Partnerships Officer (Resource Mobilization)

The Partnerships Officer (Resource Mobilization) supports FAO's mandate by strengthening partnerships with non-state actors, particularly private sector entities, to advance food security and sustainable development in the Africa region. The role involves policy support, partnership monitoring, advocacy, and resource mobilization aligned with FAO's strategic objectives.

Responsibilities

• Oversee implementation of FAO Strategy for Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations and Private Sector Engagement at regional or national level.
• Identify, promote and develop strategic linkages and synergies between non-state actors and FAO's strategic objectives and regional initiatives.
• Provide guidance and support to staff in Decentralized Offices on corporate requirements related to partnerships with non-state actors.
• Execute annual work plan aligned with FAO's Strategic Objectives and programmes.
• Contribute to FAO/Decentralized Offices global advocacy objectives and strategies on partnerships.
• Establish and maintain partnerships in food security, nutrition, advocacy, innovation and programme implementation; monitor partnership activities at regional and national levels.
• Support country-level actions guided by FAO's Country Programming Frameworks and regional priority frameworks to transform knowledge products into results and impacts.
• Generate programme/project summaries and documentation to inform partners and create interest in FAO programmes/projects.
• Prepare briefs and documents explaining donor policies/trends and advise senior management on donor issues with recommendations to improve partnerships.
• Ensure quality, consistency and appropriateness of country-specific partnership materials and messages shared with partners.
• Develop, review and foster collaborative working processes with partners including meetings, joint projects, and information sharing.
• Collaborate in capacity development activities including training workshops, seminars, meetings, and development of related materials and online tools.
• Foster effective advocacy strategy and activities supporting global and country level fundraising and promote donor contributions by identifying and following up new funding sources.
• Produce regular briefs explaining donor policies/trends and alert senior management on major donor issues with recommendations to improve partnerships.
• Facilitate coordination meetings between resource mobilization/partnership officers and ensure coordination with HQ relevant divisions.
• Monitor existing partnership agreements and provide comprehensive reports to senior management.
• Recommend and explore new strategic partnerships and resource mobilization opportunities to nurture existing partnerships.
• Conduct analysis of internal policies and processes on engagement with non-state actors and propose improvements.
• Review quality and appropriateness of partnership materials and activities shared with partners.
• Advise on partner participation in development and implementation of FAO's Country Programming Frameworks.
• Develop tools for capacity building among staff to strengthen partnering capacity at regional and country levels.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in international relations, public relations, political science, international cooperation for development, development economics or a related field.
• Seven years of relevant experience in international cooperation for development, donor aid programmes, government, fundraising, negotiations and/or public relations/advocacy or related areas.
• Working knowledge of English (proficiency – level C) and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another official FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable.
• Experience in partnership building, fundraising, negotiations, public relations/advocacy preferably in food, social and economic development.
• Experience in generating programme/project summaries and other documentation to inform partners and create interest to international programmes/projects.
• Experience producing briefs and documents explaining donor policies/trends and advising senior management on major donor issues with recommendations to improve international Partnerships at local/regional levels.
• Intermediate knowledge (level B) of French is considered an asset.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a team, contributing positively to team operations and working relationships.
• Excellent analytical and conceptual skills, as well as gender sensitive and cross-cultural competency.
• Experience with Indigenous Peoples' food systems, Indigenous Women, Indigenous Youth, seeds, geospatial work, project implementation, programme design and policy work is an additional asset.

Skills

• International Cooperation
• Donor Aid Programmes
• Fundraising
• Negotiation
• Public Relations
• Advocacy
• Partnership Building
• Programme Documentation
• Donor Policy Analysis
• Resource Mobilization
• Policy Support
• Partnership Monitoring
• Project Implementation
• Programme Design
• Geospatial Work
• Gender Sensitive Analysis
• Cultural Competence
• Indigenous Peoples Food Systems
• Indigenous Women Engagement
• Indigenous Youth Engagement

Languages

English, French