Senior Partnerships Officer (Beirut) - FOR NATIONAL CANDIDATES ONLY.

Background IRC summary:

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.

Contextual Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. At-work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

In response to the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon in mid-2012, IRC opened a country office and launched humanitarian assistance programming. IRC operates throughout Lebanon, with the main office in Beirut and field offices in Qobayat, Zahle, Tripoli, Tyre and Mount Lebanon. IRC’s programs assist Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese in host communities across multiple sectors: education, livelihoods, protection, women's protection and empowerment and child protection in close coordination with the Lebanese Government and broader Humanitarian Community.

High-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs provide the foundation for children’s future academic success, health, prosperity and wellbeing. A large body of scientific evidence emphasizes the need for increased investment in early childhood, particularly for children experiencing conflict, crisis and displacement; these children are extremely vulnerable to the long-lasting effects that prolonged stress has on the developing brain.

In December 2017, Sesame Workshop and the IRC were awarded the MacArthur Foundation’s inaugural 100&Change grant to make real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time. With an equal investment from the Lego Foundation, and many other grants, our partnership will transform the development, language, early reading, math, and social-emotional skills of a generation of children ages 0-8 affected by the Syrian war. For more information, please visit: http://refugee.sesameinternational.org/.  

Job Overview/Summary:

Based in Beirut with occasional travel to the Field Offices in Zahle, Qobayat, Tripoli, and Tyre, the Senior Partnership Officer (SPO) will work in the IRC partnership Unit with a focus on supporting the Early Childhood Development program. The purpose of the Partnership Unit is to oversee the management and coordination of IRC's partnership related work in accordance with the IRC Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results (PEERS). The SPO will be reporting to the Partnership Coordinator with close coordination with the ECD coordinator.

The SPO will play a key role integrating and scaling up  the ECD programs through facilitating different workshops, creation of a network of stakeholders as well as supporting partners in the development and implementation of their projects and ensuring clear and efficient communication between the different people working on the partnerships.

Responsibilities

Scaling up:

Under the leadership of the Partnership Coordinator, the Senior Partnership Officer will be responsible for:

• Manage, coordinate and facilitate Social Network Analysis workshops in different areas
• Conduct Key Informant Interviews to validate results of the Social Network Analysis workshop
• Coordinate and conduct the network design workshop at regional (Akkar, Bekaa, T5, Mount Lebanon, South) and national leve
• Co-lead the ECD network creation at regional (Akkar, Bekaa, T5, Mount Lebanon, South) and national level
• Conduct workshops with different network partners for a specific goal; to be repeated for each new goal at regional and national level
• Coordinate and conduct design meetings and workshops with partners at regional and national level
• Update and maintain a database for all potential partners with contact details
• Support the ECD leads in Akkar, Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, and Tripoli in initiating, developing, and maintaining key relationships

Sub-Grant Management:

Under the leadership of the Partnership Coordinator, the Senior Partnership Officer will be responsible for:

• Facilitating and coordinating all aspects of sub-award life cycle management, from partner identification, vetting, project and agreement/amendment development, monitoring through close-out in coordination with relevant IRC staff, including but not limited to the protection, grants, MEAL and finance teams. 
• Incorporating inputs after internal review of the partner’s agreement to ensure compliance with IRC and the donor requirements;
• Managing the sub-award in the opportunity tracking system for the agreement review and in case of modifications.
• Maintaining and coordinate partner program, finance and compliance monitoring schedules and coordinate support for partners with other IRC staff to address any challenges that may arise;
• Ensuring proper monitoring of the projects implemented by the partners for donor compliance and progress against objectives
• Documenting and share in a timely manner all key monitoring information and learning within IRC and with partners;
• Developing quarterly reports including all monitoring result and submit it to the Partnership Coordinator;
• Collaborate with other IRC departments (Supply Chain, Finance, HR and Programs to identify opportunities for IRC to support partner capacity strengthening efforts;
• Support IRC’s role in the delivery of capacity strengthening plans for partners;
• Support the partners in the development of the narrative proposals and budgets;
• Monitor and support to ensure the timely submission of accurate financial and activity reports from partners;
• Coordinating and Facilitating Partnership opening, review and closure meetings.
• Implementing the close out process of the sub-grant at the end of the project.
• Ensuring that comprehensive electronic and physical files for this award are maintained as necessary for both the Grants and Partnerships departments;
• Maintaining proper and professional communication with IRC’s partners based on Partnership principles of Equality, Complementarity, Transparency, Results Oriented Approach and Responsibility.

Promote Effective Partnerships

Implement best practices for:

• Receiving and channeling Feedback received from the partners to IRC.
• Partner engagement in program development;
• Partner identification efforts based on the overall objectives of the protection program in IRC;
• Support in development and management of other partnerships within the Lebanon Partnership Unit.

Representation and special tasks:

• At the request of the Partnership Coordinator, represent IRC Lebanon at relevant coordination meetings and feedback important information from those meetings relevant to IRC staff.
• At the request of the Partnership Coordinator, take responsibility for miscellaneous projects not falling under responsibilities underlined in this job description.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Partnership Coordinator

Position directly supervises: N/A

Indirect Reporting: N/A
Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: ECD coordinator and team, regional ECD team, IRC Lebanon Finance, HR and Supply chain departments, HQ and Regional grants/compliance teams, SRR regional partnership team

External:  Partner organizations, ECD stakeholders

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline, Master’s degree a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating trainings and workshops.
• Demonstrated successful experience working with partners and/or grants management
• Highly organized, close attention to detail, and ability to effectively prioritize tasks in a fluid environment.
• Professional fluency in spoken and written Arabic and English; able to communicate concisely and with impact.
• Very strong Arabic and English writing and editing skills
• Strong computer skills.

Working Environment: 

The working environment is generally favorable. Lighting and temperature are adequate, and there are no hazardous or unpleasant conditions caused by noise, dust, etc. Work is generally performed within an office environment, with standard office equipment available (personal computer, personal desk, printer, etc.). The position is based in Beirut, with travel to the field whenever necessary.

WOMEN OF ALL BACKGROUNDS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY