Africa Partnerships Officer M/F At Mérieux Foundation

1-year renewable fixed-term contract

GENERAL MISSION

Within the Africa Office of the Mérieux Foundation in Dakar, the Africa Partnerships & Financing Officer mobilizes funding for the implementation of projects in Africa .

It maintains regular relations with Technical and Financial Partners in Africa and actively seeks funding.

At the request of project managers/experts/managers, he supports the drafting of their project proposals in Africa and reports to donors.

He supports Project Managers/Experts in monitoring their indicators and promotes communication and visibility of the actions of the Mérieux Foundation with its technical and financial partners.

MAIN ACTIVITIES AND TASKS

All of the missions of the Africa Partnerships & Financing Officer will be carried out under the hierarchical supervision of the Africa Technical Assistant and in close collaboration with the Africa Regional Manager, the Management Control Manager – Africa Performance Management and the Partnerships & Financing Unit at headquarters.

Depending on the nature of the projects, he may also work in functional links with the Country Office Managers and the Public Health Program and Project Management Divisions at headquarters.

Define and monitor the regional financing strategy in Africa, based on the action plans of the Mérieux Foundation in Africa (country and regional):

• Identify financing needs in the area in collaboration with the Africa team, Office Managers and the Partnerships & Financing division at headquarters;
• Analyze donor strategies and the availability of funding in countries, in line with the Foundation’s priority areas;
• Propose and monitor a relevant regional financing strategy (grant acquisition and resource mobilization strategy); propose adjustments based on new opportunities or changing needs in countries.

Search for funding:

• Based on the thematic priorities of the Mérieux Foundation, actively seek national, regional and/or international funding and identify new donors or funding mechanisms in the countries;
• Support the Partnerships & Financing Division at headquarters in the work of mapping donors and partners, and create donor/partner profile sheets in the countries where the Mérieux Foundation operates in Africa;
• Support for the development of project sheets and brochures to support institutional communication throughout the year. And propose a strategy to strengthen the Foundation’s influence.

Coordinate regional production of concept notes and project proposals:

• Coordinate the writing of country/regional project documents with all stakeholders (Foundation team and partners) to respond to the region’s opportunities with donors. Guarantee the quality and compliance of the documents produced with the standards of the Foundation and donors;
• Coordinate submissions of concept notes and project proposals from the region within the deadlines imposed by donors;
• Analyze new opportunities with the teams in Africa and after validation by the Africa team, submit them online, via the Mérieux Foundation’s internal tool, to Management for validation.

Monitor contractual deadlines in the area

• In conjunction with the Project Managers and managers in the area, update the monitoring of regional donor contracts monthly and monitor their reporting deadlines (interim and final reports);
• Regularly update the Africa coordination team on the evolution of donor guidelines in the area;
• At the request of the Technical Assistant, develop monitoring tools and monitor project indicators to feed into donor reports;
• At the request of the Technical Assistant or the Africa Manager, be in contact with grant managers at donors to answer administrative questions related to certain reports.
• At the request of the Technical Assistant or Office Managers (country and regional), represent the Mérieux Foundation during coordination meetings with Technical or Financial Partners.

NB: additional missions may be entrusted to the Africa Partnerships & Financing Officer, depending on the workload and on the recommendation of the manager.

PROFILE & QUALIFICATIONS

• Holder of a higher education degree, Master’s level or equivalent in the following fields: political sciences , development/international relations, management/organizational leadership, public health, humanitarian project management.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in a similar position in an international organization (professional experience in reporting, design and/or management of international projects).
• International work experience, preferably in Africa.

Required professional skills :

CM1: Mastery of project management tools (project cycle, logical framework, project proposals, reporting, etc.);

CM2: Excellent written and oral communication. Excellent analytical, synthesis and writing skills.

CM3: Knowledge of the donor environment in the health sector and decentralized financing mechanisms in Africa.

Languages : English/French required, spoken and written

Required behavioral skills:

CC1: Adaptability and flexibility

CC2: Teamwork, cooperation, initiative

CC3: Dynamic, autonomous, rigorous

CC4: Fine negotiator and force of proposition