Development & Partnerships Manager

Basmeh & Zeitooneh is a registered Lebanese organization, committed to serving refugees and vulnerable communities in Lebanon, through four community centers across the country. The organization runs educational, relief, livelihoods, and protection programs, and aims to serve as an inclusive and supportive focal point for the entire community.

Basmeh & Zeitooneh has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation, abuse, and child abuse. Also, fraud, bribery, and corrupt activities.

Basmeh & Zeitooneh (B&Z) is committed to maintaining the security, confidentiality, and privacy of your personal information.

Basmeh & Zeitooneh is committed to safeguarding the well-being of children and upholding the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Basmeh & Zeitooneh maintains a zero-tolerance policy on child abuse.

Job Purpose:

The development and Partnerships Manager is responsible for leading on relationships with key donors and partners, scoping new funding opportunities, ensuring program development, grants and contracts management, partnerships management, and donor communication. The Development and Partnerships Manager will also lead the development of new project proposals in accordance with the CSE and B&Z strategic objectives and approaches.

Major Activities :

• Scope funding opportunities and lead the development of proposals, with special attention to proposal narratives, work plans, log frames, and budgets in coordination with program staff and relevant B&Z departments and units.
• Lead on due diligence and compliance processes for international partners and high compliance donors.
• Develop and maintain functional relationships with B&Z funding partners and support the attainment of long-term strategic relationships.
• Act as the coordination focal point among B&Z consortiums and coalitions related to the CSE Unit interventions, where applicable.
• Supervise the Grants Officer and liaise with other units mainly finance to ensure compliance with donor/partner and B&Z policies.
• Support and oversee relevant teams to ensure the submission of timely reports and relevant project documentation such as payment requests, narrative and financial reports, budget forecasts, and amendments.
• Lead on monitoring B&Z compliance with donors and partners’ compliances and contractual guidelines.
• Liaise with the Civil Society Enablement Unit team and other units within B&Z to ensure proper communication and coordination between Programs, Finance, and other relevant departments/units.
• Contribute to strategy development with relevant information and input, design and implement programmatic frameworks objectives outcomes, and goals to realize the global CSEs strategies
• Work closely with the grants and programs team to prepare for and hold kick-off meetings in which new programs and/projects are handed out to the implementation team.
• Guide the evaluation of the partnership effectiveness and possible future collaborations and its importance strategically, with the support and guidance of the Chief Strategy Officer and the CSE Program Manager.
• Play a key role in mentoring operations staff, in close coordination with the CSE Program Manager, to deliver increasingly high-quality materials that support grant management, fundraising, and advocacy initiatives.
• Provide the technical oversight on all capacity development content and training workshops related to proposal development, grants management, and donor and partner cultivation.
• Lead on developing and regularly reviewing the CSE Unit’s Grants and Partnership strategy(ies).
• Act as the focal person for developing the quality and quantity of B&Z (CSE-relevant) grants and partnerships incoherence to the global B&Z strategy and country/territory strategic objectives.
• Oversee and supervise the advocacy and research strategy in the CSE unit by staying informed on the relevant policies development, the developments in the region and ensure the alignment with the overall B&Z advocacy strategy
• Work closely with the Gender Specialist to develop relevant policies, tools, and SOPs related to gender and protection aspects in the CSE unit
• Oversee and supervise, in close coordination with the Program Manager, the Gender Specialist, and the Citizenship Officer, the development of manuals and guidelines targeting civil society and community-based organizations.
• Perform other duties and assignments as required by the CSO and/or Senior Management.

People Management : 

• Day-to-day management of 1 Grants Officer, 1 Citizenship Officer, 1 Gender Specialist, and 1 Advocacy Officer.
• Work in close coordination with the CSE Unit team.

Education & Experience:

• A bachelor's (or an advanced degree) in project management, grants and partnership management, and/or related fields is required.
• Experience in the Middle East region in the general and the Levant region, in particular, is a must.
• Experience in development and partnerships in the civil society sector is a must.
• Experience in gender-related matters, diversity, inclusion and equity is a must
• Good experience in civic-related topics is highly preferable.

Competencies:

• The ideal candidates will have at least 3-5 years of proven track record of securing funds and managing significant funding from a range of institutional donors such as SIDA, FCDO, USAID, and EU/EC through partnerships or directly.
• Excellent and determined team player
• Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills, including a demonstrated effectiveness in communication with donors and other project stakeholders
• Management expertise, particularly in the area of collaboration, team building, planning, and performance management, and the proven ability to bring together individuals and teams to build trust and deliver on shared objectives.
• Flexibility to travel within the region as and when is required
• Able to work well under pressure and ability to make difficult decisions.
• Strong ability in multi-tasking and problem solving
• Proven ability in agile and dynamic response to unanticipated context developments.
• High standards of confidentiality, reliability, and discretion.
• Able to manage multiple activities and identify priorities, meet deadlines and solve problems in a complex context