Roving Partnership Officer at Save the Children

Role

Reporting to: Head of Locally Led Delivery and Partnerships with a dotted-line, operational reporting line to the Area Director/Deputy Director of Program Operations :

CHILD SAFEGUARDING: (select only one)

Level 3: the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children offices in Great Kordofanwork with a diverse range of partners, including national NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs), educational institutions, government line ministries, and private sector actors. Given this diversity and the complexity of the operating environment, strong day-to-day coordination, liaison, and support to partners are essential.

Save the Children’s approach in these areas is to ensure that partnerships go beyond a narrow focus on capacity building and instead function as strategic, collaborative relationships. This includes strengthening the quality of engagement through regular interaction, supporting the development of partnership agreements, and accompanying partners in their organizational capacity and institutional strengthening journeys. The overall aim is to enhance sustainability, promote ownership, and contribute to the development of a strong civil society capable of advancing child rights and accountability.

The position holder will carry out these responsibilities in alignment with Save the Children’s vision, Global Partnership Framework, Localisation Strategy, Country Strategic Plan, and the principles of Child Rights Programming.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Head of Locally Led Delivery and Partnerships

Liaising with: Operations team in Kordofan and Central States, Grants & Partnerships Finance team, MEAL team, and Technical Heads of Sectors (health, nutrition, children protection, education, FLS, shelter etc.)

Key objectives:

The position holder will support the implementation of Save the Children’s locally led delivery model in Great Kordofanby strengthening equitable, strategic partnerships with national and local actors, and ensuring partners are actively engaged across the full programme cycle.

S/he will be responsible to execute partnership strategy of the organization following Save the Children’s Theory of Change and the localisation strategy, in conjunction with the Partnerships department. The responsibilities involve support the development of Great Kordofanpartnership strategic way forward including contribution to proposal development , work closely with already established partners ; develop a partner engagements and identify ways to support partners through Organisation Capacity Development (OCD); work with selected NGO partners to identify models that will enhance partner’s capacity to play the role of strong and independent actor for child rights. S/he will be spending 50% of the time with partners and in field visits.

The role contributes to the operationalization of localisation commitments, including strengthening partner participation in decision-making, promoting mutual accountability, and supporting the transition toward more locally led programme delivery.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

1. Partnership Management and Localisation Implementation

• Implement and monitor the Partnership Management Cycle across Kordofan and Central States, ensuring effective, compliant, and high-quality partnerships.
• Support and contribute to the operationalization of the localisation strategy, including identifying barriers to locally led delivery and proposing context-appropriate solutions.
• Ensure consistent application of partnership tools, systems, and procedures, and flag gaps or inefficiencies to support continuous improvement.

2. Strategic Partner Engagement and Development

• Support partner mapping, scoping, and selection processes, contributing to the identification of partners aligned with locally led and sustainable programming.
• Facilitate and support meaningful partner engagement and co-creation in programme design, proposal development, implementation, and monitoring.
• Build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with partners, promoting equity, transparency, and mutual accountability.

3. Partner Capacity Sharing

• Support the design and implementation of Partner Capacity Sharing Plan, promoting long-term institutional strengthening and sustainability.
• Coordinate with internal teams to deliver targeted capacity-sharing initiatives, including training, mentoring, and technical support.
• Promote a shift from compliance-driven approaches toward mutual learning and partner empowerment.

4. Partnership Monitoring, Accountability, and Learning

• Support implementation of accountability to partners mechanisms, ensuring partner feedback is regularly collected, analyzed, and acted upon.
• Participate in joint monitoring visits and support performance reviews to ensure delivery against partnership agreements.
• Capture and communicate partner feedback, field-level insights, and operational challenges to inform Country Office learning and system improvements.
• Contribute to documentation of lessons learned, best practices, and case studies related to partnerships and localisation.

5. Coordination and Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Programs, MEAL, Finance, Awards, and Technical teams to ensure integrated and effective partnership management.
• Support coordination of partnership processes with donor compliance requirements, balancing accountability with operational flexibility.
• Participate in relevant coordination meetings and forums, providing updates on partner performance, challenges, and opportunities.

6. Compliance, Safeguarding, and Risk Management

• Ensure partners understand and apply SCI policies, including Child Safeguarding, Code of Conduct, and humanitarian standards.
• Support implementation of SCI’s Safer Partnerships approach.
• Contribute to promoting appropriate risk-sharing approaches with partners in complex operating environments.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (Our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

ESSENTIALS:

• Degree in Management, Development Studies or related Social Science
• At least 2- 5 years of working experience in partnership management, based program management in NGO context, preferable in Great Kordofancontext.
• Outstanding partnership management and coordination skill and knowledge.
• Knowledge about core elements of approaches to working in partnerships.
• Strong understanding of project management and effective delivery of project/program.
• Strategic vision, analytical, innovative and creative problem solving skills.
• Financial/budget management skill in relation to budget review and tracking expenses.
• Significant experience of working in the international development organization with knowledge of child- and human-rights frameworks, including rights-based programming.
• Proven track record in, negotiation, conflict handling, and networking
• Familiarity with humanitarian assistance and long term development work in order to communicate effectively with partners.
• Proven experience of managing relationships in complex, insecure geographic locations, and adaptation of partnership programming.
• English language fluency, both spoken and written.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently.
• Strong commitment to teamwork and understanding of how to contribute to this

DESIREABLES

• Knowledge of grassroots civil society engagement in the current Sudan context
• Knowledge about international donor-compliance regulations, especially for SHF, EC, ECHO, including localization approach etc.

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

JD agreed by: Fakhrudin Khairy, HR

Director

Date: