Partnerships and Capacity Building Manager at Mercy Corps

• The Partnership and Capacity Building Manager will be responsible for spearheading USAID Nawiri program’s localization strategy through nurturing partnerships with local organizations and community groups involved in nutrition and resilience initiatives. The role involves assessing partner capacities, designing tailored capacity development programs, and providing ongoing support to enhance their skills and capabilities. The manager will promote collaborative efforts among stakeholders, integrates partner activities into the program's strategy, monitor progress, and facilitate resource mobilization to ensure effective and timely support is provided to the local CSO to improve their contribution and impact to the program’s goal of sustainably reducing persistent acute malnutrition as well as their long - term capacity. This position demands a seasoned individual proficient at fostering relationships, driving capacity development, and orchestrating cohesive initiatives to enhance nutrition resilience within local communities.

Essential Job Responsibilities

PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

• Identify, establish, and maintain strategic partnerships with local organizations and community groups involved in nutrition, food security, and resilience programs.
• Cultivate strong relationships with partners to ensure alignment with program goals and foster collaboration.

COORDINATION

• In collaboration with the Snr Director, Program Performance and Quality, Director of Implementation and Nutrition Resilience, Systems Strengthening lead and Field Directors organize quarterly program performance meetings with program implementation partners.
• Submit quarterly performance reports to program leadership on partnership activities, achievements, challenges, and lessons learned.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

• Collaborate with the program team to integrate partner activities into the overall program strategy.
• Monitor and evaluate the performance of partners through joint field visits, data quality audits, performance review meetings to assess the impact of capacity building initiatives and identify areas for improvement in line with the program goal and objectives.
• Develop and maintain a database of formal and informal civil society organizations.
• Oversee the capacity assessment of identified organizations using Mercy Corps Organizational Capacity Index Tools.
• On the basis of the findings, provide strategic program guidance and technical support for the CSO capacity building portion of the program, through provision of support to field staff and partner organizations as required to effectively engage in resilient activities, in coordination with the PM.
• Develop and/or refine existing CSO capacity building curriculum to fit local context and capacity and oversee its delivery in collaboration with program staff.
• Refine organizational development tools and recommend best approaches for the staff and partner capacity development, building on existing Mercy Corps knowledge and experience.
• Facilitate peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and support during field visits, training and other forms of staff capacity-building activities in coordination with the program team.
• Provide inputs in refining the existing organizational development, monitoring and evaluation by incorporating conflict sensitive approaches and gender sensitivity, based on field feedback, effectiveness in the field, and appropriateness to ensure civil society organizations are being strengthened to meet program objectives.
• Identify and support mechanisms for effective project monitoring and evaluation efforts and systems for information sharing internally and externally.
• Support the development and implementation of civil society advocacy plans.
• Abide by all security protocols and assist in ensuring their implementation by other staff.
• Maintain professional conduct at all times to ensure Mercy Corps reputation and its humanitarian mission is upheld.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING 

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Supervisory Responsibility: None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Implementation and Nutrition Resilience

Works Directly With: DCOP, Snr Director Program Performance, Governance Lead, Finance Manager, CARM Officer

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/S or equivalent in social sciences, program management, international development, organizational development or other relevant field; MA/S preferred.
• 5 - 7 years of experience with at least 3 years of progressive experience working in partnerships and capacity building development and/or program management for INGOs in humanitarian, development sectors or related fields. Experience in institutional capacity development, gender and/or working with a consortium of partners in similar contexts would be an added advantage.
• Good understanding of capacity assessment methodologies and capacity building frameworks including ability to inform training content and method of organizational development.
• Ability to coordinate with internal and external actors to facilitate capacity building, when needed.
• Conversant with the local context, culture, and dynamics of the communities in Samburu and Turkana Counties.
• Excellent written and oral communication, negotiation, interpersonal skills, to build and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability in design and delivery of capacity building initiatives and training programs for local civil society organizations (CSOs)
• Proficiency in monitoring and evaluation techniques to assess program impact and effectiveness.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work independently in a fast - changing environment as well as part of a multidisciplinary team, manage time and execute tasks effectively.
• Proven track record in staff and stakeholder training and capacity building and TOT training.
• Strong leadership and project management skills. Relevant certification is desirable.