Partnerships Manager – West & Northern Africa Regional Hub- REMOTE At Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team

Overview

• Work Location: Dakar (West & Northern Africa Regional Hub); relocation possible, or remote within the region
• Application Close Date: November 21, 2021
• Estimated Start date: December 15, 2021
• Department: Open Mapping Hub – West Africa
• Reports to: Regional Hub Director (line manager) & Head of Partnerships (functional manager)
• Terms: Full time 1-year initial contract, with opportunity for extension
• Travel: Within the region up to 50%. Occasional travel outside the region for all staff / team meetings.

About HOT

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) sits at the nexus of participatory mapping, community-led development, humanitarian response, open data and tech. With a talented and diverse team spread around the globe, HOT is an NGO which supports a dynamic global community of thousands of dedicated volunteers using maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goals. Working with humanitarian and development partners like the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, UN agencies, governments and others, the HOT community maps in solidarity with those affected by or at risk of disaster, contributing the maps and data aid workers need to do their lifesaving work.
In 2020 the work of the HOT community was recognized by TED’s Audacious Project, a collaborative philanthropic initiative that serves as a springboard for social impact on a grand scale, leading to an exciting new phase of growth. HOT is expanding its activities: opening four regional hubs and scaling up its support to local mapping communities with the audacious goal of mapping an area home to one billion people in 94 countries at high risk of disasters or experiencing poverty – mapping with communities before they are in crisis.

About You

We’re looking for someone who cares deeply about the mission, is community-minded and passionate about humanitarian and development work demonstrated through prior professional experience. Enthusiasm, professionalism, resilience, a good sense of humor and willingness to learn are essential!

About the Role

The Regional Hub Partnerships Manager serves as HOT’s lead for partnerships in West & Northern Africa. As part of HOT’s global vision to map an area home to one billion people affected by disasters or multidimensional/extreme poverty, the Regional Hub Partnerships Manager is responsible for developing and executing a regional partnership strategy and developing strategic partnerships to create and expand the use of, free, open, and accessible geospatial data to 20-25 countries in their region over a period of 4-5 years. The Regional Hub Partnerships Manager will oversee and grow HOT’s partnerships for the region, ensuring data created has a tangible impact by expanding HOT’s partnerships with NGOs, universities, national and local governments, UN agencies and OpenStreetMap (OSM) communities.

This role will be prioritized for applicants with extensive experience in the West and Northern Africa region. To learn more about which countries HOT plans to work in West and Northern Africa, please see here.

Responsibilities

Partnerships Strategy & Management

• Develop and execute partnerships strategy for the West & Northern Africa region
• Identify and create a pipeline of new strategic partnerships in the region across a diverse range of partners and sectors; NGO, local and national government, national and regional institutions, universities, other local partners (e.g. private sector ) through outreach
• Manage, track and support HOT’s partnerships in approximately 25 countries
• Be the key point of contact in the region to build relationships, and broker requests, with humanitarian impact partners: governments (local and national) and NGOs
• Introduce and present the value and impact of OSM data to local partners through hands-on demonstrations and applications relevant to their work
• Actively identify data needs and gaps of new partners. Co-create activities, initiatives and projects together with partners that directly support them to use OSM data in life-changing ways
• Identify new NGO partners interested to partner with HOT and/or join the Missing Maps consortium to grow it’s membership in the region (as a potential partner, supporter or contributor), acting as a point of contact for the region

Community Development

• Work together with the Community Manager in regional hubs to ensure that HOT community grants are supporting humanitarian/development partners, and that the maps/data created by community grants get used
• Identify sustainable partners who can provide community program support to HOT’s community microgrant activities which support local data needs, and sustained community growth
• Support OpenStreetMap communities in the region to develop their own partnerships (e.g. providing training on how to build and manage partnerships, ad hoc coaching to HOT’s microgrant partners, etc.) and work with colleagues at the Regional Hub to support and connect these communities
• Work with Global team to develop strategic partnerships to significantly grow and retain the volunteer base in the region
• Input on the design for how HOT can develop and support a local network in the countries of the Hub and lead the coordination between these networks with HOT’s regional hubs, channeling relevant opportunities or requested support to these networks

