Partnerships and Private Sector Engagement Manager

About the Organization

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a global humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. NRC is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.

Join us in assisting millions of people in areas where others cannot, tackling some of the world's most dangerous and difficult crises. Bring your skills and dedication to an organisation recognised for providing high quality aid and for defending the rights of refugees and internally displaced people.

At NRC, we give responsibility to employees at all levels and foster professional growth and innovative teams. You can expect a supportive culture and an open dialogue with management. We are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Together, we save lives and rebuild futures.

Job Summary

NRC Ethiopia is looking for an experienced Partnerships and Private Sector Engagement Manager to lead and strengthen how we build, manage, and grow meaningful partnerships.

In this role, you will play a key part in developing and implementing NRC Ethiopia's Partnership Strategy and related SOPs, ensuring that our partnership approach is aligned with NRC's vision, strategic priorities, policies, and commitment to localisation. You will help create a consistent and coordinated approach to partnerships across the Country Office and, where needed, Area Offices. You will build and maintain strong relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, including civil society organisations, private sector actors, academic institutions, and public authorities. You will also oversee the full lifecycle of formal partnerships – from due diligence and partner selection to capacity assessments, agreement management, compliance monitoring, and audits. Working closely with Specialists, Area Programme Managers, Project Managers, and Finance teams, you will ensure that partnerships are well managed, compliant, and focused on delivering quality programmes.

A key part of your role will be to support and strengthen the capacity of NRC's partners. You will ensure that partners understand relevant donor requirements, compliance regulations, reporting deadlines, and NRC procedures, while providing practical support to help them meet these requirements. Beyond partnership management, you will also help strengthen the culture of meaningful and equitable partnerships within NRC Ethiopia. You will advise colleagues and leadership on strategic partnership decisions, promote knowledge and capacity sharing, and contribute to advancing localisation across our programmes.

This is an important role for someone who believes that strong partnerships are more than agreements on paper. They are relationships built on trust, shared responsibility, mutual learning, and a common commitment to achieving better outcomes for the people we serve.

If you are an Ethiopian National, and an experienced partnership professional who enjoys connecting people, organisations, and ideas – and who can turn partnerships into practical results – we would like to hear from you.

Please download a more detailed JOB DESCRIPTION for more specific duties and responsibilities.

Required Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in working in a humanitarian/recovery/human rights or development context.
• University degree combined with relevant professional background.
• Knowledge of humanitarian principles.
• Experience in managing and implementing programs in humanitarian contexts.
• Fluency in English and Amharic, both written and verbal.
• Solid understanding of the Ethiopian civil society and private sector context.
• Documented/proven results related to the position's responsibilities, particularly in private sector engagement and partnership relations, management and/or coordination.
• Previous experience working in complex and volatile contexts is an asset.
• Programme management background is an asset. Experience in NRC thematic areas (e.g. ICLA, Shelter, LFS, Protection, Education etc.) is a strong asset.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Ability to work independently and proactively.
• Ability to prioritise work given multiple competing deadlines.
• Excellent networking, coordination, training and facilitation skills.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, proactive, self-motivated and a self-starter.
• Excellent attention to detail, organisational skills and discretion with confidential information.

What We Offer

• Duty station: Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia
• Contract: 12 months (Fixed-term contract renewal based on performance, funds availability and need for the position)
• Travel: Up to 40%.
• Salary/benefits: grade 9 on NRC's Resident/National salary scale, with accompanying terms and conditions.
• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.
• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC.

How to Apply

Important information about the application process:

• For Internal candidates: To apply as an internal candidate, log in with your official email or click on Opportunity Market Place.
• When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.
• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.
• We receive many applications for each vacant position and so only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

If you have any questions about this role, please email ho.recruitment@nrc.no with the job title as the subject line.

Safeguarding is central to NRC's work. We expect all employees to:

• treat everyone with respect and dignity
• contribute to building a safe environment for all
• never engage in any form of exploitation, harassment and specifically sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH)
• always report. NRC has a zero-tolerance approach to inaction against exploitation, abuse and SEAH.