Partnerships Coordinator

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. The IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster, and with the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain in their homes and communities.

The IRC has a focus on narrowing the gender gap in humanitarian aid and on ensuring that we contribute to gender equality, diversity and inclusion in both our programmes and our operations. The IRC also has a strong commitment to an equitable and inclusive culture in which safeguarding is upheld in our workplace and our programmes. We protect our clients and staff from safeguarding violations through prevention and, where misconduct is alleged, address it without fear or favour.

IRC South Sudan is one of the largest providers of aid in the country, with a workforce of more than 2,000 national, international and incentive staff, delivering emergency relief and post-conflict assistance across health, nutrition, economic recovery, education, child protection, women’s protection and empowerment, and protection and rule of law. South Sudan faces a protracted and volatile crisis: political tensions remain high, localised conflict persists, repeated flooding has devastated livelihoods, and the spillover of the conflict in Sudan has driven large-scale refugee and returnee movements into the country.

Local and national organizations are critical partners in the response, providing essential services in hard-to-reach and conflict-affected areas. IRC South Sudan’s partnerships portfolio includes government institutions, nation IRC South Sudan Partnerships Coordinator

NGOs, civil society organisations and community-based organisations across Central Equatoria, Unity, Ruweng Administrative Area, Upper Nile, Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Jonglei. IRC is committed to deepening existing partnerships and building new ones, and to capacity sharing that contributes to policy and systems change and sustained impact.

IRC South Sudan’s Strategic Action Plan (Strategy100 Phase 2, FY25–FY28, updated for FY26–28) sets the partnership goals this post delivers: 15% of the country programme budget going to partners, and ten strategic partnerships, five of them with women-led or women-focused organisations, by 2028. The plan moves the portfolio toward fewer, deeper strategic partnerships and larger, consolidated partner agreements, with partnerships and localisation reviewed as a standing item in senior management meetings.

Scope and job overview:

The Partnerships Coordinator leads IRC South Sudan’s partnership management with local and national organisations. Working under the supervision of the Senior Grants and Partnerships Coordinator in Juba, the post is accountable for the quality, compliance and consistency of partnerships across the country programme, applying IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) through every step of the partnership lifecycle: identification, due diligence, agreement, monitoring, capacity sharing and close-out.

The post exists so that IRC South Sudan works with partners in ways that are principled, compliant and capacity-building, and so that partnerships are built into project cycle management and business development rather than added afterwards. It leads and develops the partnerships team, works closely with the grants and compliance functions, Programmes, Finance, Supply Chain and Operations, and supports the Senior Grants and Partnerships Coordinator and the Deputy Director, Programmes in advancing the localisation of the South Sudan response.

Key responsibilities

A. Strategy and localization (15%)

• •Builds IRC’s understanding of grassroots and community-led emergency response in conflict-affected areas, including local and national NGOs, community-based organizations and community-led initiatives. Evidenced by a current, maintained map of local responders and engagement priorities.
• •Introduces IRC’s mission, principles and response strategy to local responders and cultivates relationships with organizations that share similar objectives.
• •Establishes and runs, under the oversight of the Senior Grants and Partnerships Coordinator and the Deputy Director, Programmes, an inter-sectoral steering committee for grassroots and local initiatives that sets the parameters of IRC engagement with them.
• •Works with the Senior Grants and Partnerships Coordinator and the Deputy Director, Programmes to embed partnerships in the Strategic Action Plan and sector strategies, and engages local responders in programme development and strategy validation.
• •Leads delivery of the SAP partnership targets: local partner share of the country programme budget (from a 9% baseline to 15%), and the number of strategic partnerships (from 3 to 10, including five women-led or women-focused). Evidenced by regular reporting to senior management, where partnerships and localisation are a standing agenda item.

B. Partnership management and PEERS (30%)

• •Leads the management of all partnerships in the country programme and all PEERS processes and documentation. Evidenced by a complete PEERS record for every active partnership.
• •Coordinates programme, grants, operations and finance inputs across the partnership lifecycle, with the Partnership Working Group, so that management is planned, timely and coherent.
• •Ensures IRC’s approach to sub-award management prioritises positive client outcomes while managing risk, and that sub-award opening, modification and close-out are completed on time with all in-country and headquarters inputs and approvals. Evidenced by sub-award modifications processed within agreed timelines.
• •Ensures partnership processes, partner reports, project trackers and schedules are documented, working with Grants. Ensures timely and accurate partnership reporting to country, regional and headquarters teams, escalating challenges early.
• •Facilitates the development of principled, strategic partnerships that share power, resources and learning, and promotes the application of PEERS modalities suited to local and national organisations.
• •Moves the portfolio toward fewer, deeper strategic partnerships, including consolidating smaller partner agreements where this reduces delivery and access risk, and works with Programmes so that new proposals and renewals carry a clear local partnership and sub-granting approach.

C. Partner support and capacity sharing (15%)

• •Facilitates the partner project support plan so that it addresses the issues found in due diligence, and coordinates the departments responsible for delivering it. Evidenced by movement in partner assessment scores over the award period.
• •Establishes partners’ capacity strengthening priorities, plans where IRC can support them, and coordinates organisational development support, including resourcing.
• •Works with technical coordinators to integrate capacity sharing into programmes, and promotes continual learning between IRC staff and partners, including what IRC can learn from pa