Plan International is an independent non-profit organization that advances children’s well-being and equality for girls. Working in building powerful partnerships for children for over 75 years and present in 70 countries, Plan International strives for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children while working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners. Plan International Ethiopia is looking for Partnerships Specialist for Country Office who will be reporting to the Head of Program Operation.

Dimensions of the Role

• Financial measures or statistics relevant to post such as budget; list of direct and indirect reports
• Identifying, assessing and managing partnerships with the aim of strengthening civil society so that there is a conducive environment for children’s rights and gender equality.
• Management of the country partnership capacity building, budget and provision of budget oversight for field based projects except for individual grant project budgets with own project managers.
• Oversight on partnership management and provision of support to Country Office, Programme Areas and partner staff in the area of partner assessment and selection, timely signing of agreements and smooth collaboration.
• Internalization of Plan International’s Global Partnership standards, the concept and philosophy of partnership among Plan staff, capacity building of partners and coordination of signing of partnership agreements including resource mobilisation.

Accountabilities

Partnership management

• Ensure that Plan International’s Global Partnership standards have been internalized, the concept and philosophy of partnership is clear to all Plan staff.
• Develop and maintain the partnership database for Plan International Ethiopia.
• Be responsible for strategically guiding the partnership management and coordinating all activities related to partner capacity building, planning, monitoring and review processes of partnership projects
• Lead and coordinate the timely review and approval of all partnership project proposals and agreement documents.
• Review partnership agreements, assuring compliance with organizational requirements and monitor adherence to agreed conditions.
• Develop and implement partnership strategies that reflect the strategic direction of Plan.
• Ensure that the partners have a thorough understanding of the terms of the partnership and that the partnership is based on mutual trust and the achievement of a common purpose.
• Conduct ongoing assessment of local and national policies and issues to ensure our partnership is consistent with the operating environment.

Partner monitoring, evaluation and reporting

• Undertake participatory identification and review of the gaps of the partnership guideline and lead the regular updating that would improve the contents.
• Organize and participate in regular partner monitoring visits and review meetings.
• Facilitate the periodic review of the partnership strategies and compliance with the partnership principles.
• Facilitate the documentation and sharing of partnership experiences of Plan, best practices, lessons learnt and innovation among Plan partners.
• Monitor and periodically evaluate Plan’s partnership in relation to Plan country strategy plan approaches and principles.
• Ensure project learning and achievements are documented and disseminated widely.

Staff development

• Actively participate in the country programme team in an open, cooperative and proactive manner and contribute towards ensuring smooth departmental collaboration and coordination.
• Build the capacity of staff and partners by providing technical assistance and training on partnership management.
• Organize regular performance review meetings to assess progress and agree on and communicate any changes in strategy with the key staff.
• Ensure that Plan International’s Global policies for Child Protection (CPP), Safeguarding, and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that partners, staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

• A minimum of bachelor’s degree in relevant field which are Development, Business Administration, Economics, Social Work etc…with a minimum of 5 years relevant experience.
• Demonstrated experience in developing strategies and designing program interventions including monitoring and evaluation;
• Demonstrated ability to assess best practices, document and disseminate  lessons learnt for continuous improvement of the program;
• Experience in networking with high level as well as community level resources;
• Experience in project management , coordination and developing a multi-disciplinary team;
• Working experience with children, youth and adults; and

Experience in organizing and conducting training and workshops