Partnerships Manager

IRC is seeking a Partnership Manager for its Myanmar country program. This position will be based in Thailand, and since the job duties involve engaging with Myanmar partners, it is important that the identified the candidate is proficient in spoken and written English and Myanmar. This position is contingent on the IRC being awarded funding and is anticipated to begin in the autumn of 2024.

Specific Responsibilities:

Promote Effective 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 Myanmar Country Program, and to ensuring that IRC’s partnership principles, skills and approaches are applied by staff across programs and projects with partners.

• Facilitate systematic partner feedback on IRC’s management of the partnership relationship, including the documentation of, and response to partner feedback.

Pre-award Partner Support

• Prepare partner due diligence documents, in line with donor and IRC compliance regulations

• Working closely with partner and IRC Program staff, support review and quality control of sub-award proposal narrative, budget, workplan, and other sub-award annexes

• Support quality control and finalization of all relevant pre-award documentation and ensure information is available on OTIS and shared folders

• Facilitate the Partner’s Partnership Capacity Analysis (PCA) of potential partners as appropriate, and coordinate efforts to collaboratively analyze and manage material risks identified

• Prepare funding instruments (pre-award letter, partnership agreement, etc.) and support internal review of sub-award agreement package; share agreement with partners for their review and signature, ensuring partners’ understanding of all contractual requirements

Partnership Management

• Act as primary partnerships/compliance focal point for partners as well as other IRC staff

• Conduct partner monitoring and prepare monitoring reports including action plans in line with the IRC’s PEERS guidelines and sub-award monitoring schedules; follow up on monitoring findings and other action items as needed

• Lead in the overall management of partnerships and PEERS processes/documentation for relevant sub-awards.

• Support the program team in the facilitation of Partnership Project Opening, Review and Closing Meetings

• Working closely with relevant Program staff, ensure partners submit quality project narrative reports on time and review report inputs, identifying underachievement or other implementation issues and flagging them to the Partnerships Coordinator and additional Program leadership staff

• In line with PCA results and partner feedback, develop and track capacity sharing and partner support plans, ensuring trainings are provided to partners as outlined in sub-awards as scheduled

• Initiate sub-award closeout process and ensure transition plans are in place, in line with donor and IRC guidelines

• Ensure timely and accurate filing of all sub-award documents on Box, and regular updating of internal partnership trackers

• 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.

• Any other relevant tasks, set by the Partnerships Coordinator.

Financial Management

• Work collaboratively and supportively with partners to develop and finalize budgets and budget amendments, and (in the case of milestone-based partnership agreements) in determining the costing of milestones.

• Review draft partnership agreement terms relating to advances, reporting and any special conditions relating to finance.

• For cost-reimbursable partnership agreements, agree with partners the specific documentation required to support each type of cost, adjusting standard requirements to the operating context and the partner.

• Work collaboratively with partners and IRC program focal points to ensure the timely provision of funding to partners in accordance with the partnership agreement to ensure program continuity, ensuring clear communication with the partner and efficient resolution where for whatever reason this is not possible.

• Collaborate with partners to ensure completeness, correctness, and accuracy of financial reports and cash requests.

• Review partner financial reports (and narrative reports for consistency) and supporting documents to ensure compliance with the partnership agreement, donor regulations and IRC policy, and provide feedback to the partner as appropriate.

• Monitor partner budgets and actual spending in collaboration with IRC program focal points, identifying issues and working proactively and collaboratively with partners to resolve them.

• Lead timely and effective finance review and reflection (monitoring), identifying appropriate follow up actions, and providing completed reports to Senior Partnership Finance Manager and Partnership Lead.

• Assist in the close-out of partnership agreements, including in relation to financial verification and asset confirmation.

• Act as donor focal point for financial audits of sub-awards, ensuring partners submit requested documentation as needed

Program Support & Capacity Sharing

• Provide finance and accounting training and mentoring support to partners, in accordance with partner project support plans, with a focus on supporting the partner to strengthen financial management systems and capacities that are responsive to the needs of the partner (rather than replicating IRC’s systems and policies).

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Partnerships Coordinator

Position directly supervises: N/A

Other Internal and/or external contacts: Partnership Managers, Partnerships Finance Managers, Programs Team, Finance team, Grants team, other Partnership focal points and external stockholders and partners

Internal: Partnerships, Finance, and Program teams

External: Partner organizations

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline

• Sub-Grant financial management with NGO highly regarded

• Minimum 4 years of progressive work experience in a non-profit setting overseeing and managing partners’ projects funded by major institutional donors.

• Highly organized, close attention to detail, and ability to effectively prioritize tasks in a fluid environment

• Experience in training, capacity building, and mentoring of staff, NGOs/CBOs

• Ability to coordinate across departments and locations to deliver results

• Professional fluency in spoken and written English and Myanmar

• Excellent computer skills, particularly in Word and Excel

• Experience working with databases and/or other tracking systems.

• Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.