Title: Partnership Advisor
Division/Department: Executive
Location: Bangalore/Delhi
Reporting Relationship: National Director
Summary
The Partnership Advisor will be responsible for leading change management processes within ChildFund India and across the Asia Region on issues related to how ChildFundpartners with various stakeholders in realizing its mission and outcomes. These issues may span a range of practices, including, but not limited to strategic planning, program design, program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, partner contract management, human resource management, etc.
The Partnership Advisor will work very closely with the Global Program Development Unit and with the Regional Program Management Team, to provide leadership and mainstreaming support on initiatives to improve practices around partnership across sectors, projects, funding streams and geography. This is a new position and an opportunity to shape the future direction of a major child development agency that has worked by and large in a particular mode focusing on the sponsorship funded projects. This position is created to look into all aspects of current partner relationship and provide strategic inputs for defining mutual accountabilities between ChildFund and the Partners. The position does not directly supervise other staff and is expected to work with a broad range of other teams to stimulate and support change processes. In addition, the Partnership Advisor will interface with a Global Technical Working Group and the broader development community to ensure that proposed changes and developments are in line with industry best practices.
The overall focus of the Partnership Advisor is to develop, lead and work to achieve buy-in to an organizational strategy to transform the way ChildFund establishes partnerships with local level organizations, federations, associations and institutions
DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Leadership and management
- Systematically analyzeChildFund India partnership processes and practices with a view to highlighting opportunities to improving how ChildFund partners with various agencies, and/or contradictions between current practices and vision around partnership;
- Review ChildFund Partnership principles, policies and procedures and related instruments to assess their efficacy in determining mutual accountabilities between ChildFund and the partners; determine the actual application of these on the ground through extensive dialogue, consultation, research and field vists
- Bring out the diverse field level issues around partnership to the India Senior Management Team and the Asia Leadership Team identifying key areas for improvement in ChildFund’s partnership processes and practices;
- With inputs from the Global Technical Working Group and Regional Leadership Team, lead the process of redefining the terms of partnerships with various stakeholders; contribute actively to the development of new partnership instruments and tools
2. Change Management
- Develop strategies for change management among the long term partners taking into account their issues, concerns and perceptions; building a sound communication strategy to disseminate the change processes in a cohesive and responsible manner making sure that ChildFund’s relationship with the local partners remain healthy and mutually beneficial;
- Assist the functional teams to increase understanding of and buy-in to the Global partnership strategy; help resolve real and imagined issues regarding transitioning to more authentic partnership models; develop/coordinate partnership reflection processes for staff.
- Convene a cross-departmental task force to support change management process both within ChildFund India and in the field; Monitor and report on progress against identified change management plans;
- Develop change management plans in active collaboration with the Regional and Global Program/Operation Units, to implement proposed improvements in ChildFund India partnership processes;
- Coordinate activities of peer support groups for Change management and training etc.; coach and mentor group members to build skills, confidence, and problem-solving abilities related to partnership capacity building and development;
- Facilitate regular partnership meetings and support partners to achieve mutually determined objectives through in-house expertise, planning workshops, sharing hard bound and electronic resources etc.
- Work with functional units, especially the Program teams, to ensure that current and future staff has the skills, perspectives and capacities to work in partnership and that all staff are accountable for advancing the principles of partnership
3. Learning and Accountability Management
- Develop sound tools, systems and methods for partnership development process including establishing partnership assessment criteria;
- Establish processes for measuring ChildFund partnerships outcomes and documenting best practices; ensure documentation and dissemination of these best practices;
- Enhance ability of the project and program teams as well as other functional units to monitor and evaluate their partnership practices
- Keep current with academic/professional literature relating to partnership, civil society and organizational capacity building; share information and incorporate into activities as applicable.
- Lead the local governance and accountability processes within ChildFund and in the wider civil society sector in India; roll-out governance policies among the partners and preparing them for self-certification/third party accreditation
- Initiate and maintain contacts globally regarding partnership activities; help establish a learning community within the Region.
- Provide guidance to the functional teams within India and in the Region on how to engage and work with multiple partners and manage multiple accountabilities;
- Promote platforms for learning and sharing best practices on various partnership models; support partner –to –partner linkages in the country and region and facilitate inter-country exposure visits to partners to share lessons learned.
QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE
- Post-graduate degree in international development, international relations, social sciences, development Studies or related field;
- 18 -20 years of relevant, progressively responsible work experience; background in partnership development, advocacy, or related area;
- Solid practical experience managing partnerships in development field preferably from an International NGO operating environment. Experience of multiple range of partnerships and/or including those with the government, civil society and institutions an advantage;
- Direct experience working with local organizations (traditional and non-traditional) and other civil society actors in India or Asia.
- Facilitation or training experience; demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through participatory adult training, mentoring and other methods.
- Thorough knowledge of principles of partnership and current best practices in capacity building; demonstrated experience in integrating themes into multi-sectoral programming.
COMPETENCIES:
- Results orientation
- Proficient in MS Office including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
- Understanding ChildFund Global strategy, program activities, and partnership issues.
- Analytical skills
- Planning & facilitation skills
- Strong communication skills (oral & written) Excellent English language skills; strong writing, communication and representation skills.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D./Post-graduate degree in Social Sciences
http://www.childfundindia.org/career.html
