Partnerships Manager

Job Title: Partnerships Manager

Location: Warsaw, Poland

Contract duration: 12 months

Reports to: Director of Programme Operations

Staff reporting to this post: Capacity Building Coordinator

Starting date: As soon as possible

Travel: The position will require occasional travel

DRS is looking, on behalf of our client and Global Humanitarian Organization, for a skilled Partnerships Manager to lead the overall capacity assessment process, as well as capacity building plans, ensuring partners have the tools and support to deliver on projects, strategy and services for children in Poland; support program managers with the tools and approaches for partnership engagement for effective programming.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

General:

• Participate in planning and developing a civil society partnership-based programme.
• Lead the development of the partnership capacity strengthening programme.
• Support the Programme Managers in preparing, revising and following up on project implementation plans, capacity-building plans and reporting requirements.
• Coordinate with technical departments to train partners and support them in implementing quality interventions aligned with standards and humanitarian principles.
• Support the Programme Managers and the partners in the proposal and budget development.
• Maintain a well-structured filing system for all partnership projects, including project reporting, photos, videos, and other means of verification, as well as detailed beneficiary records.
• Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours and work with incoming surge teams in the event of crisis or emergency.
• Manage the partners’ documents and beneficiaries’ records confidentially and professionally.
• Any other tasks assigned by their line manager.

Partnerships

• Identify/assess potential new partners as per standards and requirements.
• Supervise sub-grant allocation processes (negotiated agreements and call for proposals).
• Take the lead in reviewing civil society partner grant applications.
• Manage Partner-Donor reporting flow, including verification of Partner accountability documentation.
• With the Programme/Field Manager, coordinate with different partners and stakeholders to guarantee better coordination by attending different working group meetings.
• Prepare the terms of partnership/MoUs and any sub-grant agreements with the verified and approved partners.
• Keep track of technical, operational, HR, financial and grants questions with partners and facilitate support from relevant departments to ensure continuous support throughout the programme cycle.
• Follow up on partners’ payments and facilitate the process with the finance team and partners by providing all the needed documents per procedure.
• Work with other functional departments to participate in verification visits of partners throughout the project cycle.

Capacity Building:

• In coordination with relevant functions, assess partners’ institutional capacity through a thorough assessment to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• Lead on Developing and following up on the partner’s Capacity building plan and outcomes in line with the capacity-building assessment results.
• Facilitate and follow up on providing technical advice by technical / Support departments or external actors to provide capacity building and monitoring services to partners.
• Support partners in grants management and ensure that the partners meet accountability, reporting and MEAL requirements.
• Review partners’ narrative and financial submitted reports and provide feedback to the programme Manager and ongoing coaching and monitoring to partners at all levels.

Strategy:

• Supporting the development of and review of the partnership approach/strategy to ensure that it remains flexible to the needs of Poland.
• Where required, support partners and staff develop joint program strategies and approaches to be more effective in our work.
• Contribute to strategic discussions around how the organization supports and collaborates with partners.
• Ensure our commitment to ethical and responsible partnership is adhered to by all staff.
• Ensure partnership activities are implemented in accordance with best practices as well as our policies and processes.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling the organization’s values.
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for personal development and encourages others to do the same.
• Widely shares their personal vision for the organization and engages and motivates others.
• Future-orientated thinks strategically.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
• Commitment to member services, capacity building and development of partners through oversight and collaboration.
• Organisational development support to implementing partners. Specifically supports developing their systems like HR system, finance system, procurement and admin systems etc.
• Willingness to work in emergency contexts and deployment on emergency programs as part of our commitment to the dual mandate.
• Values diversity and sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• Honest encourages openness and transparency.
• Commitment to the organization’s Values.

Qualifications and competencies:

Essential:

• Postgraduate or Master’s degree in a relevant field
• Minimum 5 years of work experience in the humanitarian sector/with NGOs, with at least 2 years experience in partnership-based programming or community-based programming
• Good skills and experience in all aspects of programme cycle management – design and development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
• Experience in organizational capacity development, training, mentoring and coaching
• Excellent training, facilitation and capacity-building skills
• Proven commitment to participatory approaches
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills and the ability to think and plan strategically
• An excellent team player with good skills in teamwork and a consultative approach to decision making
• Demonstrable experience in M&E and beneficiary accountability
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, including a good track record of report writing
• Excellent written and spoken English and fluency in Polish
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances
• Commitment to the values, mission and principles of the organization

Desirable:

• National level representation with key stakeholders and co-ordination with other NGOs/UN
• Proven experience in field-level representation with key stakeholders and co-ordination with other NGOs/UN is highly desirable

Child Safeguarding:

The responsibilities of this post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children and young people.