Partnerships Manager - Capacity Strengthening - Cash Consortium of Sudan (CCS)
Description
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.
The Program / Department / Team
Mercy Corps’ Sudan crisis response seeks to meet the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Sudanese and other conflict-affected people across the country. Mercy Corps Sudan is recognized as a leader in market systems, agricultural, and food security and building on this experience, the MC Sudan humanitarian program will layer in resilience and other program activities where appropriate and feasible to do so. Assistance is delivered with a focus on needs, in partnership with local actors and civil society.
The Cash Consortium of Sudan (CCS) is a collaborative platform to advance a progressive vision of the potential of cash assistance to transform humanitarian response and recovery in partnership with vulnerable conflict-affected populations. CCS is led by Mercy Corps, building on its global experience and learning on leading cash consortia in multiple country contexts, as well as general expertise in cash coordination and breadth of technical resources. International partners include Acted, CARE, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), each of which bring strong cash and complementary technical competencies, as well as expansive operational coverage in Sudan. The CCS also includes nine Sudanese NGOs as partners in alignment with global aid sector commitments to enhance the prominence of local actors in driving humanitarian response and recovery. IMPACT is a non-implementing partner dedicated to Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning. IMPACT will support quality data systems and an objective evidence base that will be essential to CCS’ accountability and adaptive management to refine programming approaches to enhance impact as the Sudan crisis context evolves. The CCS will work closely with other consortia and actors in Sudan to deliver an effective CVA response for communities affected by the crisis.
The core pillars of the CCS response include: 1) basic needs through cash assistance both at the community level through Group Cash Transfers (GCTs) delivered to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), as well as at the household-level through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA); 2) strengthening market systems to ensure resilience of key market actors and supply chains as well as strengthening the availability and affordability of key commodities; 3) strengthening capacity of local partner organizations with an emphasis on accompaniment and mentorship; and 4) generation of learning and evidence to inform broader response efforts.
The Position
The purpose of the CCS Partnerships Manager - Capacity Strengthening is to lead in supporting activities under the CCS pillar 3) strengthening capacity of local partner organizations with an emphasis on accompaniment and mentorship. The Partnerships Manager - Capacity Strengthening is responsible to establish a common approach and good practices for partnership between international and local partner organizations, and to manage a team to support accompaniment and mentorship with CCS’ local partner organizations. Beyond the local partner organizations, s/he will coordinate with the CCS Secretariat, representatives of international partners, and other NGOs and will attend key coordination meetings and support information sharing across partners.
Essential Job Functions
Capacity Strengthening
- Develop strong relationships with all partner organizations– national and international.
- Lead common due diligence exercises for all national partners.
- Lead common capacity assessments for all national partners.
- Establish local partner capacity strengthening agenda for the CCS.
- Coordinate with CCS and partner teams to plan capacity strengthening sessions as needed, managing resource allocation to work with any other country, regional and/ or global support colleagues, consultants, etc.
- Manage CCS Partnerships team of 2-4 team members dedicated to accompaniment and mentorship with local partner organizations.
- Coordinate with the CCS Partnerships team on planning and implementing training and coaching interventions provided for local partners.
- Support CCS and local partners in ensuring consortium planning, design and implementation are inclusive and oriented towards enhancing the voice and role of local partners within the consortium.
Team Management
- Advise and mentor Secretariat and partner staff on implementation of capacity building activities and approaches, including support for strengthening coaching skills within the consortium.
- Develop team member capacity to assume greater planning and implementation responsibilities with attention to high quality program outputs.
Program Management & Quality
- Maintain accurate records of capacity building activities, prepare periodic progress reports, and contribute to donor reporting requirements as relates to the CCS Partnerships pillar.
Finance & Compliance Management
- Ensure the consortium partnership activities are compliant with donor and grant holder rules and regulations.
- Manage the consortium partnership budget and ensure partner expenditures are in line with agreed upon budgets.
- Monitor expenditures and forecasts, ensure timely identification of under/over spends and propose and implement solutions.
Representation and Coordination
- Participate where relevant in external representation of the consortium with various groups, including donors, UN agencies, the World Bank and local authorities as feasible.
- Represent consortium progress to donors as well as within the Cash Working Group, the Emergency Livelihoods Cluster, other relevant clusters, working groups related to Social Protection, and other coordination fora as strategic.
- Share learning from the consortium with the greater humanitarian and development community within Sudan as well as regionally and globally, as relevant.
Organizational Learning
- As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve - we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to Beneficiaries
- Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY
2-4 Partnerships Mentor roles
Accountability
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: CCS Director
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: CCS Secretariat. local and international partners, Mercy Corps Regional and HQ Technical Support Units
Knowledge and Experience
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in international development, social sciences, management, or a related field.
- At least 3-5 years of relevant experience in capacity building, organizational development, or NGO management, preferably in Sudan or similar contexts.
- Prior experience with civil society programming and interest required; strong preference for previous capacity building, community mobilization, advocacy, or grassroots organizing experience (particularly in crisis setting).
- Previous team management and training skills are required.
- Proven experience in conducting capacity assessments, designing capacity building interventions, and delivering training and mentoring support to local organizations.
- Strong understanding of capacity development methodologies, adult learning principles, and participatory approaches.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders.
- Fluency in English and Arabic, both written and verbal
- Commitment to the principles of partnership, local ownership, and sustainability in development programming.
Success Factors
The successful Partnerships Manager - Capacity Strengthening will combine will have an ability to work independently, take initiative in tasks and self-learning, be proactive in communications and development of professional relationships, and persistent and flexible in tackling challenges. S/He will have strong remote management skills and experience in building and maintaining partner relationships in a fragmented operational context. S/he will possess a high level of adaptability and be able to adjust to a constantly changing working environment. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is based in Nairobi, Kenya and it requires up to 60% travel to support consortium programming and operations in Sudan and neighboring countries such as Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. This may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing for this role is in individual housing.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.