Partnership Coordinator Ukraine

The Partnerships & Community Engagement Coordinator is responsible for partnership management and community engagement at the Area Office level in close coordination with the Area Programme Manager, Project Managers and Finance. The Partnerships & Community Engagement Coordinator is a focal point within the North Area Office and will keep Local Partners informed of relevant donor compliance regulations, reporting deadlines, NRC procedures and will support partners with compliance and facilitate capacity sharing. This role is critical in achieving quality programming through effective partnerships management and support.

The following is a brief description of the role.

Generic responsibilities
1. Ensure adherence to NRC policies, handbooks, guidelines and procedures;
2. Support overview and maintenance of projects implemented with Partners at the area level, including providing helpdesk support to partners on compliance with NRC and donor requirements.
3. Support and coordinate the development of new partnership agreements and support with management of existing partnerships at Area Office level;
4. Represent NRC as the main focal point with partners at AO level on partnerships related and general issues and ensure timely and consistent communication flow between partners and NRC;
5. Contribute to PCM activities and use of NRC PCM framework working with Partners in the Area Office, including cross-cutting programme elements and M&E structures throughout all stages of the PCM;
6. Work with programme team to support mainstreaming safe and inclusive programming and do-no-harm into projects and activities;
7. Other duties as assigned by the Line Manager. 

Specific responsibilities
These responsibilities shall be adapted to the particularities of the job location and context, phase of operation, strategic focus, and type of intervention. This section shall be revised whenever a new employee is hired or the context changes significantly.

Partnership mapping and tracking:
• Contribute to the exercise of mapping of local potential partners in the area and maintaining relations with existing partners.
• Ensure correct and up-to-date maintenance of Partnerships Tracker for the AO;
• Maintain filing and documentation of all AO partner projects and partnership documents as per the NRC Ukraine’s filing and information management systems;

Partnership management:
• Provide input to the development and implementation of NRC Ukraine overall strategy and operational methodology for engagement with public, private, and civil society stakeholders;
• Act as focal point for contracting and sub-granting issues to NRC’s partners at Area Office level;
• Act as a focal point for Local Authorities to streamline communications when implementing are-based/Hromada-based programming;
• Coordinate organizational assessment and vetting of potential partners as per NRC Partnership toolkit
• Coordinate the development of project implementation agreements between new partners and NRC
• Support and facilitate communication and coordination between NRC and Local Partners at the Area Office level;
• Ensure that NRC’s partners adhere to NRC requirements and ensure smooth project implementation by providing the necessary support from NRC to the Local Partners;
• Participate in ensuring a structured and consistent approach to partnerships in line with the Country Strategy and Partnership Strategy;
• Coordinate with the Media and Communication team for visibility of partnership in Ukraine, and update on the profile of the programme by reflecting stories and lessons learnt as relevant to the Area Office;
• Keep track of and support Area Programme Manager to ensure Area office level PCM meetings for projects implemented with Local Partners (Project Opening Meetings, Review Meetings, Project Closure Meetings) are arranged and take place within expected timeframes, all mandatory internal documents are in place (internal logframe, internal budget, procurement plan, work-plan and M&E matrix); and actively follow up on outstanding related partnership issues.

Partnerships Compliance and Capacity sharing:
• Be familiar with and support Local Partner understanding of and compliance with NRC internal and donor requirements; and Support monitoring of partner’s compliance to NRC’s and where applicable to specific donor’s requirements;
• Work actively with the Protection from violence (PfV), Safe and Inclusive Programming (SIP), Finance and Logistics units to facilitate strong mainstreaming of core NRC principles and procedures across operational partners;
• Deliver humanitarian principles
• Support with the identification of capacity development needs and coordinate systematic capacity sharing process between NRC and partners and vis-versa, by coordinating with technical NRC programme staff, and ensure that partners are receiving the necessary technical support needed. This could include organizing of training, coaching and mentoring. 

General Administration:
• Ensure all key project and partnership documents, included MOUs with Authorities, are filed, updated, and maintained as per the NRC Ukraine’s filing and information management systems;
• Support the Country Office (CO) Partnership Unit to ensure correct and up-to-date maintenance of Partnerships Tracker; and
• Assist the CO Partnership Unit as necessary, including representation and attendance at meetings as required, and coordination with teams to follow up on agreed action points.

Professional competencies:
These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.
Generic professional competencies:
• 3-5 years of experience in working in a humanitarian/recovery/human rights or development contexts;
• University degree combined with relevant professional background;
• Knowledge of humanitarian principles;
• Experience in managing and implementing programs in humanitarian contexts;
• Ability to work independently and proactively;
• Ability to prioritize work given multiple competing deadlines.

Context specific skills, knowledge, and experience:
• Solid understanding of the Ukrainian civil society;
• Excellent written and communication skills, networking, coordination, and facilitation skills;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, professional Excel, and reporting skills;
• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision;
• Previous experience from working in complex and volatile contexts is an asset;
• Previous work experience with partners is an asset.
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities;
• Fluency in English and Ukrainian, both written and verbal.

Behavioural competencies
These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, and the following are essential for this position:
• Managing resources to optimize results;
• Managing performance and development;
• Working with people;
• Handling insecure environments;
• Empowering and building trust;
• Analysing;
• Influencing.

What do We Offer

We offer an opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause and a chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.

We are also looking for people who share our values:

We invite applications from all qualified and interested candidates. 

Candidates are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be screened on a rolling basis and interviews will be assigned instantly until a suitable candidate is selected. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. We work in crises across more than 31 countries, providing emergencies and long-term assistance to millions of people every year. We stand up for people forced to flee, advocating their rights. NORCAP, our global provider of expertise, helps improve international and local ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. NRC also runs the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva, a global leader in reporting on and advocating for people displaced within their own country. Employment with NRC may lead to employment in or deployment to Regions, Countries, Areas or Offices that may be host to considerable health, safety and security risks. NRC takes this very seriously and we have procedures in place to reduce known risks, but will never be able to take away all risks. NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.