Relationship Manager (Kenya) at Palladium International

Project Overview:

The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) is a 6-year and €114 million programme funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that aims to create a prosperous future for 200,000 young women and men in the Middle East, North Africa, Sahel & West Africa and Horn of Africa regions. The Fund will be supporting initiatives in 23 focus countries that will offer youth, in particular young women, opportunities for work that is demand-driven and productive, offering a stable income and safe working conditions, and that is contributing to their personal development and social protection.
Private sector, civil society and knowledge institutions will be invited to submit proposals geared to scalable solutions for creating more and better jobs and income generating opportunities for youth. Solutions will in particular focus on an integrated approach that addresses the shortcomings on the demand side (jobs) and supply side (skills) and bridging the mismatch between these two in the labour market.

Role Overview:

The CFYE is looking for a Relationship Manager who will be responsible for representing the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment in Kenya, and acting as the primary point of contact for the Fund for Implementing Partners (IPs). The Relationship Manager will act as ‘critical friend’ of the IPs, which will be reflected in closely monitoring the project performance on the one hand, but also discussing any emerging issues from that with the IP, in an open and transparent manner.
The Relationship Manager will ensure that IPs are compliant with the Fund’s delivery guidelines. This includes monitoring the progress of the Implementing Partners’ projects and supporting Implementing Partners with technical and financial reporting, providing strategic guidance, mobilizing technical assistance (TA), and any other needs that may arise.
The Relationship Manager will liaise with the Central Team (including Fund Management, Technical Assistance, Monitoring Evaluation, and Learning, Financial Management, Communications, and Project Delivery) to report on progress, flag issues, and contribute to high-quality learning from their portfolio

Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

The responsibilities and duties of the Relationship Manager in Kenya include the following;

1. Programme and Relationship Management:
2. Support the central CFYE team with Due Diligence and contracting of selected Implementing Partners. Coordinate the inception phase of the projects.
3. Represent CFYE in-country oversee the delivery of projects and serve as the first point of contact for IPs during the project life cycle.
4. Facilitate the Fund’s central team in project operations and management including periodic review of progress against due diligence improvement plan, financial management, and oversight of projects’ spending against budgets, as well as other areas identified by the team.
5. Ensure the documentation of key project documents (work plan, budget, reports, etc.) is complete, meets the CFYE requirements, and has been uploaded in the MIS.
6. Facilitate and coordinate (virtual or in-person) meetings between the Fund’s Central Team and the Implementing Partners, when required and requested.
7. Manage any additional in-country team members that will potentially be recruited.
8. Technical Assistance:
9. Act as a ‘critical friend’ of the IP with regards to the identification of Technical Assistance (TA) needs and TA delivery.
10. Lead the TA needs assessment that will take place during the inception phase, and reach out to the central team in case-specific technical support is needed in that process. The diagnostic will be the basis for the TA plan.
11. Supervise the TA planning to the IPs: assist in drafting the TA assignment (SoW), requesting approval from the central team, coordinate recruitment, and on-boarding of the TA provider. In the case of volunteers, work closely with the in-country local VSO country coordinator.
12. Monitor TA delivery to IPs on a needs-based basis and report on a quarterly basis on the progress of ongoing TA delivery, ensuring that both the TA provider and the IP live up to their commitments as agreed in the TA plan.
13. Identify any common pain points in the employment ecosystem, and work with the delivery team to design system-level interventions that can resolve those.
14. Reporting and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL):
15. Conduct or facilitate the Data Quality Assessment (DQA) process to promote high-quality data collection.
16. Coordinate and chair the quarterly progress review meetings with each Implementing Partner (IP), and document minutes, observations, and reflections, including external conditions and local external factors relevant to project implementation.
17. Ensure that Implementing Partners update their progress reports in the CFYE IT System in a timely fashion. In case of any issues, resolve them with support from the Fund’s Central Team if needed.
18. Guide and facilitate IPs in preparing annual technical and financial reports.
19. Support partners to monitor and evaluate the impact of their projects in accordance with the CFYE MEL system.
20. Together with MEL Manager and other relevant team members analyse portfolio-level data to draw key insights, emerging trends, and lessons, and communicate these in a clear and relevant way internally and externally
21. Support IPs to prepare knowledge and communications material and present learnings in annual learning events, where relevant.
22. Communications, marketing and outreach:
23. Participate in calls and relevant conferences or events within or related to their country or region, either to promote the CFYE in order to receive fund applications, or to share programme learnings.
24. Maintain the relationship with the NL embassy, represent CFYE in meetings and events organised by NL or other network partners.
25. In case of any in-country events, support the Fund’s Central Team in their organisation; and support the Communications and MEL teams to ensure the generation of relevant content and stories to be disseminated to share learning or raise the profile of the CFYE.
26. Work with the CFYE Partnership Development Manager to support pipeline development as well as design for future calls.
27. Support the CFYE Communication and Marketing Manager with local marketing activities.
28. -Support pipeline building and screening of potential investees of the Dutch Investment for Youth Employment (DIFYE) in Kenya (expected to start Q1 2022).
29.  Financial Reporting:
30. Guide and facilitate IPs in the preparation of financial information and supporting documents as part of the quarterly review process.
31. Guide and facilitate IPs in preparing financial information and supporting documents as part of internal reviews or external project audits, as requested by the Fund’s Central Team.
32. Alert the Finance Manager at HQ when issues arise in relation to financial management that requires a response from the fund management team; and
33. Liaise with the IPs and Finance team on invoicing and contractual payment processes.
34. Level of Effort and Reporting:
35. The Relationship Manager will report to CFYE’s Delivery Manager. However, they will need to work and coordinate closely with other members of the Challenge Fund Team, as and when demanded by assigned tasks.
36. The level of effort for this role will vary depending on the phase of the project. The role for Kenya will be full-time, at least in the first year. 

Deliverables: 

1. The relationship manager is expected to ensure that:
2. Projects in the country portfolio are on track and following CFYE guidelines including completion of the inception phase quarterly and annual reporting on targets, progress, risks. 
3. Projects received the right technical assistance to improve the performance and impact of their projects and ensure that the jobs are decent and inclusive.
4. Any portfolio-wide interventions are designed to support the portfolio and stimulate the employment ecosystem at the country level.

 Required Qualifications:

1. Kenya national, based in Kenya is a preference.
2. Relevant academic qualifications in a related field such as business administration, economics, HRM or finance.
3. Extensive relevant technical work experience in one of the following areas; youth employment, private sector development, and/or business consulting.
4. Proven experience with project management and performing related administrative tasks.
5. Proficiency in English is a must.
6. The application must be submitted in English.

Core Competencies: 

1. Strong business acumen, and understanding of business support.
2. Strong Project Management skills. 
3. Strong affinity with youth empowerment, gender and social inclusion, and decent work.
4. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. 
5. Good organisational and planning skills. 
6. Sound problem-solving and decision-making skills. 
7. Comfortable to work with Microsoft Office. 
8. Ability to work successfully as part of a team.