Partnerships and Grants Manager

Locations: Palestinian Territories, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lebanon, Rwanda, Mali, Pakistan, Jordan

Organization: Right to Play

Deadline: September 13, 2026

Job Description

Location:

• Preferred: Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Lebanon, Rwanda; OR
• Burundi, Mali, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom

(Only candidates who are eligible to work legally without work visa sponsorship in the respective country will be considered.)

Contract Type: Full-time (40 hours per week), 1-year fixed term contract with possibility of renewal based on funding**,** operational requirements, performance, and applicable local employment legislation. This is a national position.

Hiring Salary: Please refer to the Appendix for the hiring salary for each country.

Target Start Date: As soon as possible

Application Closing Date: September 13, 2026 23:59 GMT – Please note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

This job advert is for an existing vacancy.

About Right To Play:

For more than 25 years, Right To Play has been protecting, educating, and empowering millions of children each year to rise above adversity through the power of play.

We offer programs in 13 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America, reaching millions of children each year in some of the most difficult places on earth, helping them to stay in school and learn, overcome prejudice, heal from trauma, and develop the skills they need to thrive. We do this by harnessing play, one of the most fundamental forces in a child’s life, to teach children the critical skills they need to dismantle barriers and embrace opportunities, in learning and in life.

This work is supported by our two global offices in Toronto, Canada and London, UK; and seven National Offices in North America and Europe.

About No Child on the Sidelines Project

Led by Right To Play, in partnership with Global Citizen, and aligned with the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, No Child on the Sidelines will strengthen community-based organizations working with children in underserved communities around the world. Through a $5-million investment over four years from Global Affairs Canada, the initiative will expand access to sport- and play-based education for children ages three to 18, with nearly half of programmable funding flowing directly to local civil society organizations. More information is available here.

Benefits Highlights:

• Connect and collaborate with a global team who are passionate about protecting, educating and empowering children and youth using the power of play!
• Culture premised on our Culture Code (accept everyone, make things happen, display courage, demonstrate care, and be playful)
• Paid leaves
• Competitive benefits
• Learning opportunities and 5 learning and development (L&D) days per year
• More information on what we offer is available on our website.

Job Description:

Job Title: Partnerships and Grants Manager (PGM)

Grade: 8

Reports to: Senior Fund Manager (SFM)

Location:

• • Preferred: Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Lebanon, Rwanda; OR
  • Burundi, Mali, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom

Direct Reports: NA

Department: Global Program Partnerships

1. Purpose:

The position builds and sustains trusted, partnership-oriented relationships with local Civil Society Organization (CSO) sub-grantees across a multi-country portfolio, to enable delivery of No Child on the Sidelines and assist program reporting, compliance monitoring, and technical assistance offerings.

2. Accountability and Responsibilities

Managing and Coordinating Relationships with CSO Subgrantees (70%)

• Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact for CSO sub-grantees across a multi-country portfolio, building trusted, responsive, partnership-oriented relationships — with sensitivity to conflict, displacement, and insecurity in which many CSOs operate
• Support CSO onboarding, orientation, and implementation of programme requirements, including coordination of reporting obligations and participation in storytelling/communication initiatives
• Support proactive identification and mitigation of risks, in collaboration with CSOs and SFM
• Conduct regular virtual check-ins and, where security allows, periodic in-country visits
• Assist review and consolidation of CSO financial and programmatic reports, and support milestone-based disbursements

Coordinating Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Activities (15%)

• Help identify CSO technical assistance needs through capacity assessments and ongoing monitoring
• Coordinate with RTP’s global technical staff to respond to technical assistance needs and coordinate Community of Practice (CoP) offerings. This includes supporting facilitation of virtual and/or in-person CoP sessions among CSOs.

Supporting Stakeholder Engagements (15%)

• Represent the programme at regional and global forums
• Maintain relationships with program partners, including local/regional civil society networks, women-led and refugee-led organisations, national and international governance bodies, and humanitarian coordination mechanisms

Perform other duties as assigned.

3. Scope (Geographic and/or Functional), Impact and Autonomy

A global role supporting implementation of the No Child on the Sidelines program across all countries where it is delivered through CSO sub-grant partners. The position has functional responsibility for managing relationships with CSO grantees to enable achievement of program outcomes, results reporting, compliance with donor requirements, and implementation of workplans. Decisions with significant financial, reputational, or strategic implications are escalated to the SFM. Active and ongoing collaboration with colleagues from across Right To Play departments and country offices will be required to support financial and programmatic monitoring, Community of Practice design, and facilitation of Technical Assistance offerings.

4. Leadership and Staff Management

The incumbent has no direct reports. The position provides indirect leadership to CSO sub-grant partners through program coordination, compliance oversight, and the CoP, requiring setting of expectations and guidance without formal line authority.

