Programme Innovation and Private Partnerships, Regional Advisor at Danish Refugee Council

Job Description

We are looking for a skilled Programme Innovation and Private Partnership Regional Advisor for East Africa region who will deliver strategic direction on innovation and business partnerships efforts in close coordination with - and in support of - DRC field operations and DRC global strategic vision and ambition.  

The Programme Innovation and Private Partnership Regional Advisor position is central in DRC’s ambitions of enhancing its capacity when it comes to humanitarian innovation and pursuing shared value partnerships with responsible private sector partners in its international programs.

He/She is expected to support proactive and positive changes processes in DRC field programming, and form a highly dynamic and complementary task force together with the Programme Innovation and Partnership Advisors from the Middle East and West Africa region. 

Even though the Programme Innovation and Private Partnership Regional Advisor will be placed in the East Africa regional hub, it is expected that he/she delivers support to all DRC regions including Asia, Europe and North Africa. 

About the job

General Responsibilities:  

• Deliver strategic direction on programme innovation and business partnership at regional level

  Develop and support DRC’s strategic approach in a consultative manner and support the implementation at field level

  Support and deliver the development tools, guidance and facilitation of trainings/project processes in support of innovation and private partnership at regional, country and/or global level in collaboration with other network members.  

• Oversee innovation/business partnership portfolio

  While initiatives will typically be implemented directly by DRC field operations, the advisors will often be involved with partners/donors at some stage of the process. In these instances, a sustained, strategic involvement of the advisors is required to continue building relations with relevant partners/donors/stakeholders.  

• Provide strategic sparring to DRC field operations

  Working strategically with innovation and business engagement remains relatively new features of DRC’s international programs.

  The advisors shall give direction on and support efforts to enhance local capacity – including but not limited to:

  - Fundraising efforts: Oversee a central scanning for fundraising opportunities within institutional donors such as the EU, World Bank, DFID and Danida.

  If resources allow, support field operations responding to local funding opportunities.

  - Identifying and managing partners: Work with field operations to identify relevant partners and provide guidance on vetting requirements to ensure that partners meet DRC’s standards.

  - Internal training: Ensure that trainings on DRC’s tools, approach to innovation and business partnerships is developed and conducted on a regular basis to ensure that relevant staff are supported and able to use tools in practice.  

• External representation

  Taking part in seminars, conferences and other relevant events both to position DRC, engage with potential partners and stay updated on recent developments in the field.  

• Learning and information sharing

Oversee that best practices and lessons learnt are shared within DRC and facilitate learning across the organization. Stay updated on the latest developments and build a Community of Practice (CoP) related to innovation and business partnerships.   

About You

The ideal candidate will meet the below requirements:

Required:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience with humanitarian and development aid.  
•  University degree or equivalent within social science and/or business administration
• A strong curiosity and passion for how to improve the work of the humanitarian sector, including technological solutions
• Strong interpersonal skills and a high degree of advisory and motivating capability.
• Demonstrable abilities in establishing close and trustful relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• The ability to build bridge and understanding between stakeholders from the humanitarian/development work and sectors that are not non-traditional actors (private sector, investment funds etc.)
• You possess integrity and credibility, and can bring these features into play when considering the pros and cons of partnership opportunities for DRC
• Full professional proficiency in English and French.

Desired: 

• Knowledge about programming in refugee and displacement situations is considered a strong advantage.
• Documented experience in supporting the development of shared value partnerships that are involving new ways of addressing humanitarian financing gaps, including partnership arrangements of a commercial and semi-cooperate nature, social impact businesses, investment fund etc.
• Strong innovation experience within one of DRCs core sectors of such as Economic Recovery or Protection and/or cutting edge knowledge of key issues of urbanization and climate change
• Strong documented financial experience in supporting the development of shared value partnerships that are involving new ways of addressing humanitarian financing gaps, including partnership arrangements of a commercial and semi-cooperate nature, social impact businesses, investment funds etc.
• Strong documented experience in ICT4D, FinTech, EduTech, PeaceTech or similar

 All DRC roles require the post-holder to master DRC’s core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: Focusing on reaching results while ensuring efficient processes.
• Collaborating: Involving relevant parties and encouraging feedback.
• Taking the lead: Taking ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: Listening and speaking effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating integrity: Upholding and promoting the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. "

We offer

Contract length: 24 months

Level: Band F (cf. DRC’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates)

Duty Station: Nairobi/Kenya.

Start date: As soon as possible

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to drc.ngo under Vacancies, graded as Band F Non-Manager.

For qualified national staff the terms of employment will be in accordance with DRC terms for National staff in Kenya.