Plan International Sierra Leone

Job Announcement (1 Position for nationals only) 

8-05-23 Partnership and Civil Society Strengthening Manager

PLEASE NOTE: ADVERTISEMENT OF THIS POSITION – CANDIDATES WHO HAD APPLIED BEFORE ARE KINDLY ASKED NOT TO RE-APPLY

Plan International is an independent non-profit development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters, and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 75 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

We are currently seeking to recruit:

Title:                 Partnership and Civil Society Strengthening Manager (PCSSM)

Grade: E

Location:          70 % in Country Office & 30% travel required

Department:     Programs

Reports to:       Head of Program Development and Quality

SUMMARY OF THE POSITION

Plan International’s new global ambition is to contribute to All girls standing strong creating global change. Plan International Sierra Leone (PISL) together with our partners work with girls, young people, communities, and duty-bearers so that girls can LEARN, LEAD, DECIDE and THRIVE.

PISL has recently developed its first Partnership Strategy. With this new strategy, PISL will contribute to Plan International’s global priorities, PISL will create a greater impact through locally-led and globally connected action. The focus of this priority is to create greater awareness of our power and privilege as an INGO and to use this power in the best way possible in each context in which we work to create an impact for children and girls. The shift reflects our value as an INGO in complementing and supporting locally-led action and by creating and leveraging global connections that bring people, data and resources together. Additionally, as a youth-centered organization, we strive to meaningfully co-create all programming and influencing with girls and young people, consistently engaging them and their organisations in decision-making processes at all levels. Young people, through their own networks and organisations, will be more meaningfully involved and actively engaged in decision-making as partners and civil society actors in their own right.

It is PISL’s ambition that:

Partnership ambition: Through strategic and equitable partnerships, Plan International Sierra Leone enables collaborative work led by local actors in Sierra Leone that advances the rights of children and young people and contributes to all girls standing strong.

DIMENSIONS OF ROLE

To lead in the delivery of the partnership strategy, oversee partnership management processes, and ensure quality of our partnership approaches, PISL is creating a new position ‘Partnership and Civil Society Strengthening Manager’.

The PCSSM will work to 1) increase and strengthen organizational partnership capacity, and 2 strengthen civil society by supporting local CSOs to increase their legitimacy and diversity, increase collaboration and build alliances between local CSOs, duty bearers, and stakeholders and promote changes by creating a more enabling environment for civil society.

The PCSSM will be responsible for making sure that tools and procedures are in place and socialised, for strengthening capacity of PISL staff, leading organisational learning processes on partnerships and making recommendations on practice improvement, and providing support and oversight to partnership management processes.

The PCSSM, is not responsible for managing the partners to deliver projects but will provide support to PISL’s identified partnership contact persons as needed

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Key objectives

The PCSSM will be responsible for the successful implementation of Plan International Sierra Leone’s Partnership Strategy, which has three key objectives:

• Increased and strengthened partnerships with girl- and youth-led organisations aimed at enhancing youth participation and leadership as well as supporting movement-building across thematic areas and sectors
• A strengthened civil society, including but not limited to PISL’s local CSO partners, has increased capacity, influence, and an enabling space to deliver on their own and mutual objectives.
• Strengthened organisational capacity in Plan International Sierra Leone to work in strategic and equitable partnerships.

Advance partnership work and civil society strengthening in programs and influencing

• Work with Business Development Manager, Head of Programmes Development and Quality and sector specialists to develop and roll out programme models and methods that contribute to strengthening civil society in Sierra Leone
• Contribute to the development and roll-out of new models and methods to effectively engage girls’ led gender quality movements as part of existing or new program initiatives
• Provide technical support on civil society strengthening and partnerships to Plan colleagues – ensuring quality management and implementation of programs that have partners
• Map and identify new partnership opportunities, especially with girls and youth-led organisations, to advance the civil society strengthening and partnership agenda
• Participate in relevant external technical forums and stay abreast of trends within the sector. Provide updated analysis of current national, regional and global trends with regard to civil society, not least child and youth activism, and share learning with colleagues

Develop partnership capacity in PISL

• Oversee and support the roll-out of PISL’s partnership guidelines, including socialisation of the guidelines and development and implementation of associated tools and templates
• Support continuous development and regular reviews of partnership management practices; identify and follow up on actions to improve management practices
• Support relevant PISL departments to develop procedures and systems that support the BBP partnership approach and good practices partnering with youth-led organisations; support the periodic review and updating of relevant policies once they are in place
• Plan and organise capacity development activities for Plan staff to strengthen partnership capacity in PISL

Partnership management and partner capacity strengthening

• Support the programme and influencing team to develop and manage equitable partnership and alliance relationships with key organizations, through supporting partner mapping and strengthening relations with CSO partners and other relevant stakeholders
• Plan, coordinate and lead organisational fit and due diligence processes in line with Plan’s partnership principles
• Work with PISL partnership contact persons and partners to carry out partner-led organisational assessments and development/review of capacity strengthening plans. Based on identified needs, facilitate targeted capacity development support within relevant technical areas
• Collaborate with external agencies working with the same CSO partners, ensuring a partner centered approach and minimizing risk of duplicating capacity development efforts.

