Home Vacancies, April 2025 Partnerships Advisor

Partnerships Advisor

Duty station:   Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Contract type: Fixed Term

Closing Date: 25 July 2024

Job Description

 Background Information – Job-specific

UNOPS ETMCO is recruiting for this position: Partnerships Advisor based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply.   These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.


The Ethiopia Multi-country Office (ETMCO) sub-region currently consists of an established Operation Centre in Addis Ababa which manages a portfolio of engagements in four (4)  Horn of Africa countries  (Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan and South Sudan).  ETMCO focuses on Infrastructure, Procurement, Project Management, HR and Transactional Services, and Fund Management services across a wide range of sectors including Health, Education, Agriculture, and Resilient infrastructure among others.  Our goal is to support countries, help people in need and enable our partners through delivering on our mandate of infrastructure, procurement and project management in the countries in the Horn of Africa.  Building on our global experience of successfully delivering projects in complex operating environments, a healthy pipeline of engagements is at various stages of discussion with our priority partners. The Partnerships Advisor is the senior Partnerships Development Lead for the Country/ Multi-Country Office managing and advising other partnerships officers and/or adjacent roles. Reporting to and under the general guidance of the Multi-Country Office Director, the Partnerships Advisor is a member of the Office Senior Management Team and responsible for developing and implementing the sub-regional partnerships development strategy and donor and client coordination activities.

The Partnerships Advisor provides situation analyses, donor mapping and programme development in collaboration with UNOPS’s existing and potential partners, including national governments, the UN System, donors and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). In addition, they liaise with these and other relevant stakeholders to identify partnership opportunities for UNOPS, based on the organization’s mandate and role as part of the UN system.

 Functional Responsibilities
The Partnerships Advisor will be responsible for the below listed functional responsibilities.

Integrated Partnerships Development Strategy

Partnerships Development and Stakeholder Engagement

Partner Relations and Inter-Agency Collaboration

Monitoring and Reporting

Project Identification, Formulation and Support for Project Offices

Team/ Unit Leadership

Knowledge Management and Innovation

1. Integrated Partnerships Development Strategy

  • Under the direction of the Country/ Multi-Country Office Director, lead the development of a comprehensive partnerships development strategy in line with UNOPS’s Strategic Plan, the regional strategy and the Country/ Multi-Country Office Plan. This includes country context, analyses of the regional and national development and humanitarian landscape, identification of main partners, and strategic positioning of UNOPS in the potential operational niches identified while considering and recommending changes in in-house capacity, typology of projects and availability of internal tools and knowledge resources.
  • Advise Office Senior Management Team on implementation of the partnerships strategy.
  • Advise and support Office Senior Management Team throughout the project development  planning process, including definition of high-priority partners, countries, sectors and service areas.
  • Research and analyze specific donor strategies, programming priorities and political situations in order to identify potential funding opportunities appropriate to UNOPS’s strategy and mandate.
  • Drive a disciplined approach across the partnerships functions to project and programme development which balances costs, risk, revenues and beneficiary impact within the mandate and spirit of the UN and UNOPS’ Pricing Policy.
2. Partnerships Development and Stakeholder Engagement

  • Lead the partnerships team to develop, extend and maintain strong partnerships with selected key partners, including governments, UN agencies, donors, foundations, NGOs, foundations, academia, and the private sector.
  • Work closely with the Head of Programme (HoP), Head of Support Services (HoSS), and Project/Programme Management Office (PMO) Manager to ensure new projects are developed by project managers and partnerships officers in tight coordination with programme and support services.
  • Develop and model the high standards of partnership positioning and development necessary to inspire and guide the partnerships officers in their work.
  • Work closely with communications to ensure the external positioning of UNOPS Office is aligned with the Office Strategy and Partnerships Plan.
  • Participate and lead in key partnership-building meetings and negotiations with donors and clients, ensuring that cost-effective and mutually beneficial terms are achieved for UNOPS’ services while ensuring systematic and timely follow-up on agreed actions.
  • Coordinate, advise, mentor and coach relevant partnerships and programme personnel at country, programme and project ensure aligned and coherent interactions with partners.
  • Connect and collaborate with other peer, regional and HQ levels of partnerships to stay in touch with good practices and share and build UNOPS capabilities in partnerships development.
  • Facilitate and/ or manage and lead meetings between Office management and key government representatives as and when required.
  • Plan and facilitate high-level meetings between UNOPS senior management and sub-regional/ country-level partners, including during key events such as conferences and other fora.
  • Support partners in examining available options for effective project implementation and achievement of results while promoting national ownership.
  • Showcase the Office’s capabilities and set Office standards for developing and distributing corporate communication materials, capacity statements and success stories which enhance clients’ understanding of the impact of various services provided and/ or delivered by UNOPS.
3. Partner Relations and Inter-Agency Collaboration

