Job Description
Job Title: Partnerships Officer (Covering)
Band / Level / Grade: Functional Support/8/B
Department: Partnerships
Location: Aden, Yemen
BACKGROUND: The International Rescue Committee
(IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to
survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert
Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to
refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40
countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions
who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to
home.
The IRC responds to people’s acute and longer-term needs
with integrated programs that improve health and safety, prioritize children’s
education, foster economic wellbeing, and empower communities to regain control
over their lives. Our work gives rise to some of the most pressing issues
facing contemporary humanitarian action, including questions of access,
conflict sensitivity, coordination, and impact.
The IRC Yemen began its programs in October 2012. Since
establishing its presence in the South of Yemen, in the Red Sea Coastal city of
Aden, the organization has grown from just an implementing small project to
handling large scale emergency and relief operations. Following the war which
broke out in Yemen in March of 2015 and the humanitarian disaster, which was
crafted by the same, IRC launched one an emergency response program in the
southern governorates of Aden, Lahj, Abyan, Shabwah and Al Dhale, and expanded
later in Sana’a and Hodeidah in the North. Currently IRC Yemen is
operating in eight governorates in the south and north of Yemen through direct
programming and through local partnerships, in Health, WASH, Nutrition,
Economic Recovery Development, Education, Child Protection, Gender and Women
Protection and Empowerment.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) have been working
in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) for more than forty years. Today,
the IRC has more than 2,200 staff working across the region, including in Iraq,
Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Yemen to support those affected by some of
the world’s most complex and protracted humanitarian crises.
SCOPE OF WORK:
Under the supervision of the Partnership Lead, and in line
with IRC's Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS), the
Partnerships Officer contributes to principled, equitable, and responsive
engagement with IRC Yemen's local partners, including women-led and
women/girls-serving organizations, across the partnership project cycle. The
role is grounded in PEERS principles of equality, complementarity, mutuality,
solidarity, results-orientation, humility, and applies PEERS partnership skills
and approaches in all engagement with partners and IRC colleagues.
JOB SUMMARY:
The Partnerships Officer supports the Partnership Lead in
upholding PEERS-aligned partnership management for IRC Yemen's active
sub-awards, including engagement with women-led and women/girls-serving
organizations. The Officer contributes to collaborative partnership management
processes, supports the delivery of partner project support plans together with
technical and operational departments, gathers and helps respond to partner
feedback, and promotes mutual learning between IRC and partners. The Officer
also serves as a coordination interface with the Supply Chain team on
partner-related supply chain.
WORKING RELATIONS:
- Reports
to: Partnerships Senior Manager
- Coordinates
closely with: HR, Finance, Supply Chain, Grants, HAS and MEAL teams, and
relevant Technical Coordinators
- External:
Designated partner focal points across active sub-awards
- Position
supervises: None
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:
Promote Effective Partnerships
- Promote
and apply IRC's Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System
(PEERS) in all engagement with partners and IRC colleagues, modeling the
partnership principles, skills, and approaches.
- Contribute
to building a strong understanding of PEERS across IRC Yemen, including by
sharing PEERS guidance and tools with colleagues whose roles intersect
with partnership work.
- Gather
and document partner feedback on IRC's management of the partnership
relationship, and support the Partnership Lead in ensuring that feedback
is acknowledged and acted on
Partnership Management
- Contribute
to collaborative partner identification and stakeholder mapping, with
proactive attention to women-led organizations and organizations serving
women and girls.
- Support
Partner Identity and Background Review (Vetting) processes by gathering
required documentation and contributing to the completion of vetting
reports for the Partnership Lead's review.
- Contribute
to Partner Project Capacity Analysis (PCA) processes, supporting the
collaborative analysis of capacities, strengths, and risks together with
partners and relevant departments. Engage GEDI, HAS, and other
departmental focal points at the appropriate stages of the PCA.
- Co-facilitate,
with the Partnership Lead and Technical Coordinators, the preparation and
documentation of Partnership Project Opening, Review, and Closure Meetings
(PCMs), promoting full partner participation in project decision-making
and adaptive management.
- Coordinate
the timely flow of narrative and finance reporting between partners and
IRC review functions, working collaboratively with partners to clarify
requirements and resolve issues constructively rather than
transactionally.
