Senior Partnerships Officer - Beirut

Contextual Background:

As a part of its Strategic Planning, the IRC Lebanon has recognized that working with Local and International partners will continue to grow in its relevance and created a partnerships unit in 2017 with more than 40 established partnerships today in 2024 with local actors and governmental bodies. Effective partnerships with local and national CSOs and government entities enable the IRC to pursue the strategic objectives set out in IRC and result in better outcomes for the people we serve.

Job Overview/Summary:

Based in Beirut with occasional travel to the Field Offices, the Senior Partnership Officer (SPO) will work in the partnership unit which feeds into the Lebanon Country Program strategic objective of working with partners. The purpose of the Partnership Unit will be to oversee the management, coordination and key risk control elements of IRC's sub-awards portfolio, to ensure a high level of risk management and compliance in strong, high-quality partnerships that deliver timely and effective assistance. The Partnership Unit will oversee all steps in the sub-award management lifecycle and is a key contributor to overall project cycle management.

The SPO will play a key role in the supporting partners in the development of their projects and ensuring clear and efficient communication between the different people working on the partnership.

Summary of Responsibilities:

Partnership Agreement Management:

• Facilitate and coordinate different aspects of sub-award life cycle management, specifically partner identification, vetting, project and agreement/amendment development, monitoring through to close-out coordinating with different IRC departments.
• Coordinate the pre-award due diligence process with respect to all new sub-awards, including through appropriate vetting, analysis of risks associated with the award, and the identification and implementation of appropriate measures to manage those risks, working with other departments as appropriate.
• Maintain and coordinate partner program, finance and compliance monitoring schedules and coordinate support for partners to address any concerns or issues that may arise.
• Ensure that monitoring plans, visits and tools are in place for donor compliance and progress against objectives, and that key monitoring information and reflection session and learning are documented.
• Participate in regular partner monitoring visits to engage and support partners in their daily activities’ implementation, ensuring adherence to donor and IRC regulations
• Liaise with finance to achieve timely funds transfers and proper financial follow-up and support for partners.
• Incorporate inputs after internal review of the partner’s proposal and agreement to ensure compliance under the guidance of the Partnership Manager.
• Draft and follow up on partners agreement with coordination with all internal relevant units and compliance unit in HQ, including completing the OTIS flow

Strategy and Program Approach

• Lead with the partnerships manager the stakeholder analysis process in coordination with the programs
• Support the partnerships coordinator and manager in finalizing the partnerships’ strategies of all programs with concrete operational plans

Partner Support and Capacity Sharing

• Collaborate with other IRC departments (Supply Chain, Finance, HR and Programs to support the partner) and identify opportunities for IRC to support partner capacity strengthening efforts.
• Support IRC’s role in the delivery of capacity strengthening plans for partners in close coordination with the partnerships manager
• Support the partners in the development of the narrative proposals and budget

Promote Effective Partnerships

• Implement best practices and clear roles and responsibilities for:
  • systematic partner feedback on IRC's management of the partnership relationship, as well as appropriate action in response to the feedback.
  • Partner engagement in program development
  • Partner identification efforts
  • Promoting a culture of partnerships adhering to the principles of equality, transparency, responsibility, result oriented and complementarity

Documentation and Reporting:

• Ensure that comprehensive electronic and physical files for partnerships are maintained.
• Oversee and work with other partnership staff to review monthly internal reports and support the drafting and compilation of partner reports into overall donor reports.

Representation and special tasks:

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

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Partnership Manager

Position directly supervises:  N/A

Indirect Reporting: Partnerships Coordinator
Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: IRC Lebanon Finance Department, IRC technical leads, IRC Lebanon HR Lead, HQ and Regional grants/compliance teams, Program Coordinators, SRR regional partnership team

External:  In-country donor counterparts, partner organizations, especially among UN agencies

Job Requirements:

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

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, Equality, and Accountability.  In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Client Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.