Partnership and Capacity Strengthening Manager

Job Posting Organization:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Established to save, protect, and transform lives in need, CRS operates in more than 100 countries worldwide. The organization is committed to improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable, regardless of race, religion, or nationality. CRS's work encompasses various sectors, including emergency response, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding. The agency fosters a collaborative, mission-driven culture and welcomes individuals from diverse faiths and secular traditions who share its values. CRS is dedicated to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation, and its processes reflect this commitment. The organization prioritizes hiring candidates from the regions where it operates, ensuring that its workforce is representative of the communities it serves.

Job Overview:
The Partnership and Capacity Strengthening Manager is a pivotal role within CRS, responsible for leading all aspects of partnership and capacity strengthening initiatives in Liberia. This position entails developing and implementing strategies focused on local leadership, communication, relationship management, and coordination among partners. The manager serves as the primary liaison between CRS and its partners, ensuring that partnerships are effective and mutually beneficial. This role also involves supporting projects aimed at capacity strengthening and supervising staff involved in these initiatives. The manager is expected to adopt and share best practices from peer agencies, ensuring that CRS's approach to partnership is informed by the latest trends and methodologies in the field. The position requires a proactive approach to identifying funding opportunities and potential new partners, as well as fostering strong relationships with existing partners to enhance collaboration and program effectiveness.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The duties and responsibilities of the Partnership and Capacity Strengthening Manager include:

• Strategy Leadership: Provide overall leadership for the partnership strategy, including goal and target development, monitoring, and evaluation. Ensure the application of methodologies that enhance the quality of the partnership strategy. Identify and pursue funding opportunities to support the strategy and conduct partner mappings and assessments to identify potential new partners.
• Communication and Relationship Management: Develop a common language around partnership and capacity strengthening among CRS and partner staff. Ensure effective communication of key decisions, updates, and challenges to relevant stakeholders. Build and maintain strong relationships with partners through consistent application of partnership principles.
• Capacity Strengthening: Lead the development and dissemination of standardized approaches and best practices for capacity strengthening. Collaborate with program, finance, and operations staff to provide training and tools for CRS and partner staff. Identify gaps in understanding of partnership principles and address them through training and dialogue.
• Coordination: Create strong inter-organizational networks that support CRS and partner goals. Serve as the focal point for issues affecting partnerships and coordinate partner activities, including sub-recipient management and monitoring visits.
• Program Support: Advise on capacity strengthening projects throughout the project cycle, including design, implementation, and evaluation. Supervise partner monitoring and develop support tools. Provide guidance on compliance with donor regulations and support monitoring and evaluation activities.

Required Qualifications:
The position requires a university degree in development, project management, public policy, or sociology, with a master's degree preferred. Candidates must have a minimum of eight years of experience in project management within international organizations or the private sector, including human resources and budget management. Additionally, at least three years of experience in partnership activities and institutional strengthening is required, along with experience in capacity building, training, and mentoring. Strong interpersonal, communication, and networking skills are essential, as well as proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Candidates should demonstrate strong leadership, advisory, and negotiation skills, and the ability to facilitate collaboration between partners and departments.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess a university degree in a relevant field such as development, project management, public policy, or sociology. A master's degree is preferred, indicating a higher level of expertise and understanding of the complexities involved in partnership and capacity strengthening work.

Experience:
The ideal candidate should have a minimum of eight years of experience in project management, particularly within international organizations or the private sector. This experience should include managing human resources, project activities, and budgets. Additionally, candidates should have at least three years of experience specifically focused on partnership activities and institutional strengthening, which may involve policy influencing and collaboration with local partners or church leadership. Experience in capacity building, including training and mentoring, is also essential, as is familiarity with monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning approaches in capacity-strengthening projects.

Languages:
Strong written and spoken English is mandatory for this position. Proficiency in additional languages may be considered an asset, but English is the primary language of communication within CRS and with its partners.

Additional Notes:
This position involves supervisory responsibilities for all partnership and capacity-strengthening staff, including the Communication Officer. The role may require travel up to 30%. CRS offers a comprehensive benefits package for U.S.-based staff, including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, and a retirement savings plan. For candidates employed outside the U.S., benefits packages are based on the country of employment. The successful candidate is expected to adhere to CRS's Code of Conduct and participate in safeguarding initiatives to protect program participants and community members from exploitation and abuse. The position is contingent on the candidate's ability to legally work in Liberia, and all candidates must undergo pre-employment medical clearance.