The Partnership Manager plays a pivotal role in leading the NRC Partnership Strategy and related SOPs, ensuring alignment with NRC’s vision, strategic objectives, and policies. The role contributes to a harmonised partnership approach and leads NRC engagement in relevant partnership coordination efforts, fostering relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, academia, and public authorities.

The Partnership Manager is responsible for overseeing the entire lifecycle of formal partnership agreements, from due diligence to capacity assessments and compliance audits. The role ensures partners adhere to NRC’s guidelines and contribute to safe and inclusive programming. Additionally, the Partnership Manager is tasked with capacity building and integrating feedback to enhance NRC’s partnership approach and project outcomes.

The Partnership Manager will maintain effective communication with crucial contacts at both the NRC Regional and Head Office levels and will actively participate in the NRC Regional Partnership Community of Practise.

Please download the detailed Job description here

Generic responsibilities:

1. Lead the development and implementation of the country strategy on partnership with an emphasis on localisation through local actors.
2. Coordinate the deployment of the partnership approach across all the offices.
3. Contribute to a harmonised partnership approach between the NRC programmatic response and its partners, in line with NRC partnership policies, guidance, and procedures.
4. Ensure partners and NRC teams’ adherence to the NRC policies, tools, handbooks, and guidelines; provide compliance spot-check and audit support.
5. Supervise the management of the full cycle of formalising partnership agreements with local and international partners.
6. Liaise and coordinate with other functions where there are interdependencies within the country office, region and head office.
7. Pursue and develop fruitful relationships with various local, national and regional stakeholders and networks.
8. Establish and continuously enhance robust information management within internal partnership management systems and processes covering country mapped partners, contracts, reports and assessments.
9. Provide an internal helpdesk function on partnership approaches and compliance.
10. Represent NRC with relevant partners and other external stakeholders, as delegated by the Head of Programme Support Unit.

Specific responsibilities:

Partnership Strategy & scale-up of localisation:

• Lead the development and drafting of updates to the strategy on partnership with local actors in Ukraine.
• Lead the development, drafting, and execution of the strategy implementation plan, ensuring efficient monitoring and evaluation processes are in place.
• Facilitate coordination across the Country Office and Area Offices to ensure consistent implementation of the partnership strategy, enabling effective collaboration.
• Support the identification and mapping of potential partners through the development of tools for mapping and active engagement and assessment.
• Build a network of key partners and stakeholders, keeping abreast of evolving trends (social, economic, and political), including the application of innovation to partnership and project development.

Partnership Unit Management:

• Lead and facilitate the continued development and improvement of NRC Partnership Standard Operating Procedures and tools, based on lessons learnt and feedback from NRC and Partners.
• Lead a structured approach to partnerships, including the development of tools for identifying, assessing, capacity building, monitoring, and evaluating partnerships.
• Support NRC staff across all departments and offices in engaging with and applying NRC partnership-related processes and tools.
• Lead on the learning and development of NRC staff on issues of partnership and localisation, ensuring NRC Ukraine partnership approach is disseminated across all units, area offices and the regional office.
• Lead the develop and revisions a responsibility assignment matrix aligned with global tools and strategic guidance, fostering clarity on roles and responsibilities throughout the partnership cycle.
• Develop and maintain an interactive dashboard that consolidates all key partnership information and metrics, providing stakeholders with real-time insights for informed decision-making.
• Develop and maintain effective and positive working relationships with relevant stakeholders.
• Support the professional development of all the partnership unit staff across the country.

Partnership Contractual Agreement Management:

• Provide the leadership on co-design processes to ensure that projects are collaboratively shaped between partners and NRC, fostering long-term, complementary, and strategic partnerships.
• Collaborate with the grant unit to ensure that donor requirements and procedures are reflected in partnership agreements and modification requests.
• Supervise or directly draft partnership agreements and contractual documents required for the implementation of new projects.
• Work actively with all core competencies, programme support unit teams and compliance to ensure strong mainstreaming of core NRC principles across operational partners.
• Coordinate the provision of technical support to partners, particularly on monitoring, evaluation and learning, grants, human resources, finance, logistics and procurement management and compliance in close coordination with relevant staff.
• Ensure the adherence of the intervention with NRC’s project cycle management approach guided by NRC Partnership Handbook.
• Proactively solve conflicts and address issues and misunderstandings that could occur between NRC and various partners.

Capacity Sharing:

• Support partner assessments to identify capacity development needs and partners’ priorities.
• Ensure capacity-sharing activities aiming at ensuring smooth implementation of the partnership agreements, but also at supporting the overall development of the partner.
• Supervise the monitoring of partner learning progress and the application of transferred knowledge, identifying and reporting challenges and achievements.
• Actively integrate partner feedback into tools and guidance and ensure strong mutual learning between NRC and its partners.
• Facilitate peer-to-peer learning among relevant internal staff and partners and develop an exchange network that can share best practices in relation to partnerships.
• Organise and facilitate learning exchange events between NRC and partners to share best practices, encourage mutual learning, and strengthen collaboration on shared goals, strategies and programmes in Ukraine.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related area. Master’s degree preferred but not mandatory.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience, preferably with grants management or partnership-related duties.
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities.
• Ability to coordinate tasks and work processes and work with short deadlines.
• Fluency in English in both written and verbal.
• Fluency in Ukrainian or Russian both written and verbal.

What we offer:

• Duty station: Kyiv, Ukraine.
• Contract: 12 months.
• Travel: 20%.
• Salary/benefits: grade 9 on NRC’s national salary scale (Ukraine), with accompanying terms and conditions
• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.
• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC

Important information about the application process

• For Internal candidates: To apply as an internal candidate, log in with your official email or click on Opportunity MarketPlace.
• When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.
• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.
• We receive many applications for each vacant position and so only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Why NRC?

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.

Watch this short video to see NRC in action.

We are looking for people who are passionate about helping refugees and people forced to flee. Are you one of those people? If you are, NRC offers you the opportunity to:

• do demanding and professional work, often in challenging contexts.
• join a work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility.
• be part of a welcoming and supportive community committed to human dignity.