Partnership and Local Leadership Manager At Oxfam GB

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

ABOUT OXFAM Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. Together we save and rebuild lives in disasters. We help people build better lives for themselves. We speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality, discrimination against women and climate change. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can live without poverty.

OUR TEAM Oxfam in Iraq is working with more than 26 local/national NGOs across the country in different programs. These programs are run in nine governorates managed by our field teams. We also engage with more than 53 local and national NGOs across 11 governorates of Iraq to facilitate the process of local leadership and transformative partnerships. We also work with number of individuals, government authorities, women rights organizations, youth and volunteers’ organizations, and networks, etc.

JOB PURPOSE The Partnership and Local Leadership Manager will provide overall leadership and technical oversight to the partnership processes within the Iraq country programme, particularly those related to strengthening and managing relationships with partners. The role will coordinate with the other Program Managers in the field offices and the technical coordinators to ensure the institutionalization and refinement of partnership ways of working, partnership processes and guidelines, and manage potential risks that may evolve from partnership ways of working. In collaboration with the support functions in the country, the role will be responsible for supporting the country program in the effective scoping and building of (new) partnerships, managing and maintaining partnerships, incl. providing support to joint programming and advocacy activities, as well as reviewing and revising partnerships, as relevant for the program.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Programme & Partnership Management: • Roll-out the Partnership and Local Leadership element of the country strategy and design appropriate interventions and approaches in conjunction with partner organisations and Oxfam teams in the country. • Ensure a strong and enabling focus on local actors’ leadership, capacity and influence, with a specific focus on women’s rights and women-led organisations, disabled persons organisations, and organisations working to protect and support the rights and wellbeing of the most vulnerable. • Ensure and support partnership-centric ways of working throughout the different projects and program management cycles in close collaboration with the programme managers and the technical coordinators. • Lead the identification of capacity development needs, the development and the delivery of capacity sharing and capacity strengthening strategies and activities, the assessment of capacity strengthening activities, in collaboration with the programme managers, and technical teams, as needed. • Contribute to integrate transformative partnerships and local leadership in Oxfam programming, through fundraising, drafting of related input in proposals/reports (including workplans and budgets), technical guidance to field team, and support to capacity strengthening/sharing activities. • Design and implement Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) framework and activities for Partnership, Local Leadership, and Capacity strengthening. • Coordinate partnership assessments and Due Diligence processes, ensure partnership are regularly monitored and assessed to measure achievement of objectives (both of projects/programs and of transformative partnership/local leadership). • Proactively engage in solving challenges related to partnership management in projects and programs, document recurring issues and suggest ways to improve ways of working. • Represent the country teams in partnership and localisation focused coordination meetings and Oxfam internal planning processes. • Support on partner-led advocacy, influencing and communications activities, in collaboration with the policy and communications/media leads. • Ensure that local actors’ leadership is central to narratives to media and in donor visits to contribute to the visibility and promotion of local and national civil society’s role. • Report regularly to the DCD about opportunities and issues emerging from partnerships, Oxfam’s ways of working, and integrated programming. • Ensure programme managers and country teams are familiar with Oxfam’s partnership principles, including the commitments to the Charter for Change, Grand Bargain, etc. • Support partner scoping and relationship building activities, through regular field visit trips, events and meetings.

Other • Required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women’s rights • Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles

Qualifications Required

Essential

• Knowledge of and demonstrated commitment to Oxfam’s values, mission and work including feminist approach to humanitarian responses and Oxfam’s partnership principles.
• Excellent understanding of, and experience with, brokering, developing and managing partnerships with and among CSOs, government or private institutions, federations, networks and platforms.
• Strong knowledge and broad understanding of humanitarian, development and peace building issues including the political environment, sensitivity to working with CSOs within the MENA region.
• Strategic planning skills with ability to contribute to programme strategies and project implementation.
• Good assessment, analytical and planning skills, incl. project management experience, and planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning (PMEAL).
• Excellent and demonstrable people, collaboration and networking skills.
• Effective communication internally and externally towards government and NGOs, donors, and internally towards superiors, program managers, technical experts and business support specialists.
• A proven capacity for mentoring, facilitation, training, capacity building and coaching.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Desirable

• Understanding of Oxfam’s approach to Partnership and Local Leadership.
• Knowledge of Iraqi socio-political context.
• Fluency in Arabic and/or Kurdish

Key Attributes

• Ability to travel in all program areas in the country.
• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender equality, as well as the commitment to promoting equal opportunities.
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender justice, gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible.