Head of Partnership and Localization at Save the Children

Save the Children

Position: Head of Partnership and Localization

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa, Addis Abeba - Ethiopia

Posted date: 3 months ago

Deadline: Submition date is over

Child Safeguarding

Level 3 - the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children in Ethiopia implements a wide range of both humanitarian and development programs with partners across the country. We work with UN agencies, donors, the Government of Ethiopia, International and local organizations, research centers, academic institutions, and media agencies. The head of the Partnership & localization takes the lead as the focal point for Save the Children’s engagement with all implementation partnerships within the Save the Children Ethiopia country office, guiding and supporting a strategic process to ensure adequate attention is given to strategic thinking in partnerships, build partners’ capacities and identify opportunities for potential partnership and ensure active participation of partners in program design, project planning, and implementation. The head of partnership & localization is responsible for creating strong coordination and synergy among different functions of Save the Children across the partnership cycle and ensuring the partnership department sufficiently leads and supports throughout all stages of Partnership management.

The Senior Partnerships and Localization Manager also plays a critical role in turning the localization roadmap into action. He/she will be an experienced and entrepreneurial generalist with an depth understanding of localization and partnership management with a proven track record. H/She will engage with the Country Offices team to identify critical operational issues that hinder or accelerate localization. S/he be able to work closely in line with the roadmap and pathway to the Localization Ambition and working groups as well as the advisory councils where the outcomes and feedback influence processes, policy, system, investments, and processes at the country office and beyond. The incumbent is responsible for overseeing partners’ selection and partnership development, capacity assessment and capacity sharing of partners, conduct joint monitoring. H/she is responsible for the development and rollout of partnership-specific standards, compliance, and guidelines to relevant stakeholders. In general, the position holder plays coordination and facilitation roles across thematic, finance, programs, awards, Child Safeguarding, and other key functions to ensure the implementation of Save the Children’s internal policies and standards on partnership management & localization.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: APA Director

Staff directly reporting to this post: 1-2 staff

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Engagement with Partners

• Assess the current partnership portfolio; conduct analysis to identify Strengths, weakness opportunities and threats and inform the decision-making process
• Develop and update the partnership strategies based on the direction set out by the country office's Strategic plan/CSP and EPP plan and ensure it is rolled out to all relevant functions within the organization and scalability to all partners.
• Facilitate regular dialogue, review meetings, and information sharing with partners including government, non-government, research, academics, and other types of partners
• Facilitate partner involvement in SC proposals and budget preparation and input directly to ensure partner design and costs are appropriately represented and adequately resourced.
• Strengthen, develop, and optimize both existing and new partnership opportunities, across the country, maximizing influence
• Facilitate partners’ involvement in strategy and Proposal development, program planning, and budget preparation and ensure all activities are adequately costed and resourced
• Coordinate effective relationships between partners and relevant country office thematic sectors as well as staff to facilitate collaborative support and mutual learning
• Facilitate stakeholder analysis, partner mapping, Partner selection, and partnership approach in line with partnership principles and the country context.
• Understand the evolving need for partnership in humanitarian and development setting, support the design of strategies such as EPP, and ensure the preposition of high-performing partners both for development and humanitarian response
• Propose, design, and pilot innovative approaches to working in partnership to deliver upon SC programs and partnership strategies

Technical support on Operationalizing localization

• Coordinate with the thematic lead regularly to track the progress of the main activities under the seven dimensions of Localization.
• Participate in the national and in-house Localization working group to create awareness on Localization and advocate to advance the agenda.
• Engage in thematic lead, operation, and other relevant functions to design a project with a localization touch and contribute to the localization sections of the project proposal.
• Asses, analyze, and document the good practices of the localization models and draft a quarterly brief.
• Identify models that support localization and try to adapt to the localization roadmap.
• Provide support towards the development of the seven-dimension model.
• Support the roll-out, review, webinar, and capacity-strengthening of localization and partnership.
• Gather and disseminate evidence of operationalizing localization approach documenting the effective model and pain points.
• Engage in the mapping of localization champions such as the UN, local and national government and private sectors, Child-led initiatives, and academia.
• Work closely with the Area Directors (South, North, and East) to identify the areas of support that could be related to system strengthening, resourcing or remote guidance.
• Customize the country office localization roadmap to area and field office to complement the overall global and regional localization ambitions.

Capacity Building of Partners

• Support, guide, and oversee a full-scale capacity assessment and facilitate support for partners.
• Oversee the entire process of the partners’ capacity-building process, ensure proper planning is in place and coordinate inputs for capacity-building plans and follow-up implementation
• Effectively link partners to relevant departments to support partners’ efforts in the areas of business development, fundraising, and organizational capacities to improve their organizational and operational capacity proposal development from an organizational and operational standpoint
• Work towards allocating adequate budget for key capacity building activities and ensure costed and effective capacity building strategy.

Managing Sub awards

• Together with the Award focal person and the Ops/PDQ team, make sure that the partnership is the process owner and always takes the lead in conducting due diligence and capacity assessment, support the sub-award agreement process, follow of the capacity development plan as part of the agreement, organizing sector-specific review meetings, organize annual learning forum, initiate partners’ feedback survey, monitor partner program delivery
• Design and follow up effective monitoring of partners’’ program delivery, risks, and financial and operational compliances and verify partners' reports through monitoring visits of partners in the field.
• Ensure the award kick-off meeting is conducted as per the agreed schedule and procedures and encourage partners to have a separate pre-close-out and close-out plan and create a culture of learning

Representation

• Ensure Save the Children in general and the Partnership unit, in particular, is robustly represented in different networks, partnership meetings, business development initiatives, partners’ selection, teaming agreements, and other important Events
• Prepare concise and clear capacity statement documents, present on different occasions, share with donors and partners, and ensure the Save the Children profile is communicated and generates positive feedback
• Maintain a strong role for SC in the interagency coordination of partnerships in the Ethiopia response community, including the Partnerships Initiative

Staff Management

• Manage the performance of a team and provide supportive feedback to create high-performing team members
• Provide on-the-job training and coaching to staff to support their performance and professional development
• Develop a culture of open conversation and constructive criticism to maintain a positive relationship
• SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Save the Children 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), take responsibility for their personal development, and encourage others to do the same
• Widely shares their vision for Save the Children, 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
• Organizational development support to implementing partners. It specifically supports in 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 dual mandate.
• Values diversity, 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 Save the Children Values

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as Economics, Social science, business administration, or Sociology
• Minimum 10 years of work experience in the NGO sector
• Proven experience in Partnership and stakeholder engagement
• Experience working in child-focused organizations with an excellent understanding of child rights and safeguarding issues
• Strong program development and management experiences
• An excellent team player with good skills in teamwork and decision-making ability
• Experience of M&E and beneficiary accountability
• Fluency in English language preferred.
• Commitment to the values, mission, and principles of Save the Children
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage productive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders,
• Experience in solving complex issues through analysis, the definition of a clear way forward, and ensuring buy-in using inspiration and sticking to principles.
• Strong cultural sensitivity, with highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation, problem-solving, and coaching
• experience working in networks, consortia, and alliances resulting in strong working relationships
• Experience in solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward, and ensuring buy-in

Desirable

• Previous experience in managing Sub grantees, CSOs, and other program stakeholders
• Good understanding of applicable government laws