New way Social & Development Organization is a development, advocacy, and humanitarian organization established in 2011 and registered with the Ministry of Economy, Government of Afghanistan. Organization is based in Kabul, with programming hubs across the north and northeastern provinces of the country. Organization strives to empower the vulnerable and marginalized communities suffering from the impacts of war, natural calamities, poverty, and injustice. Additionally, Organization is also working on the idea of integrated development, which encompasses socio-economic, cultural and good governance. Community Empowerment is the core to Organization’s strategy to engage with grass-root groups and communities to address the root causes of poverty, inequalities and injustice.

Key Areas of Accountability

Partnership Strategy:

• Lead the implementation of the organization in Planning and Partnership Strategy, informed by Global Partnership Framework and the context.
• Participate in any Partnership Working Groups that will support the development and operationalization of the planning and partnership strategy within the organization.
• Stay abreast of current trends in partnerships and share learning with the Senior Management Team (SMT) and others, as well as linking with the Partnership Focal Persons.
• Lead the Main Office in developing systematic approaches to map partners, and in identifying and pursuing strategic partnerships.
• Actively engage in NSDO partnership communities of practice and link into the Partnership Working Group.
• Maintaining and developing new partnership with international NGOs and donors for generating funds and new opportunities.

Partnership Systems and Policies:

• Work across departments to develop systems and policies that are supportive of the Planning and Partnership Strategy, and ensure periodic review and updating of policies once they are in place.
• Review partnership management practices; identify and follow up on actions to improve management practices.
• Involvement in strategic planning, program design, and proposal/concept paper development in accordance to donor guidance.
• Establish and ensure implementation of standard communication framework and medium with partners/donors, so that both NSDO and partners/donors have easier access to information.
• Define a standard framework of roles and responsibilities among various departments and between area office levels for the planning and partnership communication and engagement;
• Establish and maintain a partnership database that maps out partner capacity.
• Work with the humanitarian Unit to set up systems for working with partners (implementing and strategic) in humanitarian preparedness and response, as per the Core Humanitarian Standards.

Establishing partnerships:

• Assess the current partnership portfolio identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks related to current partners.
• Identify and explore new partnerships, including the updating of the partnership mapping and establishing relationships for collaborating on programming and capacity building
• Act as the organization's focal point for the due diligence and capacity assessment conducted by the donors and partners.

Partner program management:

• Develop, and/or coordinate with other departments in the management and monitoring systems in regards to partner programming.
• Work with the organization relevant teams and units, to ensure that partnership tools and financial standards meet donor requirements and lobby for adaptation and flexibility as needed.

• Keep track of relevant technical, operational, finance, HR, or grants issues and where necessary facilitate support from relevant NSDO technical or operations teams to ensure continuous support and involvement at all stages of the program cycle.

Partnership Management and Capacity Development:

• Coordinate key processes and actions between and among Donors/partners and NSDO staff;
• Coordinate across teams to carry out partner organizational capacity assessments. Analyze assessments to identify specific capacity building and organizational development needs, and provide training and targeted capacity strengthening support;
• Promote relationships of mutual respect and mutual learning with donors,
• Work closely with operations to ensure partnership and risk assessments are conducted and relevant partnership functions and compliance maintained;
• Work across departments to identify and address partnership-related action points, and to introduce new ways of working to make partnerships more effective;
• Facilitate partners’ feedback on their partnership with NSDO and work with relevant departments to address feedback;

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning:

• Coordinate with the MEAL team to ensure the development and implementation of appropriate M&E and program management tools and systems for use by partners, and that appropriate training and ongoing support is provided to partners on the use of the same;

• Secure mutual learning with donors/partners in terms of program delivery and partnership building.
• Analyze results of ongoing partnerships, remote management, and results on the ground to produce lessons learned and inform strategic decision-making.

COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Delivering Results:

• Establishes clear and compelling objectives with teams and individuals and monitors progress and performance
• Creates and applies measures and metrics to track performance
• Holds others accountable for achieving results and challenges underperformance
• Demonstrates financial awareness and concern for cost-effectiveness

Applying Technical and Professional Expertise:

• Makes decisions based on professional expertise and experience without deferring unnecessarily to others.
• Shares knowledge and best practices on technical solutions so that others can make the best use of that expertise.
• Actively seeks new ways to develop the application of technical and professional standards within the team.

Problem Solving and Decision Making:

• Gathers the right information and uses critical thinking to make effective and timely decisions
• Knows when to involve others in a decision
• Demonstrates awareness of the wider external influences that impact on decision making
• Analyses and exercises judgment in challenging situations in the absence of specific guidance or knowledge of the full facts
• Evaluates the opportunities and risks of each idea and solution to make informed strategic decisions

Working effectively with others:

• Actively listens to new and different perspectives and experiences of those they work with
• Proactively supports team members and trusts their capabilities
• Demonstrates understanding of their skills and how they complement those of others within diverse teams and groups
• Clarifies their role and responsibilities within the team to maximize the impact

Networking:

• Builds trust with contacts through openness and honesty
• Participates effectively in sensitive, complex, and/or high impact relationships and networks
• Builds strong relationships with a broad range of stakeholders
• Spots opportunities to bring together partnerships/working alliances that have not been used before

• Postgraduate or master’s degree in international relations, Social Sciences, project management, and development relevant field
• Minimum 5 years work experience in the development / humanitarian sector/with NGOs, with at least 2 years’ experience in partnership-based programming or community-based programming
• Good skills and experience in all aspects of program cycle management - design and development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Excellent presentation, training, facilitation, and capacity building skills
• Proven experience in field level representation with key stakeholders and co-ordination with other NGOs
• Proven commitment to participatory approaches
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills and the ability to think and plan strategically.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, including a good track record of report writing
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact, and diplomacy
• A high level of written and spoken English.
• Commitment to the values, mission, and principles of NSDO

Note: 

• New way Social & Development Organization believes that its employees, beneficiaries, partners` staffs and community members (Child, Young, Male or Female) should never experience abuse or exploitation of any kind related to the Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA), Gender and GBV, Child Safeguarding, safeguarding (Safe environment), Anti-fraud and corruption policies. We have a responsibility to work in a way that promotes the welfare and best interests of children, women and other vulnerable people and protects them from harm. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to or exploitation/abuse of a child by any of our staff, representatives, or partners.
• Our safer recruitment process in organization includes criminal records checks, a self-declaration of criminal or disciplinary background and the collection of relevant references; all roles are subject to strict probationary periods.
• We expect those representing organization to adhere to our PSEA Code of Conduct and Child Safeguarding policies, both in their private and professional lives.
• This organization is an equal opportunity employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, citizenship, or physical or mental handicap.
• Considering the Official published letter from IEA (Government), we cannot recruit any current or previous governmental employee who was employed by governmental agencies during last two years.

Applicants are required to submit their Cover Letter and CVs (in one file) to afghanistan.hr@nsdo.org.af no later than the closing date mentioned above and please mention the position title as well as the vacancy number in the subject of their emails. For example, the applicant or candidate may write the position title first and the vacancy number subsequently as follows: Planning and Partnership Manager–NSDO-10-2024

Note:

1- Applications with insufficient, incomplete, and inconsistent information will not be considered.

2- We thank all applicants for their interest; however, due to the large number of applications, only those short-listed for the written test and interview will be contacted.