5. Information requirement for decision-making:

Effective decision-making relies on financial and narrative reports from CSO sub-grant partners, consolidated budget data, the GAC agreement and compliance requirements, and partner workplans. Where tools fall short, they work with the SFM to adapt reporting and monitoring approaches.

6. Innovation and Improvements

The position will support the SFM and other global colleagues with the development, implementation, and monitoring of new tools developed to effectively deliver the program.

7. Relationships and Communication

Collaborates with internal teams to support program operations and outcomes, including Program Quality and Impact, Program Finance, Marketing & Communications, and Country Office/Global Operations. Externally, manages operational relationships with national education authorities, ministries, UN agencies, humanitarian coordination mechanisms, and local/regional civil society networks for outreach and CSO identification, with deliberate engagement of women-led and refugee-led organizations.

8. Expertise

• Post-secondary degree in a relevant field, or equivalent combination of education and practical experience. PMP or other similar professional certifications are considered an asset.
• 7 years’ experience working with local CSOs in roles related to partnership management, capacity building, or organizational development in one or more of the following regions: MENA, South Asia, and/or Africa, with proven experience applying principles of localization and trust-based grant making experience.
• Experience in conflict-affected, or fragile contexts; with sensitivity to do-no-harm principles
• Experience facilitating group learning across diverse cultural/linguistic contexts
• Experience with results-based reporting, and donor compliance oversight
• Excellent relationship-building skills, and sensitivity to funder-grantee power differentials
• Fluent in written and spoken English and French; proficiency in Arabic, and/or Urdu is an asset.
• Proficiency in digital collaboration tools, including emerging AI technologies
• Technical background in one or more of the following is considered an asset: education in emergencies, child protection, psychosocial support, or sport/play-based development

9. Core Competences

• Collaboration: Works effectively across RTP teams, CSO partners, and technical colleagues, sharing information openly and bringing diverse stakeholders together around shared program goals.
• Growth Mindset: Seeks out feedback and lessons learned across the CSO portfolio and adapts partnership management approaches in response to evolving donor requirements or partner needs.
• Resilience: Maintains sound judgement and quality of output when managing competing partner deadlines, multi-country compliance demands, or unexpected implementation challenges.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates integrity, confidentiality, and accountability in donor compliance monitoring, financial reporting, and external representation of RTP.
• Management and Interpersonal Skills: Communicates clearly and diplomatically across funder-grantee power differentials; manages multiple partner relationships and competing priorities effectively.

10. Additional Information

Periodic international travel is required to engage CSO sub-grant partners, participate in partner or advisory meetings. Occasional work outside standard hours may be needed for cross-time-zone calls, including regular meetings with the Senior Fund Manager based in Eastern Time.

Appendix: Hiring Salary for Each Country

Hiring salary is dependent on the successful candidate’s location. This is a national position and salary will be paid in the local currency. Please note that this salary will be subject to the usual deductions, including required taxes.

• Burundi: BIF 2,601,803 per month
• Ethiopia: ETB 258,574 per month
• Ghana: GHS 15,156 per month
• Jordan: JOD 2,838 per month
• Lebanon: USD 3,873 per month
• Mali: XOF 1,244,044 per month
• Pakistan: PKR 448,947 per month
• Palestinian Territories: ILS 17,116 per month
• Rwanda: RWF 2,581,173 per month
• Tanzania: TZS 7,276,275 per month
• Uganda: UGX 9,750,052 per month
• United Kingdom: GBP 54,374 per annum

How to Apply

Apply with your resume and cover letter in English via: >>https://righttoplay.hiringplatform.ca/247779-partnerships-and-grants-manager/1126782-application-form/en

Please note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Right To Play provides equal employment opportunities to employees regardless of their gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status. We strongly encourage groups who have been historically disadvantaged with respect to employment to apply for positions at Right To Play.

As part of our selection process, final candidates will be required to complete security checks and Vulnerable Sector Check or equivalent criminal record check as a condition of the offer. More details about our recruitment process are available here. Safeguarding information is available here.

As part of our recruitment and selection process, Right To Play uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) – assisted tools to support the assessment of candidates or applications. This may include but not limited to generating and editing of job adverts, assessment and interview questions, scheduling, translation, transcription, note taking, etc. Our Applicant Tracking System (ATS), VidCruiter, also use AI-powered ChatBot to answer candidates’ enquiries. These tools are used only to assist human reviewers in evaluation and do not make selection or screening decisions. All hiring decisions are made by human reviewers. All AI-assisted processes comply with applicable privacy and data protection regulations, including GDPR and PIPEDA. For more information, please refer to RTP AI Policy and our Best Practice: Use of AI in Recruitment.

We value and promote a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We are committed to providing accommodations to candidates with disabilities during the recruitment and selection process, and thereafter. Please reach out to the People & Culture team by email at careers@righttoplay.com. All information provided will be treated as confidential and used only to provide an accessible candidate experience.

Application Deadline: September 13, 2026