- Maintain
complete, well-organized partnership files for assigned partners, ensuring
transparency of agreements, deliverables, and decisions.
- Work
collaboratively with partners and IRC colleagues to surface and
constructively resolve any issues that arise, escalating to the
Partnership Lead where needed.
Partner Support and Capacity Sharing
- Contribute
to the collaborative development and delivery of partner project support
plans, ensuring that support is responsive to partners' priorities and the
issues identified in the PCA, rather than replicating IRC's systems and
policies.
- Support
coordination across IRC departments to ensure timely, quality delivery of
agreed support to partners.
- Identify
and flag emerging partner support needs to the Partnership Lead and
relevant departmental focal points, with attention to gender-responsive
support and the specific needs of women-led partners.
- Promote
continual mutual learning between IRC staff and partners, including by
capturing partner practices, innovations, and lessons learned during PCMs
and monitoring touchpoints, and feeding these into IRC reflection
processes.
- Where
appropriate, support partner focal points on partnership management
processes, reporting timelines, PCM preparation, documentation, grounded
in humility and mutual planning.
Coordination Interface with Supply Chain
- Serve
as the partnership-side coordination point with the Supply Chain Focal
Point on partner-related supply chain matters: joint planning of partner
visits, coordination of post-visit action follow-up with partners, and
consolidation of administrative inputs into PCA and PCM processes.
- Support
the SC Focal Point in maintaining responsive and trust-based communication
with partners on logistics and procurement matters.
Other
- Other
duties as assigned by the Partnership Senior Manager, within the scope and
band of the position.
REQUIREMENTS:
A. Education: Bachelor's
degree in social sciences, development studies, business administration, or a
related field.
B. Experience: 2–3 years of
experience working with NGOs in humanitarian or development settings, with at
least 1 year directly engaging with local partners or sub-awards. INGO
experience preferred. Familiarity with PEERS or comparable partnership
frameworks (e.g., Grand Bargain localization commitments, partnership-based
programming standards) is an asset. Experience working with women-led
organizations is a strong asset.
C. Skills and Abilities:
PEERS Partnership Skills:
- Communication:
ability to communicate clearly, respectfully, and with cultural awareness
with partners and colleagues; strong written and oral communication in
Arabic and English.
- Analysis:
ability to support collaborative analysis of partner capacities and risks,
and to identify what kind of support partners genuinely need.
- Negotiation:
ability to navigate competing priorities and interests across partners and
IRC departments, while maintaining trust.
- Coaching
and Mentoring: ability to support partner colleagues' growth in a humble,
peer-to-peer way rather than a top-down corrective way.
- Reflection:
willingness and ability to reflect on what's working and what isn't, and
to invite the same from partners.
PEERS Partnership Approaches:
- Mutual
Planning, Trust Building, Facilitation, Adaptive Management, and Humility
— demonstrated through past examples of partner engagement.
General skills: Strong organizational and
time-management skills; proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook,
Teams); able to work effectively in a team and independently.
D. Proficiencies:
- Receptive:
listens to and acts on partner feedback.
- Resourceful:
finds practical, principle-aligned solutions in capacity-constrained
settings.
- Resilient:
sustains constructive engagement under pressure and through setbacks.
- Results-oriented:
focuses on outcomes that matter to partners and the people they serve.
Professional Standards: The IRC and IRC workers
must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for
Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In
accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on
Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti
Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all
applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national
origin, religion, age, marital status, disability or any other characteristic
protected by applicable law.
IRC strives to build a diverse and inclusive team at all
levels who as individuals, and as a group, embody our culture statement
creating a working environment characterized by critical reflection, power
sharing, debate, and objectivity for us to achieve our aspirations as a team and
deliver the best possible services to our clients.
Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender
gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling
environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave,
gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and
allowances.
Commitment to Client Responsiveness: By committing to
Client-Centered Programming, at the IRC Yemen, we place the people we serve -
our clients - at the center of our programming and services. The IRC Yemen
Staff have an important role to play in supporting the implementation of
client-responsive programming through raising awareness among the community and
clients about the existing feedback mechanisms and how to use them including
the response processes, access, and eligibility to services, and contribute to
building an institutional culture that prompts staff to listen to clients.
How to Apply
To apply, Please click on the below link:
https://theirc.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External_Careers/job/Aden-Yemen/Partnerships-Officer_JR00003383