Partnerships Coordinator with focus on Civil Society Partnerships At Asylum Access

About Us

Asylum Access believes it’s time to put power back in the hands of people who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries.

Our unique combination of legal empowerment, policy advocacy and global systems change creates conditions in which refugees can live safely, move freely, work legally and go to school. By supporting refugees as they assert their rights, we help restore their power and agency. Our work transforms the traditional approach of endless humanitarian handouts to a sustainable solution that honors refugees’ freedom, dignity and autonomy, and empowers them to make choices about their own lives.

Asylum Access’ global team and family of local civil society organizations advocate to make human rights a reality for refugees throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. Our national organizations are led and staffed primarily by community members in those countries, and there is strong mutual trust and respect between us and our clients. On the international stage, we work with established institutions to shift the global system to better uphold and promote refugees’ human rights. We can help catalyze and lead systemic transformation because, uniquely among NGOs in the refugee response sector, we focus exclusively on rights and governance.

Department Description

The Global Systems Change (GSC) department at Asylum Access seeks to shift incentives and priorities in the global refugee response ecosystem to advance the respect, protection, and promotion of refugees’ human rights, and to increase systemic accountability and transparency toward refugees. The GSC team eagerly instigates increased refugee and national-level civil society participation in global decision-making around displacement efforts and assists with their efforts to drive progress at a national level, while advocating with institutions of power to improve their accountability, transparency, and role in catalyzing forward progress on refugees’ human rights.

Position Description

The Partnerships Coordinator will play a key role in building partnerships and assisting the global community of host community and refugee-led organizations (collectively referred to as “civil society organizations” or “CSOs”) working to advance refugees human rights. The scope of partnerships include aiding advocacy coordination and agenda-setting, movement building, and coordinating joint projects with CSOs driving progress for refugee rights and refugee inclusion at the national level.

The Partnerships Coordinator will report to the Director of Global Programs and Policy. They will work also closely with (i) colleagues from the Global Systems Change team to facilitate CSOs access to regional and global opportunities, spaces and networks that can advance refugee rights and inclusion; as well as (ii) Asylum Access national operations and Global staff for development of resources, tools and training to assist with the above initiatives. The ideal candidate would have experienced forced displacement.

Key Responsibilities

• Advocacy Coordination (20%):

Assist with advocacy and agenda-setting initiatives aimed at national, regional or global actors. This includes coordinating coalition-building efforts with local CSOs that promote refugee rights and refugee leadership. Duties may include research, identification of local partners and advocacy targets, drafting reports and other written material to facilitate advocacy, aiding facilitation of coalition/network meetings and overall project coordination. Current priorities include:

1. Approaches to collaboration with UNHCR;
2. Building equitable partnerships with CSOs;
3. Centering human rights at the heart of refugee responses, and
4. Assisting other regional and/or national-level advocacy where needed

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• Movement building (20%):

Coordinating learning initiatives with other refugee response CSOs to learn and share knowledge, tools, resources and build networks that lead to enhanced advocacy for refugees’ human rights nationally and globally. Duties include organizing online and in-person events and trainings, agenda development, drafting and adapting resources and tools, coordinating with partners, as well as coordinating follow up initiatives.

• Joint projects with CSOs (30%):

Through joint project partnerships, assist CSOs to strengthen or scale their programs nationally to advance refugee human rights at the national level. This is likely to include assistance with legal empowerment programs, policy advocacy strategies, approaches to partnering with RLOs, and general organizational development. Duties may include coordination with Asylum Access colleagues and drafting/adapting internal and external resources.**

• Assistance with resource mobilization efforts (20%):

This includes assisting with conceptualizing, drafting and coordinating concept notes and funding applications.**

• Other duties as identified by supervisor (10%) :

Track and manage ad hoc projects as needed. These projects may vary in size and complexity, and may be short- or long-term.

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated research and assessment skills.
• Demonstrated experience in coordinating or working with other partners (especially CSOs) around joint projects or initiatives. Experience in developing networks and coalition-building is a strong asset.
• Proven excellence in building and maintaining relationships with a range of actors, with a strong focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Facilitation and community mobilization experience will be a significant asset.
• Experience in developing or adapting program materials or tools to different contexts, including developing learning and training resources and other guidance documents.
• Strong administrative skills around logistics planning and online support for workshops, convenings and other in-person or online meetings.
• Experience with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) is an asset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cultural competence. Thrives in a diverse, multicultural workforce. Exceptional willingness to ensuring meaningful participation, inclusion and engagement for all team members;
• Strong identification with Asylum Access’ values, mission and vision;
• Excellent skills in writing and editing for a variety of stakeholders and audiences in English;
• Excellent knowledge of G-Suite and Microsoft Office applications;
• Excellent knowledge of online meeting platforms;
• Previous experience in or knowledge of non-profit organizations;
• Time management and organizational skills;
• Notable initiative and ability to take ownership of projects, manage multiple deadlines, work effectively, independently and collaboratively in a team environment;
• Flexible, willingness to reassess priorities and approaches as necessary in a rapidly evolving organizational context;
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment sometimes after work hours to coordinate with international colleagues;
• Very good verbal fluency in English. Fluency in Spanish, Arabic, Swahili or Bangla is an asset.

Salary and Benefits

The position comes with a well-paying nonprofit salary based on location, and a robust benefits package.

Hours and Location of Work

The Partnership Coordinator with focus on CSO Partnerships is a full-time position that may be based in Southeast Asia (with stronger preference for Malaysia and Thailand where we have operations), the Middle East or East Africa . Applicants must be willing to work at reasonable off-hours to align with colleagues and partners in different regions.