Partnerships Manager

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Partnerships Manager will lead the development of Save the Children Lebanon’ partnership strategy and its operationalisation. The Partnerships Manager will support the mapping and identification of new partnership opportunities, contribute to the assessment of partners’ organisational capacities, facilitate relevant capacity strengthening support, and provide ongoing support to the partner organisation throughout the project cycle.  S/he will work with programme teams and the Awards Management Unit to ensure that partner agreements are in place and donor/SCI requirements complied with by the partner organizations.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Director of Programme Operations

Partnerships Strategy

• Lead the development of Save the Children Lebanon’s partnerships strategy in conjunction with Area Managers and Technical Advisors in each of the organisation’s core programme sectors.
• Ensure that the roll out of partnership-related initiatives are adequately budgeted for
• Facilitate appropriate technical input to the development of country annual plans, area plans, sector strategies and other planning documents focused on issues related to partnerships

Partnerships Establishment 

• Assess and review the current partnership portfolio, with the aim of growing and diversifying it
• Update the existing partner mapping and explore new partnership opportunities
• Conduct the initial partnership assessment of potential partners alongside relevant colleagues from other departments, and validate findings with respective Area Managers
• Provide the relevant Area Manager and the Operations Director with a Go/No Go recommendation
• Maintain and regularly update a database for all partners and potential partners

Partnerships Management

• Work with the Awards Management Unit (AMU) to ensure that the sub-grant agreements, terms of references, terms of partnerships, as well as other relevant contractual documents are in place for existing and new partnerships
• Develops relevant tools including reporting templates, trackers, quality benchmarks, end of partnership evaluation, etc.
• Maintains a financial and narrative reporting tracker, work with the Operations Director to follow up on submission of reports, and ensures upload on relevant platforms
• Provide management advice and make relevant contributions to the settlement of partner disputes and the management and close-out of suspected or confirmed mismanagement cases and subsequent partnership termination if/when relevant

Capacity Building

• Identify priority gaps in partner capacity (sectoral, programmatic and institutional), take the lead in the development of capacity building plans for the partners and ensure that those plans are effectively implemented and resourced (liaising with logistics, HR, finance, Technical Advisors and programme staff)

• Contribute to the development of capacity development strategies and approaches for civil society organizations
• Develop simple self-assessment tools for some of the partners to help them monitor their own capacity

• Design and deliver training workshops when applicable
• Ensures coordination between the various Field Offices with regard to partnership
• Build the capacities of field teams on partnership management

Partnership Evaluation and Closeout

• Analyse results of ongoing partnerships, remote management and results on the ground to produce lessons learnt and inform strategic decision-making
• Develop phase out plans and Key Performance Indicators for partners

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE AND ATTRIBUTES:

• Post graduate or Master degree in relevant field
• Minimum 5 years’ work experience in the humanitarian sector/with NGOs, with at least 3 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, and monitoring and evaluation
• Sound understanding of remote management/monitoring practices
• Experience in organizational capacity development, training, mentoring and coaching
• Excellent training, facilitation and capacity building skills
• Proven experience in field level representation with key stakeholders and co-ordination with other NGOs/UN
• 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 team work and consultative approach to decision making
• Demonstrable experience of M&E and beneficiary accountability
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, including a good track record of report writing
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy
• A high level of written and spoken English
• 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 Save the Children