Senior Partnership Manager

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future. Job Overview/Summary: The Senior Partnerships Manager is a key position supporting Sudan West Response to develop, manage, and maintain strong partnerships with a wide variety of partners in line with IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) policy and donor regulations. This position is responsible for facilitating the delivery of high-quality partnerships with local actors and will ensure compliance with IRC and donor requirements, quality services, and outcomes for the communities we serve. This role will be working in close collaboration with the programs, grants, and operations departments to ensure that our approach to partners is in line with the IRC’s guiding partnership principles of equality, complementarity, mutuality, solidarity, results-orientation, and humility. The Senior Partnerships Manager reports to the Deputy Director of Programs. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Promote Effective and Respectful Partnerships - Promote and apply the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results system (PEERS). - Contribute to building a strong understanding of PEERS throughout the country program team, and to ensuring that IRC’s partnership principles, skills, and approaches are applied by staff across programs and projects with partners. - Support in building a culture of effective and respectful partnerships. - Foster and promote attitudes and values conducive to collaborative partnerships across the field staff and among partners based on a clear and shared understanding of IRC’s strategy, role, and approach, and IRC’s core partnership principles. - Facilitate systematic partner feedback on IRC’s management of the partnership relationship, including documentation of and response to partner feedback. - Support the Partnerships Coordinator in representing the IRC’s partnerships effort through maintaining effective communication with other INGOs, NGO, local organizations, and partners. Partnership Management - Support the partnership management process; from identification, development, risk management, project and agreement development, sub-award management, monitoring and accountability, through to closure – ensuring cross-collaboration with the partnerships team and all program, operations, and finance components. - Conduct & coordinate Partner Identity and Background Review (Vetting) processes, including completion of the vetting report. - Review Partners’ submitted proposals and budgets and support key technical and finance staff in this task before the Project Lead signs off. - Coordinate and co-lead Partnership Capacity Analysis (PCA) processes, including contributing to and facilitating the collaborative risk analysis and management. - Coordinate with project leads to agree/review appropriate partnership agreement type and draft agreement, considering the due diligence outcomes and specific project and donor requirements. - Liaising with HQ for approvals and/or review of documents and agreements. - Actively promote partner collaboration in program design and resource allocation, and partner participation in key program delivery design making in the context of Project Cycle Meetings (PCM) through supporting and co-leading Partnership Project Opening, Review, and Closing Meetings, together with the relevant team members. - Coordinate and participate in timely and effective partner program, finance, and compliance monitoring, and work with the technical leads and finance staff to address any project performance issues. - Work collaboratively with partners and IRC staff to constructively resolve any issues that may arise. - Support in providing coaching and training for partners and/or coordinate providing training and support to partners' staff as per the identified support plan. - Coordinate narrative reporting processes and liaise with finance on finance reporting processes, including review and feedback. - Coordinate any partner support/capacity development as identified during the PCA or implementation. - Coordinate with Finance to ensure timely transfer of payments to partners. - Draft and process sub-awards modifications in a timely manner ensuring that the relevant IRC units (in-country and at the HQ) provide their inputs and approve the modification. - Maintain complete and organized partnership files for each partner. - Maintain up-to-date Partnership Tracker/Monitoring Schedule. - Support the Grants and Partnerships Coordinator with partnership agreement closeout processes. Partnership Strategy and Program Approach: - Facilitate the IRC’s external engagement with NGO, INGO, and UN actors in Darfur and South Kordofan with respect to local partnerships to establish and maintain strategic partnership relationships. - Ensure that we ‘Partner First and as Equals’ in accordance with the IRC Strategy Action Plan. - Collaborate with the Grants and Partnerships Coordinator and program leads to proactively identify potential partnerships with NGOs and local organizations, including deliberate pursuit of partner entities that are led by women and serve women and girls. - Support the Grants and Partnerships Coordinator and program leads to proactively engage partners in program development efforts and ensure that their inputs are incorporated and integrated into and resourced in all new business development. Other duties - Travel to IRC partners’ implementation locations if possible to undertake capacity development, training, and monitoring, as applicable. - Update internal systems for data management and awards trackers (OTIS) - Liaise with other IRC departments and teams. - Other relevant duties as assigned by the Grants and Partnerships Coordinator to further IRC partnerships. Key Working Relationships - Position Reports to:Deputy Director of Programs - Position directly supervises:No management responsibilities for the current period. - Other Internal and/or external contacts:Grants, programs, MEAL and Communications departments, HQ Awards Management Unit, Subawards and Compliance & Legal teams at HQ, Finance department on matters of financial management, Operations teams – Field managers, procurement, HR, safeguarding and safety/security, Partner Organizations. Job Requirements: - Understanding and practical experience of project management principles throughout the full project lifecycle (positioning to closeout), including budgeting and financial reporting. - Excellent communication, influencing, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively manage a variety of relationships in a multicultural environment. - Ability to tailor language to different audiences and needs. - Demonstrated ability to collaborate equally effectively with colleagues in ‘remote’ and diverse teams. - Strong attention to detail to ensure own work, and work of others, is of a consistent high quality in a fast-paced, demanding environment. - Solid organisational skills; detail-oriented; ability to multitask and prioritise tasks, and to learn quickly. - Ability to work autonomously and under remote management. - Good IT skills (Word, Excel, Outlook). - Ability to travel. - Fluency in English is required. - At least 4 years’ experience in grant/con