Partnership Manager, Chisinau-Moldova

Background

In response to the large-scale displacement of refugees fleeing Ukraine, NRC has set up humanitarian operations for refugees arriving in Poland, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova. NRC responds by focusing on an integrated approach that combines our sectoral areas of expertise – education, protection, urban displacement outside camps (UDOC), legal aid (ICLA), WASH, and shelter – working to a great extent with local partners. NRC’s Country Office in the Republic of Moldova and Romania has one of the largest and most complex portfolios of local partners within NRC.

Role and responsibilities

The Partnership Manager will lead the development and implementation of the partnership strategy that contributes to programme sustainability and high-quality programmes.

Generic responsibilities

1. Lead the development of the partnership strategy in the Republic of Moldova and Romania by adapting the global NRC partnership toolkit to the Ukraine response context.
2. Pursue and develop relationships with various local/national stakeholders.
3. Supervise the management of the full cycle of the Project Implementation Agreements (PIA) process with local partners, including due diligence and organisational capacity assessments.
4. Oversee the capacity-building action plan to strengthen the processes, tools, and programmatic outreach of local partners.
5. Manage the development of a humanitarian coordination platform pilot.
6. Contribute to a harmonised partnership approach between NRC programme response and NRC partners, in line with NRC policy, guidance notes and toolkits.
7. Support partner’s adherence to the NRC policies, tools, handbooks, and guidelines; provide compliance spot-check/audit support.
8. Supervise and coach the partnership staff.

Specific responsibilities

Partnership Unit Management:

• Lead and facilitate the development of NRC ROMO’s Partnership Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and tools, based on Lessons Learnt and feedback.
• Facilitate NRC staff across all departments (including AO, Support, Programme Unit, etc.) in engaging with and applying NRC ROMO’s partnership SOP and tools throughout the project cycle.
• The Partnerships Manager will participate (either through the development of tools for the mapping or active engagement) in the identification of potential partners in Moldova and Romania
• Build a network of key partners and stakeholders, keeping abreast of evolving trends (social, economic, and political), including the application of innovation to partnership and project development.
• Lead a structured approach to partnerships, including the development of tools for identifying, assessing, capacity building, monitoring, and evaluating partnerships.
• Support the Head of Programme and other relevant senior staff in organising meetings and engagements with relevant local actors, and during meetings, follow-ups, and negotiations with partners to achieve the most cost-effective and mutually beneficial terms for NRC engagement with prospective partners.
• Proactively solve conflicts and address issues and misunderstandings that could occur between NRC and various partners.
• Conduct field visits to partner activities and provide coaching and mentoring when possible and relevant.
• Develop and maintain effective and positive working relationships with relevant stakeholders.
• Contribute to the mapping of national and local NGOs, Community Based Organisations (CBOs), and civil society actors.

Project Implementation Agreement (PIA) management:

• Collaborate with the partnership team to ensure that donor requirements/procedures are reflected in the PIAs and modification requests.
• Support in negotiating new projects and programs with partners, including coordinating technical and financial requirements in line with donors.
• Supervise or directly draft partnership agreements and/or contractual documents required for the signature and implementation of new projects.
• Work actively with the protection, accountability, grants, and compliance units to ensure strong mainstreaming of core NRC principles across operational partners.
• Provide technical support to partners, particularly on M&E, PIA(/grants) management issues and financial management and compliance.
• Ensure the adherence of the intervention with NRC’s project cycle management approach.

Capacity building:

• Oversee capacity-building activities aiming at ensuring smooth implementation of the partnership agreements, but also at supporting the overall development of the NGO partner.
• Supervise the monitoring of partner learning progress and the application of the transferred knowledge, identifying and reporting challenges and achievements.
• Assess the partner NGO’s priority needs in terms of capacity development.
• Actively integrate partner feedback into tools and guidance and ensure strong mutual learning between NRC and its partners.

Humanitarian Platform Coordination:

• Conduct consultations with potential partners to outline the content, scope, and conditions for the partnership.
• Oversee the development of a strategic approach when coordinating and engaging with civil society
• Supervise and support the mapping of all relevant local/national actors (NGOs, CBOs, CSOs, national/local authorities) participating in humanitarian coordination platforms.
• Co-design the pilot and roll it out of NRC’s humanitarian platform approach with local actors.

Generic professional competencies:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related area. Master’s degree preferred but not mandatory
• Minimum 5 years of experience with NGO and/or international organisation, preferably with grants management or partnership-related duties
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Ability to coordinate tasks and work processes and work with short deadlines
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal
• Fluency of Romanian and/or Russian (speaking, reading, writing) will be an added value

Context/Specific skills, knowledge, and experience:

• Diplomacy and facilitation skills are essential
• Knowledge of the Ukrainian refugee context in neighbouring countries is an asset
• Excellent training and facilitation skills
• Excellent coordination, communication (verbal and written) and networking skills
• Experience working with national and local civil society organizations
• Experience designing and implementing social programmes with various stakeholders
• Advanced computer skills, especially in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook