POSITION: PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER - AFRICA

LOCATION: AFRICA

Our client, School For Life Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation working in rural Uganda. They empower communities to help themselves and create their own opportunities. They do so by building schools to provide communities with a quality education, including primary and secondary schooling, vocational training and other services – such as employment and healthcare solutions. They seek an experienced and outgoing candidate of African heritage and who is based in Africa to fill the role of Partnerships Manager – Africa within their team.

JOB PURPOSE

The Partnerships Manager - Africa will be accountable for building and supporting a network of impact partners across Africa. They will source, assess, and manage partner organisations delivering education solutions working in East Africa, ensuring partners are creating impact and maintaining compliance obligations.

The ideal candidate will be dynamic and must have a strong background in education and international development and experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder programs in diverse geographic locations. The person should have a combination of strategic thinking, program management skills, governance and compliance skills and an ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders to achieve impact objectives.

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Partnership Management

• Supporting SFL to become a sought-after partner for innovative local education founders and leaders, through effective network building and brand/reputation management.
• Building, assessing, and maintaining partnerships with organisations that deliver education solutions to vulnerable children.
• Conducting effective due diligence processes, creating robust partnership frameworks, agreements, and policies to ensure partners are values aligned and compliant.
• Conducting site visits at partner programs to build relationships and assess impact and compliance.
• Monitor and report on partnership performance, including KPIs and ROI.
• Managing program budgets, timelines, and resources to ensure efficient and effective program delivery.
• Working closely with the Head of Fundraising to ensure that the partnership strategy is aligned with the fundraising strategy.
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop joint marketing campaigns, fundraising initiatives, and events with partners and donors.

Governance & Oversight

• Assessing and reviewing partners to ensure that they have the systems, processes, and capabilities to deliver high quality programs and effective and sustainable organisations.
• Conducting thorough research and analysis of potential partnerships, including background checks, financial assessments, legal reviews, and risk evaluations.
• Identifying any potential risks and liabilities associated with partnering with external entities and provide recommendations to mitigate these risks.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams, including legal, finance, and operations, to gather relevant information and ensure that all due diligence processes are followed.
• Oversight of funding requests and financial management practices of partner organisations, ensuring effective use of funds and compliance with anti-fraud policies.
• Reporting on risks, audit & compliance matters within the partner portfolio.
• Ensuring SFL Australia is compliant with ACFID requirements.

Impact & Capacity Building

• Feeding into the design and administration of a global impact framework for SFL Australia that effectively assesses and communicates the impact of our education interventions.
• Supporting partners to build their own impact frameworks and to develop maturity around measurement, reporting, evaluation, and impact assessment.
• Working closely with the CEOs of the partner organisations to identify capability gaps and identify bespoke solutions that deliver growth for the partner.
• Quality and timely delivery of integrated reporting and planning to ensure accurate planning, forecasting, delivery, and communication of results.
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EDUCATION QUALIFICATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in education, Aid, Development, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of professional work experience in the NGO sector.
• Demonstrated understanding of education and development programs, ideally from field experience.
• Gifted relationship builder, with a range of stakeholder management methods and the ability to collaborate closely with individuals up, down, and laterally.
• Comfortable and adept at experimentation, flexibility, and adaptability, as SFL tests and learns its way to the most impactful and values driven strategy.
• Cross Cultural competency, with a knowledge of anti-racism and anti-colonial development practice.
• Experience coordinating and implementing programs within the international development sector, including project design, monitoring and evaluation, preparing high-quality reports for various audiences (e.g., donor bodies), and proposal writing.
• Experience and literacy with financial reports and systems.
• Proven track record of building successful partnerships and achieving partnership goals.
• Strong self-awareness and self-development drive.
• The ability and willingness to travel internationally, at least 6 trips per year, for up to 4 weeks at a time.

COMPETENCIES

• Desire to listen to and grow the capacity of others, using coaching techniques to support personal and professional development.
• A deep understanding of the nuances of working cross culturally.
• Strategic and have a demonstrated track record of turning ideas into reality.
• Proactive and taking initiative.
• Analytical, have a high attention to detail and are able to maintain confidentiality.
• A team player is always willing to help.
• Capable of managing your time, priorities, and a high volume of work.
• A self-starter who goes above and beyond.
• Excited about SFL vision of educating poverty out of existence and would love to play a critical role in a fast-growing not-for-profit.

All applicants are advised to adhere to the application guidelines for consideration. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

NB: Flexi Personnel does not charge candidates for job placement.