Local Partnership Advisor

Key Responsibilities

• Partnership Stewardship: Lead the development of strong, equitable, and long-term partnerships with local organisations. Promote mutual accountability, trust, and shared learning, and represent Cordaid in strategic dialogues with key regional partners.
• Portfolio Leadership & Performance: Provide strategic oversight to the countries’ programme portfolios. Monitor portfolio health, quality, and sustainability, ensure alignment with regional strategies, and lead portfolio reviews to drive evidence-informed decisions.
• Country Engagement Models: Lead the implementation and coordination of Country Engagement Models across the region. Adapt engagement approaches to local contexts and partner capacities and manage transitions between different engagement models.
• Partner Capacity & Localisation: Strengthen the organisational capacity of local partners, promote locally led development principles, facilitate peer learning, and support regional innovation and localisation commitments.
• Cross-Domain Leadership: Collaborate closely with the Regional Business Development Manager, Regional Finance & Operations Manager, Regional Humanitarian Manager, and global units (Shared Services, Global Practices) to ensure integrated, responsive support for partners.
• Representation & Strategic Engagement: Represent the Regional Core with partners, regional institutions, and strategic networks. Promote Cordaid’s regional positioning and strengthen collaboration across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
• People Leadership & Culture: Create an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing culture within the Regional Core. Coach staff, promote accountability, and model Cordaid’s values and leadership behaviours.

Qualifications

• You have a Master’s degree in International Development, Public Administration, Political Science, Social Sciences, or a related discipline.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in international development or humanitarian organisations.
• Extensive experience working through local partners, managing complex regional or multi-country portfolios, and steering multi-stakeholder partnerships.
• A strong understanding of locally led development, partnership approaches, strategic planning, and organisational development.
• A proven track record in leading organisational change in complex environments and engaging effectively with institutional donors and regional stakeholders.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and influencing skills, with a demonstrated ability to influence without authority.
• Strong competencies in systems thinking, adaptive leadership, political awareness, and collaborative decision-making.
• You are fluent in English. Knowledge of additional regional languages is a distinct advantage.
• You recognize yourself in Cordaid’s mission and values.

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