External relations and partnership coordinator

Background

Department: Reporting
Starting date: ASAP

ACTED is an independent international, private, non-partisan and non-profit organization that operates according to principles of strict neutrality, political and religious impartiality, and non discrimination.

ACTED was created in 1993 to support populations affected by the conflict in Afghanistan. Based in Paris, France, ACTED now operates in 30 countries worldwide, with over 200 international and 4000 national staff. ACTED has a 100 million € budget for over 350 projects spanning 8 sectors of intervention; including emergency relief, food security, health promotion, economic development, education & training, microfinance, local governance & institutional support, and cultural promotion.

Country Profile

Capital Office : Islamabad National Staff : 860 Areas : 4 (Islamabad, Mianwali, D.G Khan, Sindh) On-going programmes : 30 Budget : 21.5 M

Since the first days of its involvement in Pakistan in 1999, ACTED has always combined a strong emergency response capacity to address the regular humanitarian disasters that affect the country – be they related to conflict or natural disaster, and a steady focus towards development for Pakistan. In July 2010, populations were confronted with the worst flooding the country has ever faced. In a country already struggling with the enduring challenges of conflict and food insecurity, the unprecedented floods that swept through Pakistan and affected 20 million people, presented the population with immense challenges to overcome. ACTED and its partners have been working throughout 2010 and 2011 to support communities in Pakistan as they have struggled to overcome this latest disaster and the chronic issues of escaping conflict and achieving food security. There is still much to do to support communities recover from the floods, as well as those still facing the grim spectres of conflict and food insecurity. ACTED continues its efforts to assist those vulnerable communities rebuild their lives, with a specific focus on food security interventions, support to sustainable livelihoods, with disaster risk reduction components.

Position Profile

The External Relations Coordinator is responsible for the coordination of ACTED’s external relations in close and for the management of ACTED’s consortia and partnerships, as well as for ensuring the production of timely reports and project proposals for Donors and for developing a country communication strategy, both internal and external.

Functions in terms of Partnership Management

- Act as focal point for Alliance2015 and PEFSA.
- Chairs all coordination meeting on implementation progress review for all projects implemented in consortia (Alliance2015, PEFSA etc.)
- Represents ACTED at all consortium coordination meetings on behalf of CD Monitors partner’s activity and implementation progress as well as partner’s budget consumption and issues early warning to Country Director and CFM as well as to the concerned partner directly
- Communicates partner’s requests for GIS services to PDM and GIS manager 
- Ensures that partners’ requests for GIS services are addressed Accompanies DCD in field visits upon request
- Functions in terms of External Relations & Communication
- Together with the PDM, liaise with UN agencies and donors to identify cooperation opportunities.
- Participates to or ensures participation of ACTED to the different UN and NGO meetings (clusters, early recovery working group meetings).
- Ensures ACTED participation to the cluster/ERWG meetings at area levels and centralization of the information.
- Overall responsibility for communication, donor visibility & media in relation with the PD department &for centralisation of contributions from different departments
- Liaises with HQ and Partners’ Communication departments
- Organises external events, conferences and workshops
- Define the main target groups, activities, resources and partnerships needed
- Ensure continuum of PR activities, including formal presentations, engaging media for coverage on success stories, updating project-specific and regional fact sheets, and documenting publications featuring ACTED in the media
- Identifying funding in ACTED current projects for a more cohesive communication strategy in-country
- Functions in terms of Internal Coordination
- In relation with the Country Director and Project Development Manager, ensure that all meetings are held and documented (capital coordination meetings, area coordination meetings, monthly coordination meetings, quarterly country coordination meetings)
- Ensure in particular that reporting guidelines, formats, philosophy, deadlines for each project and donor is communicated clearly and standardized across the country for new and on-going projects
- Follow-up meetings at the field level and in the capital, between the bases and between the country programme and HQ/other ACTED operations through the ACTED Newsletter
- Draft agenda and minutes of country-wide meetings, with the assistance of the Reporting staff.
- Chairs bi-weekly AME / PDM meetings
- Functions in terms of Project Development
- Acts as Project Development Manager in the absence of Project Development Manager and Senior Project Development officer
- Ensures that feed back on progress of ongoing projects is provided to donors and partners by PDM
- Ensures that ACTED’s contractual obligations for grant management are met by the Project Development team
- Regularly monitors relevant donor websites for funding opportunities.
- Seeks appointments for the CD to meet with potential donors and makes follow-up on the action points with PDM.
- Prepares (with the PDM) meeting talking points/agenda for the Country Director. Be familiar with all major stakeholders’ country and regional strategies (including all major donors) and identify synergies with ACTED’s operations
- Ensures that AME and Project Development coordinate closely during project development and provides guidance
- Update on a weekly and monthly basis the external relations database, which documents latest negotiations and proposal possibilities with a number of key donors.
- Facilitates coordination and information sharing between the Project Development team, Area Coordinators, Programme Managers and technical staff to ensure that proposals are developed in a cohesive and professional manner and in line with ACTED country strategy and donor requirements
- Together with the PDM, act as point of contact for all Donor communication, including the organisation of and hosting of Donor visits in the field.
- Organises field visit of donors and external guests to the project sites of ACTED and its partners

Qualifications

- Postgraduate diploma in International Development and (or) relevant Master’s level degree
- Significant experience in the humanitarian field, proposals development, and donor relations
- Proven capabilities in leadership and management required
- Strong negotiation and interpersonal skills, and flexibility in cultural and organizational terms
- Fluency in written and spoken English
- Strong writing abilities and analytical skills
- Ability to work well and punctually under pressure

Conditions

- Salary defined by the ACTED salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
- Additional monthly living allowance
- Free food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse
- Transportation costs covered, + luggage allowance
- Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance