Program Manager, Partnership and Capacity Strengthening at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Req Number: I3816
Location: Maiduguri-Borno

Primary Responsibilities

• The Program Manager - Partnership and Capacity Strengthening (PM-PCS) serves as the lead staff person for all aspects of partnership and capacity strengthening in the North East (NE) Nigeria, Emergency Response and Recovery Program including Strategy Leadership, Communication and Relationship Management, and Coordination.
• In addition, the EC-PCS is responsible for supervision of staff in the PCS unit.
• S/he serves as primary liaison between CRS and its partners, and is responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships.
• S/he ensures the understanding and application of CRS' Partnership Principles, and is a resource person for CRS and partner staff engaged in joint programs and/or other partnership activities, with the primary purpose of ensuring that partnerships are effective and mutually beneficial.
• S/he ensures relevant information is shared appropriately and effectively.
• S/he is responsible for ensuring partnership and capacity strengthening tools, including the Memorandum of Understanding, Partnership Reflections, Partnership Scorecard, etc. are developed and applied appropriately and in keeping with CRS standards and best practice.
• S/he leads or supports partnership-related groups, including advisory committees, task forces, etc, ensuring meetings are held, information is shared, and action plans are implemented and tracked.
• S/he further serves as primary liaison with regional and HQ-based partnership and capacity strengthening staff, and ensures the adoption and sharing of CRS and peer agency best practice.
• S/he supports projects or components of projects that are focused on capacity strengthening.

Specific Responsibilities
Duties include but are not limited to the following:
Strategy leadership:

• Provide overall leadership of partnership strategy and related initiatives, including goal and target development and related monitoring and evaluation;
• Ensure the application of specific methodologies, including partnership reflections and scorecards, designed to ensure the appropriateness and quality of the partnership strategy;
• Identify and pursue funding opportunities to support/enhance the partnership strategy;
• Identify potential new partners using CRS tools, including partner mappings and assessments.

Communication and Relationship Management:

• Support the development and adoption of a common language around partnership, capacity strengthening and institution strengthening among CRS and partner staff;
• Ensure the effective sharing of information, including key decisions, status updates, successes and challenges, with the appropriate people within CRS and partners (in keeping with situational demands and the requirements of established agreements);
• Identify and apply effective communication methods (meetings, bulletins, presentations, reports, etc.) to ensure regular and effective communication is maintained;
• Build and/or maintain strong and effective relationships between CRS and partners, through the committed application of Partnership Principles and other relevant methods;
• Identify concerns of significance related to partnerships and/or partner implemented projects, and work to address them, ensuring they are brought to attention of Deputy Country Representative (DCR), the Emergency Director, the Emergency Coordinator for Program Quality and other senior management as needed;
• Ensure completion and dissemination of reports/documentation of partnership initiatives in keeping with established requirements.

Capacity Strengthening and Institution Building:

• Work with key staff to develop a strategy for capacity strengthening and leadership development for partners;
• Provide strategic leadership in the development, identification and dissemination of standardized approaches and best practices to implement the strategy;
• Work with partners to apply relevant tools (Holistic Organizational Capacity Assessment Implement -- HOCAI, Sub Recipient Financial Management Policy -- SRFMP, etc.), to help identify capacity and institution strengthening needs, develop corresponding strategies, and monitor implementation;
• Work with staff of relevant program, finance and operations sectors, to develop/ adapt and provide training, tools, etc. for targeted CRS and partner staff;
• Develop/adapt, provide and/or oversee technical assistance activities with partners, including accompaniment and mentoring;
• Identify any gaps in understanding or application, by relevant CRS and partner staff, of key partnership terms and principles, and address them through dialogue, training, provision of tools, etc;
• Participate in field activities such as strategic planning processes and evaluations to ensure an appropriate approach to capacity strengthening;
• Remain current on agency guidelines, learning initiatives and policies related to capacity strengthening.

Coordination (Internal/External):

• Identify and support the creation of strong inter-organizational networks that contribute to CRS and partner goals;
• Serve as focal point for issues that may affect key partnerships, including issues with program implementation, reporting, etc.;
• Lead efforts with key CRS staff to ensure appropriate level of coordination of partner activities, including sub-recipient management, reporting requirements, monitoring visits, trainings, etc.;
• Serve as primary liaison with regional and HQ-based partnership/capacity strengthening staff, ensuring efforts are integrated with agency strategy, best practices are being applied, and success stories are shared;
• Coordinate with peer/donor agencies, especially Catholic agencies, in their partnership and institution-strengthening efforts, working to ensure complementarity of effort.

Program Support:

• Advise on projects or project components that are focused on capacity strengthening at all stages of project cycle, including design and development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL), budget tracking, reporting, etc.
• Provide guidance on project agreement processes;
• Support the implementation of the Sub-Recipient Financial Management Policy (SRFMP) and develop/adapt corresponding support tools;
• Advise program, finance and other operations staff on assisting partners to be in compliance with donor regulations, reporting requirements, etc., and provide related guidance and training;
• Support monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) activities and processes for partners using CRS' standard tools, including training partners on MEAL standards and practices.

Staff supervision:

• Supervise partnership and capacity strengthening staff, including the provision of mentoring and on-the-job training as needed.

Agency-Wide Competencies (for all CRS staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results:

• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning

Program Manager Competencies
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each program manager to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results:

• Sets clear goals and manages toward them.
• Collaborates effectively with staff and stakeholders.
• Manages financial resources with integrity.
• Applies program quality standards to project design and organizational learning

Emergency Competencies
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff working in emergencies to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results:

• Communicates strategically under pressure.
• Manages stress and complexity.
• Actively promotes safety and security.
• Manages and implements high-quality emergency programs.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Development, Project Management, Business, Organizational Development, Non-formal Education, Psychology or Public Administration;
• Minimum of five years of experience in project management, within international organizations or the private sector, including: management of human resources, project activities and/or budgets;
• Minimum of three years of experience with partnership activities and institutional strengthening, preferably with a religious partner;
• Experience with capacity building, including training and mentoring as well as developing training materials;
• Experience in Institution Strengthening, including developing and/or improving business processes, policies and procedures;
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, representation and networking skills;
• Strong capacity to facilitate collaboration between partners and different departments (programs, finance, etc.);
• Strong leadership, advisory and negotiation skills;
• Strong understanding of the Catholic Church and its internal structures;
• Strong understanding of CRS history, mission and vision particularly as it relates to the Catholic Church;
• Demonstrated experience working successfully in cross-disciplinary teams and facilitating team efforts in the workplace, as well as working independently;
• Proven ability to use Microsoft WORD, EXCEL and PowerPoint;

Working Relationships:

• Internal: Deputy Country Representatives, Head of Operations, Business Development, Emergency teams, Global and Regional Technical Assistants (including the Humanitarian Response Department),
• External: Caritas Internationalis, Local Partners, Cluster leads and members, Emergency PVO Community, UN agencies, Donor agencies