National Partnerships Officer

The National Partnerships Officer will serve as the Country Office focal point for partnerships with international financial institutions (IFIs), supporting coherent engagement with IFIs and national government entities. The role involves partnership management support throughout the partnership cycle, including contracting, contribution management, reporting, compliance, and partner communication.

Responsibilities

• Support the design and continuous update of the Country Office partnerships strategy and lead implementation of the work plan for IFI partnerships, identifying opportunities aligned with national priorities and WFP strategic objectives and strengthening WFP’s positioning with IFIs and relevant government entities.
• Proactively support the management of the IFI partnerships portfolio, including partner and government stakeholder mapping, pipeline and portfolio analysis, engagement planning, and tracking of opportunities, agreements, commitments, conditions and deliverables.
• Facilitate strategic dialogue with IFIs, relevant government counterparts and broader partners through the preparation of quality briefing materials, talking points and other partner communications, ensuring alignment between WFP’s technical, operational and partnership engagement.
• Gather, maintain and share intelligence on IFI and partner strategies, financing priorities, government programmes and the partnership pipeline, using key corporate information systems (e.g. WINGS, Salesforce, WFPGo).
• Work closely with Programme colleagues, who lead technical engagement with ministries and other government entities, to develop partnership strategies and manage IFI and relevant partnerships.
• Provide clear guidance and execution support on partnership modalities, contracting, contribution management, compliance, reporting and visibility requirements, in line with corporate norms, partner frameworks and legal agreements.
• Use socio-political, institutional and financing insights to support effective WFP positioning and facilitate growth of the IFI portfolio, including opportunities to expand existing partnerships and develop new engagements with IFIs, government and relevant counterparts.
• In coordination with Programme and other functional units, lead or coordinate the preparation, review and quality assurance of concept notes, proposals, agreements, amendments, reports and other materials required to formalize and manage IFI-financed partnerships.
• Maintain a consolidated system for tracking contractual commitments, reporting schedules, visibility requirements, actions, decisions, risks and relationship milestones across the IFI portfolio; regularly follow up with responsible units and provide management with timely portfolio updates and early warning of potential delays or compliance issues.
• Take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives in all areas of work and for promoting inclusive approaches within supported partnerships, in line with WFP and partner requirements.
• Contribute to preparedness actions related to the partnerships portfolio, provide technical recommendations and guidance, monitor defined partnership and compliance risks, and recommend measures to manage them effectively.
• Perform other duties as required.

Requirements

• Advanced University degree in Political Science, International Development, Development Economics, International Relations, Law, Marketing, Communications, or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.
• Minimum three years of relevant post graduate professional work experience in partnership roles is required.
• Prior experience working in or with multilateral development banks, climate funds or other multilateral financing mechanisms is a plus.
• Fluency (level C) in English and French.

Skills

• Partnership Management
• Contracting
• Contribution Management
• Reporting
• Compliance Monitoring
• Partner Communication
• Multilateral Bank Experience
• Climate Funds Experience
• Multilateral Funding Mechanisms
• Fluency in English
• Fluency in French

Languages

English, French