  • As delegated, participate in meetings with senior government counterparts on behalf of UNOPS and represent the Country/ Multi-Country Director in meetings and negotiations with partners as required.
  • Participate in inter-agency planning and cluster meetings for the UN System development and humanitarian plans.
  • Contribute at the sub-regional/ country level to the harmonization of policies, practices and approaches within the UN System, including the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

4. Monitoring and Reporting

  • Develop M&E plans with a clear theory of change, evaluation criteria and indicators for monitoring and evaluation of the proposed program intervention, following UNOPS Guidelines.
  • Ensure programmes/ projects developed are in line with the Results Based Management (RBM) principles.
  • Ensure partnerships projects and programmes are developed with appropriate monitoring and evaluation frameworks that allow for effective oversight and evaluation of impact.
  • Collaborate with Project Managers to formulate the project results frameworks and establish measurable long- and short-term targets for performance monitoring.
  • Ensure up-to-date/ informative/ accurate reports are prepared and submitted on time related to partnerships development across the Office
  • Lead the Office design and roll-out of internal feedback mechanisms which provide insights for continuously improving the form and content of partner outreach and project development activities.
  • Develop and lead the set-up of tracking systems for tracking partnerships development and progress.
5. Project Identification, Formulation and Support for Project Offices

  • Support and guide partnership officers in the Project Offices in researching and assessing the stakeholder landscape to identify priority themes and opportunities.
  • Review of previous and ongoing similar and/or related and/or interfacing projects in order to identify gaps, and areas of improvement and instill lessons learnt into the proposal. These will also provide inputs for the determination of baselines for the logical framework.
  • Support Project Offices and partnerships officers on various activities/ deliverables that help take potential partnerships forward, including drafting concept notes, preparing project proposals, producing other relevant knowledge products, and participating in negotiations on new projects and programmes with key partners.
  • Provide inputs and suggestions across all aspects related to the project formulation phase and analyze implementation approaches for soundness, sustainability, gender mainstreaming, feasibility, resource availability and cost implications.
6. Team/ Unit Leadership

  • Develop a clear monitoring system in monitoring  partnership and communication priorities
  • Develop clear annual unit  work plans in line with the unit strategic plan
  • Ensure individual performance plans are accordingly aligned on annual basis
  • Lead and motivate the partnerships team members, ensuring relevant information and communication flows on all partnerships development opportunities and portfolio development and with other departments/ units.
  • Provide coaching, training and development of partnerships officers to enhance their skills and capacity
  • Provide leadership in the standard setting of proposal writing, develop systems of quality control and collaboration
  • Be prepared to develop and manage critical projects as the project manager while necessary before and after start-up depending on the requirements of the Office
  • Collaborate with the Head of Support Services and Head of Programme and Support Units to ensure focus on client satisfaction while taking quality and innovation into consideration.
  • Collaborate closely with Country Managers in the development and execution of their local partnerships strategy
  • Ensure that individual performance reviews are conducted fairly, accurately and timely.
  • Create, foster and role model a culture of respect and zero tolerance of discrimination, abuse of authority, harassment, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation and abusements.
  • Coordinate the work of the PU through the preparation of its work plan and the establishment of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Develop and ensure implementation of the unit’s annual work plans and targets.
7. Knowledge Management and Innovation

  • Implement standards, tools and templates provided by HQ to effectively manage partnership and project development within the team, thereby enhancing and/ or maintaining UNOPS’ effectiveness as a provider of project services for sustainable results.
  • Contribute to the ongoing global research, development and implementation of best practice and innovative approaches to maximize performance and sustain achievements in project and partnerships development, including the re-design and / or localisation of tools, templates, dashboards, processes and systems for Office partnerhips management.
  • Help build partnerships capacity and negotiation skills among project managers, partnerhips officers and country managers.
  • Contribute to the dissemination and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for planning and knowledge building within project and partnerships development.
  • Provide regular feedback on existing systems, tools and resources to ensure relevance to day-to-day operations.


Impacts of results

The effective and successful achievement of results by the Partnerships Advisor impacts on the performance of the Country/ Multi-Country Office by maintaining a robust and diverse pipeline of project opportunities, which leads to sustainable growth of the UNOPS’ presence and strengthens the achievements of UNOPS management results and the fulfilment of its mandate.
 Education/Experience/Language requirements

Education:
  • A Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, International Development, Engineering, Political Science, Communication or International Relations  and or other related field is required.
  • A Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, International Development, Engineering, Political Science, Communication or International Relations  and or other related field in combination with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advance degree above.
Experience:
  • A minimum of seven (7) years of progressive experience in partnerships development, resource mobilization, and donor and external relations within international development, post-disaster and/or emergency / humanitarian contexts, including accountabilities related to: development and execution of partnerships and programme development plans, project development and proposal writing, and acquisition of projects is required.
  • Project and programme management experience is an asset.
  • Inter-agency coordination experience (within the UN System) is an asset.
  • Knowledge of infrastructure, project management and/or procurement projects is desirable.
Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in written, spoken and reading English is required.
  • Fluency in one or more additional official UN  languages is an advantage.

 

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