Partnership and Awards Manager (ECW)(FOR MYANMAR NATIONAL ONLY) At Save the Children

TITLE: Partnership and Awards Manager (ECW)

LOCATION: Yangon, Head Office with frequent field visits to project locations when needed

Background

SCI’s 2022-2024 Global Strategy includes a priority objective on advocacy for investment in education, including through ECW. There is also a global education working group with accountability to deliver this.

SCI, UNICEF and PIM are partnering together in this consortium to address the most urgent of the needs highlighted above, contributing to the overall impact of the Myanmar MYRP 2023-2025 that children and youth in Myanmar, particularly the most vulnerable learners, can exercise their rights to quality learning and be trained in a safe, inclusive and gender responsive, and protective environment. The consortium will work towards the outcomes of access, quality, system strengthening and resource mobilization. These four pillars underpin the programme’s logic of interventions.

The ECW program “Education Cannot Wait – Myanmar Multi-Year-Resilience Program” start on January 1, 2023, for a period of 3 years. SCI will establish and lead a Consortium Management Unit (CMU). In this role, SCI will be responsible for coordination and management of the grantees to implement the MYRP 2023-2025. The ECW incorporates these major components.

• The most vulnerable children and youth have equitable and continued access to safe and inclusive education (Access)
• The most Vulnerable children and youth receive quality teaching and learning that is context-responsive, equity-focused and adapted to evolving situation (Quality)
• Communities and local education partners have sufficient capacity for a resilient, quality education response (Systems Strengthening)
• Resourcing for scale-up of quality, inclusive, safe, and equitable education provision is increased (Advocacy & Resource Mobilization)

The CMU will ensure the complementarity of partnerships within the members on the following areas

• Sharing and adapting best practices within and across partners
• Actions and approaches among the partners for referrals and cross-learning
• Joint assessments, research and communications and advocacy strategy
• Support on quality programme perspectives (e.g., gender, inclusion, psychosocial support, etc.)
• Adapting tools and methods of partners for quality supervision and MEAL
• Donor communications and ensuring that the global secretariat has up to date news and case studies to promote wider ECW objectives

SCI, UNICEF and Plan International Myanmar (PIM) are partnering together to deliver a three-year integrated and inclusive education programme to meaningfully contribute to the learning and wellbeing of children. The consortium is uniquely placed to target wider geographical areas in Myanmar and to work directly at the community level through its implementing partners.

ROLE PURPOSE: The Partnership and Awards Manager is responsible for contributing to the strategic and operations management of ECW programme’s partnership with education providers, and ensuring compliance to standards are incorporated in all partner agreements and operations. In accordance with pertinent SCI policies and guidelines, the Partnership and Awards Manager is responsible for operationalising the programme’s Partnership Framework including the Partnership Policy, Partnership Strategy, Partnership Guidelines and Partnership Standards.

Coordination with the education cluster and ECW steering committee and technical team.

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: ECW Consortium Manager

Staff reporting to this post: Nil

Indirect : None

Budget Responsibilities: None

Role Dimensions: The Partnership Manager will work across departments to support the program in maintaining the partnership and continuously improving systems to support the development of program partnership strategy. The job holder has regular contacts, external engagements and in communicating with partners with formal agreements across all the regions of the operational areas. The jobholder also has regular engagements with national level strategic and potential partners particularly in coordinating our partnership work with other Grant Agents), representing the organization in partnership discussions, and in helping to identify and pursue new partnership opportunities. The jobholder also relates regularly with SCI Partnership Team as well as with members on partnership issues, discussions/initiatives, contributing learning and leveraging best practices from other contexts.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY :

Overall Responsibilities:

Partnership Strategic Lead and Management

• Keep abreast of SCI Global Partnership strategic developments and ensure program’s partnership strategy is aligned with the result framework and guidelines to operationalize the partnership development and management.
• Develop and regularly update Program Partnership Management Guideline and all relevant tools pertaining hereto and otherto the effective execution and utilization.
• Capacity development of Program staff on our partnership approach and Partnership management guideline and relevant partnership tools
• Induct newly appointed staff on partnership approach in general, and the Partnership Management Guideline in particular, including all relevant tools as required.

Partnership Development and Management

• Provide leadership in the partnership development of partnerships across the operational areas in the country.
• Contribute with a partnership perspective to the development and revision of all relevant strategies, plans and budgets for the program.
• Provide input to, and quality assurance of new project/program concepts, amendments to proposals and budgets – with regard to the partnership modality and set-up envisaged therein.
• Provide lead role in facilitating partnership processes related to the identification, assessment, selection of partners, facilitating teaming agreements with particular attention to ensuring transparency and accountability therein.
• Lead the program teams to design and implement good processes/criteria for scoping, selection and assessment of potential partners
• Co-ordinate with Awards vetting focal in ensuring partnership vetting is done in the AMS.

Quality Assurance of Partnership Management

• Have oversight and coordination role of the preparation and quality assurance of partner budgets, work plans/DIP, contracts such as partner agreements and memorandum of understanding etc.
• Proactively identify opportunities to expand the partnership relations, in line with program Strategic Plan
• Ensure partner onboarding and Partner kick off meetings are conducted
• Ensure partnership needs assessments are completed and tracked.
• Oversight monitoring of compliance on partnership standards and KPIs.
• Coordinate quarterly catch-up, partnership health-check and survey.
• Collaborate with SPM to compile donor ready reports

Partners Capacity Strengthening

• Lead on implementation of capacity assessments with partners, developing corresponding capacity strengthening plans and coordinating and monitoring the execution hereof.
• Provide technical advice to partners and programs staff on facilitating organizational capacity strengthening based on plans.
• Guide and mentor the Partnership and Award Co-ordinators in each area of implementation and build their capacity

Partnerships Risk Management

• Conduct partners risk assessment and develop risk mitigation measures.
• Work with the Internal Auditor – on partner risk assessment and mitigation/corrective actions.
• Facilitate Program staff in conducting partners’ self-assessment of partnership risks and management.
• Provide advice to SPM and the internal auditor and make relevant contributions to the settlement of partner disputes and the management and close-out of suspected or confirmed fraud/mismanagement cases and subsequent partnership termination, if/when relevant.

Partnership Monitoring and Reporting

• Provide technical support for joint monitoring of partnerships and develop a master monitoring plan and tracker for project/award
• Develop and share quarterly reports on partner capacity development, risk assessment of partners and risk mitigation measures that have been implemented.
• Consult the Awards Management team in preparation of partnership documents such as assessment reports, partnership agreements, partnership program/financial reports e.tc for uploading in AMS.
• Ensure that the Partnerships folder on the shared drive is kept up-to-date with key resources including SOPs, workflows, guidance, manuals, etc. Assist in any other partnership-related assignments, as requested by the line manager.

Child Safeguarding Responsibilities:

• Ensure that your staff is providing all beneficiaries of your programme with ongoing, age-appropriate verbal or written information in relevant languages about Save the Children’s Child Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct.

Qualifications and Experience:

EssentiaL :

• Master’s degree in relevant field and/or Certificate or Diploma in Education.
• At least 5 years of working experience in relevant field including at least 05 years in senior management position.
• Advanced knowledge about the Education policy and context in Myanmar
• Strong leadership abilities
• Excellent understanding of key issues and strategies in state of the art Early Childhood Development and Basic Education programs, formal and non-formal Education theories
• Excellent skills on process facilitation and coordination with high standard.
• Excellent inter-personal communication skills
• Strong analytical capacity and proficient understanding of both qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Good presentation skills including policy briefing
• Good supportive supervision skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English.