Partnerships Coordinator North-East in Norwegian Refugee Council / NRC

Croatian Refugee Council (NRC) font-style: normal">is an independent humanitarian non-governmental organization founded in 1946. We provide assistance, protect the rights and contribute to solving the problems of refugees, internally displaced persons and other persons affected by armed conflict. NRC began its activities in Ukraine at the end of 2014, supporting people affected by the conflict in the east of the country. We are now increasing our efforts in Ukraine and neighboring countries to provide assistance to people forced to flee their homes due to war. 

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is strengthening its presence in northeastern Ukraine and establishing a regional office with an office in Kharkiv. The Regional Representative Office North East (AONE) will become a new regional representative office, expanded from the current representative office in Kharkiv, and will begin functioning in the first half of 2026. The Regional Program Manager will be actively involved in this expansion. 
 
AONE will cover the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, where the current representative office in Shostka will structurally transfer to the new AONE representative office in Kharkiv in the first half of 2026.    
 
Key intervention sectors covered by the North East regional office will include housing, information counseling and legal aid (ICLA), protection from violence, education and emergency response through cash assistance. 

This position requires a variety of skills, including an understanding of partnership programs in protracted crisis situations, strategic thinking, the ability to implement strategies and collaborate to develop practical, field-oriented partnership tools and guidelines. The successful candidate must be a strong network professional, able to effectively communicate and share knowledge with a wide range of stakeholders.

Start date for this position - March 2026 (tentative date)

General responsibilities:

1. Ensure compliance with NRC donor policies, manuals, guidelines, procedures and requirements.
2. Support the review and support of projects implemented with partners at the regional level, including providing assistance to partners on issues of compliance with NRC and donor requirements.3. Support and coordinate the development of new partnership agreements and facilitate the management of existing partnerships at the regional office level.
4. Represent the NRC as the main focal point for partners at the regional office level with pitaon partnership-related and general issues, and to ensure timely and consistent information exchange between partners and the NRC. 
5. Participate in project management activities and the use of the NRC project management system, collaborating with partners in the regional office, including cross-sectoral elements of the program and monitoring and evaluation structures at all stages of project management. 
6. Collaborate with the program team to support the integration of safe and inclusive programming and do no harm into projects and activities. 
7. Prepare and submit periodic and ad hoc reports to line manager.


Specific Responsibilities:

Mapping and Tracking Partnerships: 

1. To contribute to the mapping of potential local partners in the region and the maintenance of relations with existing partners.

2. Ensure correct and timely updating of the partnership tracking system for the regional office.

3. Maintain archiving and documentation of all regional office partner projects and partnership documents in accordance with NRC Ukraine archiving and information management systems.


Partnership management:

1. Provide proposals for the development and implementation of the general strategy and operational methodology of NRC Ukraine for interaction with stakeholders from the public, private and public sectors.

2. To act as a coordinator for the conclusion of contracts and provision of sub-grants to NRC partners at the level of regional offices. 
3. Act as a coordinator for local authorities in order to optimize communication during the implementation of programs on the basis of districts/communities. 
4. Coordinate organizational assessment and vetting of potential partners in accordance with the NRC Partnership Toolkit. 
5. Coordination of development of project implementation agreements between new partners and NRC. 
6. Support and facilitate communication and coordination between NRC and local partners at the regional office level. 
7.  Ensuring compliance of NRC partners with NRC requirements and ensuring smooth implementation of projects by providing necessary support from NRC to local partners. 
8. Participate in ensuring a structured and consistent approach to partnerships in accordance with the Country Strategy and the Partnership Strategy. 
9. Coordinate with the Media and Communications team to ensure visibility of the partnership in Ukraine and update the program profile, reflecting stories and lessons learned relevant to the regional office. 
10. Monitor and support the Regional Program Manager to ensure the organization and conduct at the regional office level of Project Management Meetings (PCM) for projects implemented with local partners (project opening meetings, review meetings, project closing meetings) in due time, availability of all mandatory internal documents (internal logic matrix, internal budget, procurement plan, work plan and monitoring and evaluation matrix); as well as actively monitor outstanding issues related to the partnership.

Partnership, compliance and experience sharing:

1. Be aware of and support local partners' understanding of, and compliance with, internal NRC and donor requirements; support monitoring of partners' compliance with NRC requirements and, in appropriate cases, specific donor requirements.

2. Actively collaborate with the Protection Against Violence (PfV), Safe and Inclusive Programming (SIP), Finance and Logistics units to promote strong implementation of NRC core principles and procedures among operational partners. 

3. Provide support in identifying capacity development needs and coordinate a systematic capacity-sharing process between NRC and partners and vice versa, coordinating with NRC program technical staff and ensuring that partners receive the necessary technical support. This may include arranging training, coaching and mentoring.

General Administration:

1. Ensure that all key project and partnership documents, including memorandums of understanding with authorities, are submitted, updated and maintained in accordance with NRC Ukraine's information storage and management systems. 
2. Provide support to the Country Office (CO) partnership unit to ensure the partnership tracking system is maintained correctly and up-to-date.
 3. Provide assistance to the CO partnership unit as needed, including representation and participation in meetings as needed, and coordination with teams to implement agreed activities.

1. Professional competencies:

General professional competencies:

• Minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience in a similar position, preferably in the humanitarian sector.
• Documented results related to the duties of the position, in particular in coordination, establishing contacts and interaction with external entities.
• Previous work experience in complex and unstable conditions.
• Confident command of Microsoft Office programs, in particular Word, Excel and PowerPoint. 
• Excellent writing and communication, networking, coordination and facilitation skills.

Context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Bachelor's degree in international relations, international development, social sciences or equivalent. 

• Deep understanding of Ukrainian civil society.

 • Experience in program management and implementation in humanitarian contexts.

• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision.

• Fluency in English and Ukrainian, both written and spoken.

2. Behavioral Competencies:

• Working in hazardous environments.
• Managing resources to optimize results.
• Empowering and building trust.
• Managing performance and development.
• Planning and achieving results.
• Working with people.

We offer:

• Official employment, fixed national contract until the end of 2026;
• Competitive salary and health insurance;
• Working hours from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm;
• Professional growth opportunities;
• Working in a dynamic and influential environment;
• This vacancy involves working in an office.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an employer that provides equal opportunities for development. Your job application will be considered based on the criteria for the professional skills required for the position. Other personal characteristics (such as gender, age, disability, religion, national origin, sexual identity and others) are not will be taken into account when considering resumes.

We only contact candidates who are included in the "short list" of applicants based on the selection results.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to stop this competition at any time.
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