Head of Consortia

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and beliefs shall guide our actions and relationships.

1.      Role Summary:

NRC Lebanon is grant holder of three consortia with a fourth being established, and a sub-grantee in two, funded by donors including FCDO, FFO, NMFA, EU and ECHO. Although consortia hosted by NRC, including in terms of organisational procedures such as logistics, finance and security, there is be a degree of separation and independence of the Consortium Management Unit, as NRC is also implementing within these consortia.

The Head of Consortia heads up the Consortia Management Unit (CMU), consisting of a dedicated team of Consortium Managers leading the coordination between consortium members on a day-to-day basis. The position holder leads on the strategic development of consortia programmes and other multi-disciplinary initiatives in compliance with NRC Lebanon country strategy and NRC’s systems and procedures.

Generic Responsibilities:

1. Line manage all Consortium Managers and assigned staff.
2. Support Consortium Managers in forging strong relationships with and between consortia members through close interaction with each Consortia Board consisting of senior representatives of consortia partners.
3. Convene the Consortia Management Unit (CMU) meetings and provide reporting/updates to the Head of Programme and the Country Management Group (CMG) where needed.
4. Contribute to the development of consortia strategic priorities feeding into NRC Lebanon country strategy.
5. Lead the coordination between the different consortia on joint strategic initiatives as relevant, e.g. Value for Money exercises.
6. Proactively identify compliance risks throughout the consortia portfolio and advise partner agencies on necessary actions; and assist the Consortium Managers and CMU staff with understanding the reporting and other compliance requirements for the projects.
7. Ensure consortia’s compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures working closely with the Programme Support Unit’s functions of Grants management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Protection, Partnerships, and Accountability to Affected Populations.
8. Identify (consortia) multi-year funding opportunities and lead on the development of consortia proposals working with the Core Competency Specialists and the Programme Support Unit, taking particular account of changing donor priorities.
9. Ensure consortia interventions are evidence-based and meet quality standards (including gender, inclusion, protection, and accountability).
10. Ensure regular, adequate, and timely coordination with NRC’s support departments.
11. Oversee and responsible of mainstreaming protection guidelines in the NRC’s related activities as per NRC’s Protection mainstreaming guidelines and ensures that all breaches/concerns reported are properly resolved.

Specific Responsibilities:

1. Ensure consortia follow NRC Lebanon standards for Project Cycle Management and maintain an overview of (consortia) grants management, budget allocations and reporting to donors, in coordination with the Programme Support Unit
2. Ensure lateral and downstream partners’ agreements are reviewed by the relevant departments in NRC Lebanon, and compliant with internal processes
3. Proactively identify opportunities for learning between Consortia, at country, regional and global level, and feed these into strategic planning in coordination with the Head of Programme.
4. Monitor the timely submission of quality donor reporting from partners.
5. Ensure consortia maintain comprehensive electronic and physical files in line with NRC Lebanon filing tree requirements.
6. Ensure smooth communication and collaboration between all the NRC’s consortia partners.
7. Represent NRC in country with donors, Government Ministries, and I/NGOs, in close coordination with the Head of Programme.
8. Engage with related policy and advocacy work to advance the objectives of each consortium.
9. Deputize the Head of Programme when appointed.

Critical Interfaces:

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Proposal development: Core Competency Specialists, Protection Adviser, Consortium members, Area Managers, Programme Support Unit, Support functions
• Partnerships/Consortium development: Partnerships Specialist, Core Competencies Specialists, Protection Adviser, Consortium members
• Representation: Consortia donors, Consortia Steering Committees/Boards

2.      Competencies:

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

1.       Professional Competencies:

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

Generic professional competencies for this position:

• Minimum 8 years’ experience from a senior management position, with responsibility for programming, in a humanitarian/recovery and/or development context
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Expertise in one (or more) of NRC’s core competencies is an advantage
• Knowledge of NRC core donors: ECHO, EU, FCDO, NMFA, FFO
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

Context/Specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Knowledge of the context in Lebanon
• Experience in partnership, consortia or related work
• Knowledge of donor landscape, priorities and conditions
• Experience of working in integrated programmes
• Experience of steering the development of M&E systems

2.       Behavioral Competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, the following are essential for this position:

• Strategic thinking
• Initiating action and change
• Influencing
• Managing resources to optimise results
• Empowering and building trust
• Handling insecure environments