational engagement required to deliver vessel arrival and Field Service readiness, using established Country Team relationships wherever possible.

•    Represent Mercy Ships in operational discussions with authorities, agencies, partners and service providers within delegated authority.

•    Participate in senior stakeholder engagements where Advance or operational expertise is required, supporting the Country Director and relevant technical leads.

•    Where new senior-level government, institutional or partner engagement is required, work through the Country Director and agreed country governance rather than independently establishing parallel relationships.

•    Ensure external discussions and commitments are aligned with the Country Strategy, agreed Field Service plans and relevant technical authority.

•    Ensure operational commitments arising through stakeholder engagement are documented, assigned, tracked and incorporated into readiness planning.

•    Provide readiness updates and recommendations to the Country Director, VP Operations, Field Service Readiness and CESG in accordance with agreed governance.

•    Escalate significant stakeholder issues, risks, delays, resource constraints or decisions outside delegated authority through established channels. 

Reporting, Handover & Continuous Improvement
•    Maintain clear visibility of Advance readiness, risks, dependencies, actions and outstanding decisions.

•    Ensure appropriate reporting and readiness updates are completed and emerging concerns escalated early.

•    Maintain effective Advance documentation, including relevant SOPs, action logs, trackers and handover materials.

•    Ensure structured handover of operational responsibilities, commitments, documentation, stakeholder information and outstanding actions to the Ship Senior Management Team and Country Team as appropriate.

•    Ensure ongoing ownership is clear before Advance demobilization.

•    Lead or contribute to after-action reviews and lessons-learned processes.

•    Maintain and improve Advance SOPs, manuals, templates, trackers and guidance.

•    Use learning across country Advances to strengthen organizational processes, team capability and future readiness.

•    Maintains alignment and upholds Mercy Ships Core Values, Code of Conduct, and follows the policies and procedures published on Compass.

•    Follows the model of Jesus and aligns with our core values by Loving God; Loving and Serving Others; Being a Person of Integrity; and a Person of Excellence in all you say and do.

•    Other duties may be assigned that are not included in the information provided in this job description. 

Ideal Candidate:

•    Demonstrated senior leadership capability, with the ability to lead, develop and hold accountable multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.

•    Strong operational planning and program/project coordination skills, with experience managing complex, interdependent workstreams.

•    Strong stakeholder engagement, diplomacy and relationship-management skills, including confidence working with senior leaders and government counterparts.

•    Strong governance, risk-management, problem-solving and decision-making capability.

•    Ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries and influence without direct authority.

•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to provide clear senior-level reporting and recommendations.

•    Strong cultural awareness and experience operating in international and cross-cultural environments.

•    Mercy Ships experience required.

•    Significant leadership experience in international and cross-cultural environments.

•    Significant experience leading operational, readiness, logistics, program or country-engagement initiatives.

•    Experience managing multidisciplinary teams and complex stakeholder networks.

•    Experience working with government authorities, senior officials and external partners preferred.

•    Experience establishing or managing governance, reporting and performance-management practices preferred.

•    Fluent in English and French; Portuguese desirable.

•    Ability and willingness to travel extensively and deploy for extended periods.

Education and/or Experience;
•    Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience. 
•    Or equivalent combination of experience and education.