Partnerships Officer, TA, P2, Niamey, Niger

Job Title: Partnerships Officer Job Level: P2 Type of Contract: Temporary Position Reports to: Reports and Knowledge Management Specialist Location: Niamey, Niger Duration: 364 days Maintain and strengthen the Country Office’s relationship with donors, including through ensuring quality assurance and timely submission of project proposals and donor reports. The key result is that donors become long-term allies and that the credibility of the Country Office is strengthened.

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

For every child, an advocate

Niger is a landlocked Sahelian country of 20.7 million people, over half of whom are under the age of 15. Nearly half of the population is poor, despite reductions in the poverty rate over the past decade, and the country ranked second-last on the 2016 Human Development Index. Indicators are particularly alarming for women and children.

Through its 2014-18 Country Programme, UNICEF Niger works toward the full realization of the rights of children and a reduction of disparities, with the aim of achieving equity. The Country Programme is structured around six programme components: child survival, nutrition, education child protection, communication for development, social policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation.

In the context of the multiple crises faced by Niger in recent years, UNICEF has successfully mobilized extra resources, and is as a result managing a large number of grants, with heavy reporting requirements. 41 reports are to be produced in 2017, as per inSight. This number is expected to grow throughout the year as some reports are not recorded in the system, and as new grants will be received. The Country Office must also prepare new project proposals, particularly in view of the large, complex humanitarian needs in Niger. Finally, the Country Office would like to strengthen external relations with donors, through various means including informal updates on project implementation or other developments of interest. Temporary assistance is therefore needed to enable the office to maintain timely, quality project proposals and reporting and to strengthen the relationship with existing donors.

For more information, please visit our webpage: 

https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/niger.html

How can you make a difference?

Maintain and strengthen the Country Office’s relationship with donors, including through ensuring quality assurance and timely submission of project proposals and donor reports. The key result is that donors become long-term allies and that the credibility of the Country Office is strengthened.

1. Ensures the timely submission of quality donor reports through updating and sharing the reports planning table, reviewing reports to ensure that they meet UNICEF quality standards, including coherence between financial and narrative information, and providing overall guidance and capacity strengthening to programme section staff in charge of report writing.
2. Helps programme officers conceptualize project proposals and reviews project proposals to ensure that they meet the donor’s expectations as well as UNICEF quality standards and are submitted in a timely fashion.
3. Monitors grant implementation compliance with the original project proposal, advises on opportunities for interactions with donors and prepares material for updating donors.
4. Performs other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team, as needed.

The quality of work performed by the Officer directly impacts on the relationship of the Country Office with donors and the overall reputation of UNICEF. The Officer follows established procedures and her/his work is reviewed by the Reports Specialist, but s/he has latitude to decide on the validity, accuracy and usefulness of data, makes recommendation on the quality of reports and compliance with the result-based approach, and provides guidance to the Country Office on strengthening relationships with donors. The Officer is accountable for quality project proposals, donor reports and other interactions with donors that project a competent and trusted image of UNICEF to partners.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Education: university degree in international development, public affairs, international relations, political science, communication or other related field.

Work experience: at least two (2) years of professional experience in external relations, communications, reporting and/or any resource-mobilization related activities, preferably in an international organization, is required.

Languages: Fluency in English and French is required.

For every child, you demonstrate…

Core values: commitment, diversity and inclusion, integrity

Core competencies: communication (II), working with people (I), drive for results (I)

Key functional competencies: analyzing (II), relating and networking (I), deciding and initiating action (I), planning and organizing (II), coping with pressure and setbacks (I)

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Duration: 364 days

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.