Internal Collaboration

• Work together with Hub team to support the open mapping hub work
• Define what support HOT should provide to partners, and vice versa, then work with Trainer/GIS Analyst in the Regional Hub to provide training that builds the capacity of local partners to access, contribute to and utilize OSM and serve as advocates for OSM across the region
• Support monitoring and evaluation through information/data gathering with key partner organizations, to track and document local partners’ data use and impact for global monitoring
• Contribute to global internal knowledge sharing on partnership best practice – ensure all historical and ongoing partnership activities or leads in the region are documented and can be shared globally
• Support HOT Technology team to ensure HOT’s technology development meets the needs of partners (e.g. mobile surveying tools, data export tools) by working with the Technology Associate in the Regional Hub

External Engagement

• Represent HOT at events and conferences in the West & Northern Africa region, and support collaboration at the global level
• Identify project opportunities in the region via developed partnerships and the Hub’s community support activities. Support active projects in the region by leveraging partnerships applicable to those projects, and identifying opportunities for outreach and expansion into other contexts; working with the with HOT’s Field Programs team and business development staff

Qualifications

Essential

• University degree level (Bachelors/Masters) OR a similar time-length (3-5 years) of relevant professional/partnerships experience
• Minimum 5-7 years professional working experience
• Fluency in French & English
• Experience working in / managing multiple partnerships and financial budget at an NGO, government, multilateral or relevant experience working in social impact / humanitarian / development
• Demonstrated experience independently initiating and building new partnerships, and delivering multiple partnership agreements in parallel
• Strong understanding of the West & Northern Africa region and local context
• Experience using and integrating OpenStreetMap with other organizations
• Strong relationship building skills and stakeholder management
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Experience hosting workshops and training sessions
• Demonstrated experience as a self-starter and appetite to work in an entrepreneurial environment
• Experience working remotely and leading projects/activities and coaching team members globally

Desirable

• Additional regional languages are a plus
• Prior experience with HOT and mapping in OpenStreetMap / using open geospatial data, or Missing Maps
• Understanding of open source communities
• Experience working in remote environments or with distributed teams
• Experience working with volunteer communities
• Experience in training development and building networks
• Experience using a CRM tool e.g. Salesforce
• Experience proposal writing, pitching and negotiating

Are you missing a few of the technical skills listed? We would still like to see your application. While the skills above fit our vision of this role, we are open to those candidates with a strong knowledge foundation that are fast learners and highly motivated to close any skill gaps.

Top 2 – 3 priorities for the first 60 to 90 days

• Build a strategy and work with partners in identifying priorities in relation to our areas of focus, (organise meetings with partners in WNAH) (KRs: Meetings held and axe of collaboration identified)
• Contribute to the workshop preparation for the launch of WNAH (KRs validation of the ToRs, tasks related to partners’s participation),
• Organise working groups and thematics of discussions with partners (KRs Thematic Groups are set up)
• Contribute to the official Launch of WNAH, ( KRs Launch held, with valuable contribution of partners to the action plan of activities for 2022)

Compensation

HOT values transparency and equity. All HOT compensation globally is set according to a framework detailed on our website. HOT offers a work-from-anywhere culture, flexible working arrangements, and various other benefits that support staff wellbeing.

Equal Opportunity

We seek to recruit persons that reflect the diversity of the communities we work with and further, to support their retention and advancement within the organization. HOT does not discriminate on the basis of ability, age, gender identity and expression, national origin, race and ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. Our staff includes people who are parents and nonparents, the self-taught and university educated, and from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, lived experiences, and perspectives on the world. HOT is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to live our values and promote inclusivity in all locations. All of our staff work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of all is valued and respected.

HOT is committed to diversity within our team, and recognizes our role in closing the digital divide, including identifying obstacles that certain groups face in developing skills needed for roles in the humanitarian & technology sectors. Women, nationals of developing countries, and members of other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.