Partnership Advisor

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Description

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• Lead on Mercy Corps Ukraine’s Partnerships Approach in line with Mercy Corps Ukraine Response Strategy, and Mercy Corps’ Global Localization agenda. 
• Play a key convening role across the Ukraine response, facilitating a culture of practice and active networking with colleagues across functions, that are working with, or on, partnerships. 
• Serve as the technical lead for capacity building across all Mercy Corps Ukraine partnerships, learning from and consolidating practices from across programs to establish more coherent approaches and tools. 
• Foster an enabling environment for collaborative, inclusive, and mutually accountable partnerships with local organizations.  
• Contribute to the evidence-base for and debate around civil society engagement and partnership approaches in Ukraine as well as Mercy Corps’ own partnership approach. 
• Provide input and/or lead on program design focused on or including partnerships with Ukrainian civil society organizations. 
• Ensure partners are consulted in strategy development and program design and regularly organize consultation sessions with civil society actors.  

• Streamline Mercy Corps’ Partnership Approach across the response, ensuring harmonized and consistent approaches and sharing of tools, standards and lessons learnt.  
• Create and maintain systems to ensure technical coherence and promote creative programming across the programs portfolio. 
• Ensure program implementation is adhering to minimum standards and program staff are provided with tools and guidance on partnerships.  
• Contribute to new initiatives and ensure partnership and localization principles are met in proposals.  
• Develop strategies, guidelines, tools, standards and standard operating procedures (SoPs) that help program teams to implement programs and provide necessary technical support on partnerships, where required.  

• Develop a clear capacity development approach for Mercy Corps in Ukraine, including guidelines, tools, and standards.  
• Provide capacity development to Mercy Corps team members and sensitize and train them on partnership and localization approaches.  
• Provide team members with information, tools, and other resources to improve performance and help them constructively identify problem solving options. 
• Lead collaborative processes designed to harness learning from Ukraine’s partnership programming to inform Mercy Corps’ partnership strategies at the country, regional, and global levels, as well as contribute to the growing global partnership sector. 
• Facilitate and contribute to Mercy Corps Ukraine’s learning and strategy related to partnership approaches and capacity development (through workshops, participation in evaluation or studies, preparation/review of tool kits, collection of data and other measurement). 
• Function as an overseer for partners and their feedback and ensure this is addressed by the relevant program teams.  

• Represent Mercy Corps Ukraine’s partnership approaches and programming in the wider INGO and donor community, and relevant coordination forums. 
• Develop internal and external networks to support effective advocacy and outreach across stakeholders to promote innovative partnership approaches within the Ukraine context. 
• Participate in sharing best practices with NGOs and governmental agencies working in a similar environment. 

• University Degree/Masters in international studies, social, economic or other relevant field is desired.  
• Proven technical expertise in partnership approaches, civil society development and/or capacity strengthening of local partner organizations. Significant experience designing and delivering partner-driven programs, including US, UK, and EU-funded programming. 
• At least 5-7 years of senior experience in relevant or similar roles, and 3-5 years of progressive humanitarian and/or development program management experience, including close collaboration with program, finance, sub-awards, and operations teams.  
• 1-3 years of experience in team management, with remote management as an advantage, as well as management experience of complex, multi-dimensional programming, including administering small grants in an international environment. 
• Strong knowledge of, and experience with organizational development of CSOs in challenging environments, and ability to inform the content and method of organizational development training.  
• Demonstrated experience and ability to represent the organization and negotiate and defend Mercy Corps’ interests with a diverse range of international and local organizations and other groups professionally and appropriately. 
• Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational, and prioritization skills are necessary. 
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in other departments or locations, as well as experience leading diverse teams. 
• Experience with staff training and mentoring is preferred. 
• Excellent oral and written English is required, and Ukrainian proficiency strongly preferred.  

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