The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees delivers lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
The IRC began planning to reopen an oPt country program in mid-2022 and launched an emergency response in Gaza in October 2023. The organization is currently supporting a network of local partners in both Gaza and the West Bank to sustain critical health, protection, food security, cash, education, and early childhood development interventions. The IRC is also deploying emergency medical teams to provide surge clinical capacity in hospitals and other health facilities.
Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.
Position overview
The Partnerships Coordinator will support the oPt country program in the strategic management and oversight of partnerships in Gaza and the West Bank. The position is responsible for facilitating the delivery of high-quality partnerships with local actors and will ensure compliance with IRC and donor requirements, quality services and outcomes for the communities we serve, and consistency with the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS- IRC’s partnership management system). Working in close collaboration with the programs, grants, and operations departments, the Partnerships Coordinator will oversee all steps in the partnership management lifecycle and will ensure that partnerships are appropriately integrated into overall project cycle management
The Partnerships Coordinator reports to the Deputy Director for Programs (DDP). The position will work closely with the MEAL Coordinator, Grants Coordinator, finance department, and program sector leads.
Responsibilities
Partnership Management
• Oversee all aspects of partnership management; from identification, development, risk management, project and agreement development, sub-award management, monitoring and accountability, through to closure – ensuring cross-collaboration with partnerships team and all program, operations and finance component.
• Co-facilitate and guide competitive and non-competitive partner selection processes to identify new partners and follow-on applications from existing partners.
• Coordinate and co-lead the due diligence process including contributing to and facilitating collaborative risk analysis and management.
• Work collaboratively with partners and IRC staff to constructively resolve any issues that may arise.
• Support effective partnership project close out processes, incorporating reflection and lessons learned.
Partnership Strategy and Program Approach
• Lead IRC’s external engagement with NGO, INGO and UN actors with respect to local partnerships to establish and maintain strategic partnership relationships.
• Ensure that we ‘Partner First and as Equals’ in accordance with the IRC Strategy Action Plan.
Partnership Accountability and Results
• Establish and maintain the six core building blocks of partnership success – self-assessment, working group, defined and resourced role, training, stakeholder analysis and collaborative design.
Promotion of Effective and Respectful Partnerships
• Promote and apply the IRC’s PEERS approach. Contribute to building a strong understanding of PEERS throughout the IRC oPt offices.
• Ensure that IRC’s partnership principles, skills, and approaches are applied across programs and projects.
• Facilitate systematic partner feedback on IRC’s management of the partnership relationship, including documentation of and response to partner feedback.
Partner Support and Capacity Sharing
• Support the resourcing and implementation of organizational development support as required.
• Promote and identify ways for continual learning between IRC staff and partners.
• Work to ensure IRC identifies and takes opportunities to learn from partners.
Staff Performance Management, Learning & Development
• Support in establishing the Partnership Unit that is appropriately resourced and structured.
• Hire, supervise, and build the capacity of team members in relevant technical and management competencies.
Other
• Other relevant duties as assigned by supervisor to further IRC partnerships.
Qualifications
• Technical understanding of and experience working with IRC’s PEERS approach (or another similar partnership management system) is preferred.
• Genuine interest in and commitment to collaborating with local partners for effective and context-appropriate humanitarian response.
• Demonstrated understanding of project planning and management cycles, including strong program design skills.
• Knowledge of grants processes and key donor compliance regulations, particularly BHA and ECHO.
• Experience training, facilitating dialogue, and promoting action across both internal colleagues and external partners.
• Excellent English and Arabic writing and editing skills and strong computer skills required.
