Partnership (Consortium) Manager (Teheran, Iran) At Norwegian Refugee Council

Background

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) will be Consortium Lead and grant holder of a significant multi-partner consortium grant funded by by the European Commission Department for International Partnerships (INTPA) focusing on the following sectors: Education, Livelihood, Health and Protection. Advocacy activities are also planned. This will be a second phase and expansion of the present partnership project. Current project will end in December 2021 and the next phase is intended to commence in January 2022 for a 3 year period.

NRC is seeking an experienced consortium Partnership Manager to manage the coordination and grant administration of this next phase of the INTPA-funded project with NRC as Grant Holder. The Partnership Manager is line managed by the NRC Country Director and will provide oversight of the Consortium Coordination Unit whilst being the liaison between the Steering Committee (made up of senior representatives from each NGO) and the members of the partnership. The Partnership Manager will facilitate the grant management, donor liaison, the intra-partner engagement and information sharing as well as provide technical support to partners, in particular on M&E, grants management issues and financial management and compliance.

Duties & Responsibilities

Facilitate all aspects of grant management and administration
Facilitate Steering Committee and Technical Working Group meetings on a regular basis
Oversee harmonised monitoring & evaluation and ensure availability of meaningful data on quality of project implementation
Represent the partnership in relevant fora as directed by the Steering Committee
Support partnership members adherence to the INTPA policies, tools, handbooks and guidelines; provide compliance spotcheck / audit support and coordination
Overall management of the Partnership Coordination Unit (PCU)
Oversee the coordination of the project (activities, budget, project documentation, work plan, reporting) in line with proposals, strategies and donor requirements (INTPA and other co-donors of the project)
Ensure up to date Due Diligence on all parties and downstream partners to the consortium is conducted and documented; provide technical support as required.
Facilitate collaboration and consensus of Consortium members around matters of project design, implementation, operational principles, trouble-shooting and monitoring
Coordinate and facilitate operational and strategic issues amongst Consortiium members; proactively identify opportunities for harmonisation or collaboration for improved efficiency;
Facilitate development of harmonised programming and tools wherever possible
Responsible for development of relevant SOPs, M&E system and reporting schedule for the project, and follow up on adherence to these.
Coordinate project cycle management (PCM) processes on behalf of the partnership including regular progress reviews
Develop coordinated reports of project deliverables; analyse data and promote course correction with respective Heads of Programmes and Steering Committee as required
Support delivery on Monitoring & Evaluation, Grants Management and Financial Management by the partners, including consolidation and analysis of information
Facilitate coordinated advocacy
Take the lead on ensuring implementation of any shared project output, such as joint research, events or similar.
Oversee ongoing development of a consortium learning agenda and identify opportunities to contribute to advocacy messaging where relevant
Finalise submission of Year 1 Interim report and coordinate responses to any donor queries or feedback.

Knowledge, skills and experience

Minimum 5 years of experience of grants management and programmatic implementation in a humanitarian/recovery context
Experience and relevant technical background in some of the consortium sectors ie.: education, ICLA, health and livelihoods
Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
Experience in mainstreaming protection concepts within a humanitarian operation.
Ability to coordinate tasks and work processes and work with short deadlines
Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
Experience with facilitating and leading internal organisational processes.
Fluency in English, both written and verbal
Previous experience managing a partnership/consortium
Previous experience working with INTPA as a donor
Diplomacy and facilitation skills are essential
Knowledge of the Afghanistan displacement context and the Sub-region is an asset
Knowledge of Persian language is an asset
Contextual understanding of Iran is an asset
Experience with advocacy work is an asset
Advanced computer skills, especially in Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook