Officer, Policy and Partnership at Bridge International Academies

Policy & Partnerships

• The Policy & Partnerships (P&P) team owns and manages critical relationships with regulators as well as individuals and corporate organisations providing scholarships and sponsorships, ensuring a sustained movement to transform the lives of millions of children through education.
• We lead pioneering efforts to revitalise Government-led delivery of education across the world. We engage with visionary political and Government leadership to help shape policy, strengthen delivery and impact complex education systems through partnerships.      

About The Role

• As Officer, Policy and Partnership you will play a substantial and crucial role in mobilising, growing and managing partnerships and sponsorships programmes across Bridge Nigeria. The officer will use resource mobilisation, account management and communication (written and verbal) skills as well as administration experience to identify, develop, harness and manage collaborative relationships with external stakeholders at community level.
• This will involve sourcing new sponsors and partners at community-level, and managing the relationships along with existing sponsors and partners. In this role you will maintain a database of prospective and existing partners and sponsors whilst collaborating with other internal departments to effectively manage the relationships, providing prompt responses to their enquiries/requests and actively follow up to ensure partners perform their own responsibilities and obligations. As part of this process you will be required to proactively and promptly communicate with sponsors and partners, and provide information and administrative support to aid the performance of their own obligations.
• The Officer will be involved in developing proposals, reports on judicious use of funds provided as well as performance scores of the scholarship beneficiaries and operational highlights of adopted schools.  
• Furthermore, the Officer  will support the Manager, P&P in pursuing the approval process for our schools. This may cover preparation and filing of relevant documents, securing approval for, requesting funds and lodgement of released funds into designated government accounts in relation to schools’ approval.  

What You Will Do

• Report to the Manager, Policy & Partnerships (P&P) with respect to sourcing and managing partners and sponsors at community-level  
• Engage with existing or prospective partners and sponsors and provide necessary information and updates on their respective partnerships or sponsorship programs
• Research, scout and close on new sponsorship opportunities for Bridge pupils.
• Identify CSR partners in the private sector to strengthen Bridge International Academies’ market presence and delivery;
• Engage with the relevant departments within Bridge to identify needy pupils and jointly curate CSR programs where required
•  Coordinate the funding that comes in and ensure that it goes to the identified pupils and schools whilst ensuring that accountability documents are provided to the partners and the sponsors on time
• Utilise lead management techniques and maintain a detailed and dynamic database of these key stakeholders while tracking progress;
•   Maintain a relationship with the sponsors through providing monthly updates and progress on their beneficiaries
• Analyse and present research findings or meeting highlights in a written and verbal format including preparing and managing master-sheets, briefing notes, executive summaries etc. as agreed on by your managers
• Actively participate in regular department and team meetings, contributing to strategy, discussions and decisions which will be beneficial to Bridge’s Policy & Partnerships initiatives.
• Work with local, regional and national officials and groups with respect to the Bridge International Academies’ registration, strategic efforts, and related activities;
• Support the Manager, Policy and Partnership to collaborate with the Ministry to ensure all Bridge schools become registered.
• Plan, develop, administer and evaluate programs, activities and daily operations related to the Policy & Partnership support function
• Identify and engage community based opportunities for scholarships for Bridge pupils and sponsorships for Bridge events.     
• Undertake any other specific Policy & Partnership projects as necessary. 

What You Should Have

• Bachelor's Degree with superior academic performance;
• Proven ability to produce material for external audiences such as summary reports, blog/website updates;
• Well-developed written and verbal communication skills to deal effectively, efficiently and appropriately with internal and external stakeholders;
• Experience in government program delivery or working in account management or as an engagement officer;
• Experience building and systematically managing key complex relationships and accounts to ensure program delivery in a complex, multi-stakeholder program or project;
• Previous experience working with a Ministry of Education on program delivery, preferred; If not within education, experience with another government delivery program or project, such as in health or ICT;
• Knowledge of education sector and specifically the provision ofprimary education in Nigeria would be an added advantage;
• Ability to balance commercial interests and social benefits - a blend across business and political acumen, but also high emotional intelligence and relationship-building skills;
• Highly capable and thoughtful problem-solving skills; able to act as an intermediary and a solution driven lead, to ensure effective collaboration and communication between the stakeholders and our organisation;
• Prior experience within a fast-paced, high-growth, metric-driven operational organisation will be an advantage;
• Experience working for a political, non-profit, or other social campaigns that concern an idea or a movement rather than a product.

You’re Also:

• A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organised and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a startup or social enterprise.
• A creative problem-solver – Growing any enterprise from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, Bridge works in often challenging, low-resource communities and runs on fees averaging just $6 a month per pupil. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand. Every dollar you spend is a dollar our customers, who live on less than $2 a day, will have to pay for.
• A customer advocate – Our customers – these families living on less than $2 a day per person – never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). Every decision you make considers their customer benefit, experience, and value.
• A life-long learner – You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.