Coordination and management

• Support relevant PISL departments to develop annual priorities for partnerships and civil society strengthening
• Based on annual priorities, develop annual work plans and budgets for implementation of PISL’s Partnership Strategy, in collaboration with the Partnership Committee
• Track progress of work plan implementation and expenditure; make adjustments as needed

Monitoring, evaluation, research and learning: 

• Lead knowledge management and learning on civil society strengthening and partnership in Sierra Leone and ensure learnings from relevant programs feed into national level processes
• Coordinate with the MERL Manager to develop and use appropriate MERL approaches and tools in the implementation of the Partnership Strategy implementation
• Develop and provide technical support to evaluations and research initiatives related to civil society strengthening and partnerships.
• Analyse findings and feedback on internal partnership management and from on-going partnerships, e.g. through the global annual partnership survey, to produce lessons learnt and inform strategic decision-making.
• Support organisational learning through co-ordinating trainings and experience sharing to advance civil society strengthening and partnership work
• Monitor the environment for civil society across Sierra Leone and ensure analysis is shared with relevant Plan staff and stakeholders
• Support relevant quality assurance mechanisms in relation to civil society strengthening and partnerships in line with donor requirements

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internally 

• PISL staff: Staff from all departments who work directly or indirectly in partnerships
• WACA Hub: Regional Specialists
• National Organisations (NOs): For specific programs/projects
• Global Hub (GH): Global Coordinator CSS & Partnership and team, the team of CSS advisors placed in Plan Internationals three regional hubs

Externally

• Local CSOs and their platforms and networks, including girl- and youth-led organisations
• Relevant staff from other organisations and institutions prioritizing this thematic area, including relevant government institutions.
• Consultants

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE

Education/Professional Background:

• Bachelors and preferably a graduate degree in social or political sciences, gender studies, social work, development planning or equivalent
• At least 5 years’ of progressive experience working with civil society organisations (especially child/ youth/human rights organizations)
• Strong knowledge and professional experience in the areas of civil society strengthening, partnerships, civic engagement/activism, and child and youth participation and governance
• Knowledge on gender analysis and mainstreaming, and on gender equality and girls’ rights challenges and opportunities
• Knowledge and professional experience on partnership identification and management based on principles of local ownership and equal partnership
• Experience in results-based management, including monitoring and evaluation of programs
• Demonstrated experience of designing and implementing capacity development initiatives and organisational development processes

Desirable

• Listening, communications and negotiation between organisations and among different stakeholders at all moments when developing, nurturing and ending a partnership, including with children and youth.
• Excellent communication skills, including virtually, across different cultures and across generations
• Context analysis skills to understand how context and stakeholders’ interests influence the partnership and our ability to achieve mutual goals
• Able to learn quickly and adaptive to new and different perspectives
• Influencing, representational and advocacy skills
• Strong analytical and writing skills.
• Fluency in Krio and English

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The position will be based in the Country Office in Freetown

Where required, periodic travel to program units and on occasion, regional and/or international travel may be necessary.

LEVEL OF CONTACT WITH CHILDREN

• Mid contact – Occasional interaction with children

GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Ensure staff understand Plan International’s commitment to driving a feminist agenda within the organization, and the ambition for gender equality and gender transformative leadership is embedded in our value-based leadership framework.

PLAN INTERNATIONAL’S VALUES 

We are open and accountable

• Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
• Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
• Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
• Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
• Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organization for all children, girls & young people.

We strive for lasting impact

• Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
• Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
• Focuses resources to drive change and maximize long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
• Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners, and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

• We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
• We respect all people, appreciate differences, and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
• We support children, girls, and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.

Applications: 

Last date for submission of Application (CV and cover letter) is: 22nd May 2023 by 5:00 pm

Your application should include:
·         A cover letter
·         A comprehensive CV including details of two referees, one of whom should be your current of 

           most recent supervisor

  Send applications to the below link: Sierra-Leone.Recruitment@plan-international.org

Only short-listed candidates shall be contacted. References will be taken and background and anti-terrorism checks will be carried out in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People’s Policy.

Plan International follows an equal opportunity policy and actively encourages diversity welcoming applications from all especially women and people living with disability.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.