Partnerships Coordinator ( Jordan Country Program )

Job Overview:

The IRC has an exciting new opportunity of a Partnership Coordinator (PC)role based in Amman! Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Director of Programs, the PC will support the Country Office in its strategic management of its Partnership Unit. The purpose of this unit is to lead all aspects of the management and coordination of all the partnerships in country including but not limited to its sub-awards portfolio. The unit core focus is to support Jordan teams in the delivery of high-quality partnerships that are strategic and aligned with IRC and donor requirements in order to provide the best quality services and outcomes for the communities we serve.

This role will lead in building and promoting attitudes and values conducive to collaborative partnerships among the team, based on a clear and shared understanding of IRC's role and approach, and core partnership principles.

The Partnership Coordinator has four main objectives:

(1)Implementation of the Partnership Management System, including the facilitation of a coherent, inter-departmental, ‘one IRC’ approach to partnership, with the support of the senior management team

• Chair the Partnership working group to promote a coherent, strategic and coordinated approach to local partnerships in IRC Jordan.
• Supervise the partnership management operating procedures for IRC Jordan that set out efficient and responsive processes, delineate clear roles and responsibilities, and articulate IRC Jordan strategic approach to partnerships.
• Oversee, facilitate and coordinate all steps of sub-award life cycle management, from partner identification, due-diligence, agreement development, start-up, implementation, monitoring through to close-out, coordinating all program, operations and finance components.
• Be responsible for the pre-award due diligence process with respect to all new sub-awards, including through appropriate vetting, analysis of risks associated with the award, and the identification and implementation of appropriate measures to mitigate those risks, working with other departments as appropriate.
• Supervise the effective startup of sub-awards, including the timely development and delivery of partnership agreements and sub-award opening meetings with partners.
• Lead the maintenance and coordination of partner program, finance and compliance monitoring schedules and coordinate support for partners to address any concerns or issues that may arise. Ensure response and support plans are implemented.
• Provide and/or facilitate targeted sub-award and partnership management trainings, refresher trainings and ongoing support on partnership management and compliance for key partners and IRC staff
• Facilitate collaborative review and reflection (monitoring) of project with partners, including progress against objectives and donor compliance, and develop monitoring tools as needed, and that key monitoring information and learning are documented.
• Monitor the timely submission of accurate financial and activity reports from partners.
• Ensure that comprehensive electronic files for partnerships are maintained.
• Review and collaborate with other partnership staff to support the drafting and compilation of partner reports into overall donor reports.

(2) Strategic oversight of the IRC Jordan broader partnership strategy

• Work with the country leadership team to Country Strategic Action Plan appropriately demonstrates the opportunities that collaborative partnerships offer to deliver better outcomes.
• Identify key actors for effective programming through stakeholder analysis and social network analysis
• Promote an effective analysis of local actors and an appropriate identification of the organisation role and added new value
• Participate in Go/No-Go discussions to promote program approaches and design that are in line with the SAP
• Guide and support programs in fostering partnership relationships with governmental agencies and municipalities
• Ensure the Actor Mapping is up-to-date and accessible to all programs
• Support the incorporation of appropriate partnership related language in all the steps of the project cycle

(3) Developing strategies and mechanisms for cohesive capacity strengthening

• Ensure that all capacity strengthening initiatives are owned by the partner and based on the partnership principle
• Ensure all issues identified in the assessment phase are addressed through project support plans and that these are implemented in a timely and effective manner.
• Identify and coordinate opportunities to support partners through Organizational Capacity Assessment processes, and the development of capacity strengthening plans based on those processes, collaborating closely with the Governance Technical Unit.
• Collaborate with technical coordinators to integrate technical capacity strengthening approaches with organizational development support as appropriate.
• Ensure that the budget for capacity strengthening is incorporated in the prime award outside the project support costs
• Support IRC staff working with partners on skills related to capacity strengthening.
• Develop tools that can be used by IRC staff when supporting the partner’s plans.

(4) Promote a culture of Effective and Respectful Partnerships

• Ensure and champion robust partner relationship management grounded in collaborative, humble and principled approaches
• Promote meaningful collaboration with partners throughout the project, from assessment, identification through design, monitoring, adaptation and closure, consistent with the partner responsiveness Impact standards
• Ensure appropriate proactive and reactive communications and engagement with IRC partners through regularly scheduled partnership management meetings.
• Implement standard best approaches for systematic partner feedback on a)IRC's management of the relationship (as well as appropriate action in response to the feedback), b)partner engagement in program development

(5) Staff Management and Development

• Coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance
• Develop and implement staff capacity building plan to ensure quality partnership approaches across all sectors
• Conduct timely and quality performance evaluations and give regular and constructive feedback to staff through the year to ensure a spirit of accountability.

Key Working Relationships:

Position reports to: Deputy Director of Programs, Jordan

Position directly supervises: Partnerships Officer, Partnerships Finance Manager, Partnerships Managers, Government Liaison Specialist.

Indirect Reporting: Regional Partnerships Advisor

Other internal: WPE team, Health team, ECD team, ERD team, Grants Coordinator, M&E Coordinator, Finance Controller, HQ-based (NYC, DE & UK) IRC regional support teams, other program coordinators.

Other external: Relevant actors and partners, both GOJ and NGOs (international, Jordanian).