Partnership Coordinator-Poland, Warsaw, or Krakow (National Hires Only)

Program / Department Summary

The conflict in Ukraine has resulted in over 5M people fleeing the country and many millions more displaced within Ukraine. There are many more who are unable to safely leave their homes. The circumstances and populations are constantly evolving with the conflict. Mercy Corps has reopened its registration and presence in Ukraine as well as offices to support people in neighboring Poland and Romania. This includes partnership models, cash, information provision and other emergency response activities in a very fluid environment.  Partnerships with Polish organizations are expected to be a key Mercy Corps approach, which leverages the skills of diverse civil society groups to provide much-needed assistance to Ukrainian refugees. As humanitarian standards and Mercy Corps’ standards for subawards are new to most Polish organizations, we will need to adapt and create practical orientation sessions, training, and coaching models to onboard our partners to our processes, formats, and program management standards. In addition, we will want to support organizations with monitoring, evaluation, and accountability in order for us to demonstrate our impact and account for responsible use of funding

General Position Summary

The Partnerships Coordinator works closely with the Program Manager to support the development and maintenance of inclusive and equitable partnerships between Mercy Corps and local partners in Poland. Successful Coordinator will be an active networker in the non-governmental sector and excellent communicator. Will be able to lead on the meetings, contribute to capacity development plans and deliver training and support the onboarding process, if required. Together with Program Manager, will adapt and develop orientation and training sessions for our partners, onboard them to Mercy Corps’ vision, mission statement, and key objectives, as well as our program management and subgrant standards.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Monitor the needs and changing context; advise Mercy Corps and partners on the responsive programmatic directions.
• Implement a capacity sharing program to ensure partners can launch and deliver an effective humanitarian response in their partnership with Mercy Corps.
• In coordination with Program Manager, inform and develop of transparent calls for applications (CfA), with a specific focus on the evolving environment
• Support launch of the calls, dissemination of the invitation to applications, review and evaluation of the applications

Program Management

• Oversee pre-award and sub-awarding activities, ensuring responsive to our internal, partners and timely processes
• Lead onboarding and partners capacity building plans and efforts. Organise/coordinate trainings, consult Mercy Corps technical advisors
• Ensure the capacity sharing program for Partners is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Oversee the work of and provide support to Partnership Officers
• Coordinate and lead kick off calls and introductory trainings for partners, address challenges
• Capacity sharing and adherence to all safeguarding and ethics standards as well as the use of Community Accountability and Feedback Mechanisms (CARM).
• Ensure the capacity sharing program for Partners is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Oversee grants management, maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donors and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Compile monthly cash projections

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
• Hire, orient and supervise new team members as necessary.
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

FINANCE & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Compile monthly cash projections
• Maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related to emergency programming.
• Ensure robust sub-award compliance and management for partners across, working closely with the response-wide partnership and sub-award management resources and teams in other operating contexts

Influence & Representation

• Attend coordination meetings, as agreed with the Program Manager. Ensure that information from coordination meetings is shared internally and with other sectors, as appropriate.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with all stakeholders - including NGOs, clusters, UN agencies, community based organizations.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator to aggregate and analyze data provided by partners to both influence programmatic decision making and contribute to reports to the donor and/ or Mercy Corps stakeholders at headquarters or in the region.

Security

• Ensure Partners receive support with security procedures and policies
• Contribute to creating a secure environment for Partners.

Organizational Learning

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to partners

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our partners and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging participant communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Supervisory Responsibility: Partnership Officers

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Partnership Program Manager

Works Directly With: Program Team and Partners in Poland, Sub-Grants Manager and Sub-awards, finance and compliance teams.

Knowledge and Experience

• 2 to 3 years of experience in implementing projects in non-governmental sector is required; previous experience from emergency/fast pace programming will be an asset
• BA/BS or equivalent in International Relations, International Development or other relevant field
• Excellent communication and coordination skills are the must
• Strong supervisory skills
• Experience from building meaningful, equitable partnerships with local actors is desired
• Experience in leading meetings and trainings is required
• Familiarity or direct experience with humanitarian programming will be an asset
• Required: excellent oral and written English skills required, a proficiency in Polish and or Ukrainian/Russian,
• Proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Success Factors

The successful Partnerships Coordinator will combine exceptional communication, coordination and relationship building skills and will be an effective supervisor. The Coordinator will have past experience in facilitating and evaluating capacity sharing programs. They will have proven experience with cross-cultural teams and participatory approaches. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, and thrive in an evolving and changing environment while taking care of self and others.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.