Regional Partnerships Advisor

Regional Partnership Advisor - SIDA CSO – Civil Society Strengthening Programme

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children (SC) works across a broad range of partners as per our Theory of Change and our partnership principles. However, this position will focus on partnerships with local civil society organisations in the countries where we programme. Save the Children Sweden’s Civil Society Strengthening Programme (2022-2026) is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). It has an ambitious agenda where the objective is to support a diverse and independent civil society, respected in its own right, that has the capacity to hold the state to account for the fulfilment of children’s rights. For this to happen, a strong focus lies on the promotion and support to partner-led capacity strengthening and Organizational Capacity Development (OCD) among its civil society organisations (CSOs) partners and on Save the Children’s contribution to civic space for civil society. Standards for programme quality is high and is measured in areas such as gender equality, environment and climate change, inclusion and non-discrimination, human rights-based approach and conflict sensitivity. Save the Children believes that a strong civil society is crucial to promote, defend and demand accountability for children’s rights.

Therefore, Save the Children is recruiting for an experienced Partnership Advisor who will provide technical support and coordination of the partnership priorities for the CSO-programme portfolio across Eastern and Southern Africa, including one regional programme and 5 country programmes (in Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda). Travel to these Countries is expected.

The Partnership Technical Advisor will use his/her in-depth contextual understanding of civil society dynamics in East and Southern Africa, his/her technical expertise on partnership and localisation and his/her relationship building skills to increase efforts, programme quality and technical leadership in the civil society engagement arena. This will include providing systematic capacity strengthening support to country office staff and local civil society partner organisations and strategically partnering with civil society as part of long-term programming efforts in all contexts. This role will also facilitate learning from other related initiatives to increase localisation efforts and strengthen strategic partnering with civil society organisations in our programming and testing innovative approaches like the core funding approach, innovative partnerships with youth or child-led organizations etc.

In order to be successful, you will bring/have:

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in social sciences, development, organisational leadership, international relations, or relevant field.
• Extensive and substantive relevant practical experience may be considered in lieu of a Master's Degree. 
• Partnership Brokering certification desirable.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• At least 8 years of qualified experience working with rights-based approaches and relevant thematic areas focusing on organisational capacity strengthening of civil society organisations and/or national and local actors in development and humanitarian contexts.
• At least 8 years’ experience in the design and implementation of programmes and capacity building of civil society organisations from both development and humanitarian contexts.
• Experience of developing efficient strategies for advocacy work and policy dialogue between civil society and state actor’s Experience/familiarity of Nordic framework agreements focusing on local civil society strengthening is considered a merit.

• Familiar with organisational development methodologies, partnership principles, partnership brokering, participatory approaches and the localisation agenda. Strong understanding of thematic issues related to child rights and human rights.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to summarize extensive and complex information.
• Ability to lead on strategic development, including monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning.
• Knowledge of RBM/LFA frameworks.
• Proposal writing and reporting skills including thematic quality assurance on gender equality, child rights, and children with disabilities, conflict sensitivity, and climate aspects in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• Experience in organizational capacity development and significant training, facilitation and capacity building skills
• Track record of engaging civil society networks, NGOs and government agencies in ESA.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office and business intelligence/reporting/monitoring systems.

Contract duration: 2 year

Location:  East and Southern Africa Regional Office – Nairobi.

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection.  We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard. 

 We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children.  We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application, and include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations.  A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/careers.

 We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.

Disclaimer:

Save the Children International does not charge any kind of fee at whichever stage of the recruitment process and does not act through recruitment agents