Partnership consultant

Job Description

The purpose of this assignment is to develop a Partnership Management Guide for RI Turkey to ensure a structured approach to effectively working with implementing partners. While RI may partner with a variety of actors, including government authorities, academic institutions, and private sector entities, the focus of the Partnership Management Guide will be on engagement with NGOs that RI sub-grants as implementing partners. The Guide will reflect international best practices in partnership management and, at the same time, will be tailored to RI Turkey programs. The consultancy will be home-based with a trip to RI’s office in Gaziantep at the beginning of the assignment.

Scope of Work

Initial assessment

At the beginning of the assignment, the consultant is expected to undertake a desk review of partnership frameworks and make a synthesis to be adapted to RI Turkey’s context. The consultant will then take a short trip (maximum one week) to RI’s office in Gaziantep, Turkey for the purpose of meeting with key RI staff and departments to understand RI’s approach to partnership management. RI’s departments to be consulted at this stage include Programs, Grants, Finance, Operations, Human Resources, Monitoring and Evaluation, and External Relations. Through these meetings, the consultant is expected to identify processes, practices, and tools (existing and new ones) to be reflected in the Partnership Management Guide.

Development of SOPs

At a minimum, the Partnership Management Guide must cover the following:

• Guiding principles for effective partnership management with a focus on achieving the program objectives and ensuring accountability towards beneficiaries and donors;
• Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for effectively managing and coordinating partnerships as well as mitigating financial and programmatic risks. In particular, the SOPs will outline the processes, tools, and roles and responsibilities at all stages of the partner engagement cycle, including:
  • Assessment and selection (both competitive and non-competitive selection of partners);
  • Vetting and due diligence processes;
  • Sub-granting / sub-contracting;
  • Mobilization;
  • Capacity building;
  • Day-to-day implementation and monitoring activities, covering all aspects of the partnership (e.g. programmatic, financial, operational, human resources, grants management, external relations). Distinction should be made between international and local NGO partners.
  • Partnership closeout;
  • Continuation or expansion of the partnership;
  • Termination;
• A process for identifying and sharing partnership successes and lessons learned through partnership reviews, case studies, and other means, including both RI and the partners’ perspectives.

Reviews and adjustments

The consultant will submit a draft Partnership Management Guide to the Grants Manager for an initial review and will make necessary adjustments and improvements based on any feedback received. With the revised draft, the consultant will also submit a power point presentation summarizing the Partnership Management Guide. The Grants Manager will then facilitate review of the documents by RI Turkey’s Senior Management Team as well as RI’s Regional and Global Support Offices. The consultant will make further revisions based on feedback received.

Financial Proposal & Payment Arrangements

The consultant will submit a financial proposal based on a lump sum amount that includes all costs required for the performance of this assignment, such as the consultant’s fee, any taxes, and travel costs including meals and incidentals. RI will provide accommodation during the consultant’s stay in Gaziantep and will provide accidental death and dismemberment coverage and emergency medical evacuation. The contract price will be fixed output-based price, regardless of extension of the specified duration. Payment will be made upon submission and RI’s acceptable of the final deliverables.

Submission Requirements

Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume, cover letter, financial proposal, and three references (e.g. current and past clients) by November 8, 2017.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Graduate degree in a relevant field;
• At least 5 years of experience managing partnerships and supporting capacity building of local non-governmental organizations;
• Demonstrated ability to develop, implement, and evaluate systems, processes, best practices, and tools to achieve high quality outcomes in international relief and development programs;
• Strong understanding of grants and sub-grants management and project cycle management;
• Fluent written and spoken English required;
• Strong writing skills;
• Excellent organizational and analytical skills.

RI Values

• We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence.
• We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities.
• We value
  • Inclusiveness
  • Transparency and accountability
  • Agility and innovation
  • Collaboration
  • Sustainability

About the Organization

About RI: Relief International is a leading nonprofit organization working in 20 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships, and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.