Background

Sudan is experiencing one of the world’s most complex and protracted crises, with over 10 million displaced and more than 25 million in urgent need of assistance. In response to the deteriorating security environment, UNDP Sudan has relocated the majority of its operational and programme teams to Port Sudan, where the Country Office continues to lead recovery, resilience, and peacebuilding interventions.

At the same time, most development partners, including bilateral donors and International Financial Institutions (IFIs), no longer maintain an in-country presence and now manage their Sudan portfolios from regional hubs—notably Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Cairo. To sustain strategic engagement with these actors, UNDP Sudan has established a small partnership outpost in Nairobi, embedded within the Resilience Hub for Africa.

Position Purpose

The Nairobi-based unit provides critical support to the Sudan Country Office in positioning UNDP as a partner of choice, coordinating outreach to donors and IFIs, reviewing and editing proposals and reports, and managing partner intelligence. The Partnerships Specialist will lead this effort and serve as the principal external engagement focal point for UNDP Sudan outside of Sudan.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.) Lead Strategic Positioning and Advocacy

• Serve as the external engagement coordinator for UNDP Sudan in Nairobi and the wider region.
• Prepare partner-specific pitch materials, talking points, and strategic briefs.
• Help reframe the Sudan narrative to highlight development opportunities amidst crisis, complementing the humanitarian response.

2.) Proposal Review and Quality Assurance

• Provide in-depth review and editing support for donor proposals, concept notes, and reports to ensure alignment with partner priorities and UNDP quality standards.
• Support programme teams in the development of theories of change, log-frames, results frameworks, and budgets.
• Coordinate internal review processes for proposal submissions.

3.) Donor Engagement and Intelligence

• Maintain an updated donor intelligence and engagement calendar covering Nairobi, Addis, Cairo, and relevant donor capitals.
• Monitor funding trends, donor strategies, and relevant trust funds.
• Serve as the primary relationship manager with selected bilateral partners and IFIs.
• Organize and support donor missions, technical meetings, and roundtables involving UNDP Sudan leadership.
• Coordinate development and dissemination of donor-focused communications and visibility materials.
   

4.) Strategic Oversight of Alternative Resource Mobilization and Coordination with UNDP Regional Structures 

• Lead the development and coordination of alternative resource mobilization approaches, including government cost-sharing, concessional loans, South-South and triangular cooperation, engagement with foundations, diaspora contributions, private sector partnerships, and innovative financing instruments. 
• Work closely with relevant UNDP units such as the Sustainable Finance Hub, Private Sector Centre, and BERA to ensure strategic alignment of Sudan CO’s diversified financing efforts.
• Liaise with RBAS, RBA, the Resilience Hub for Africa, and UNDP’s global partnership and finance platforms.
• Identify and support the pursuit of sub-regional, multi-country, or cross-border funding opportunities.
• Track engagement with IFIs and emerging donors to identify new entry points and unlock financing.
   

5.) Facilitate Internal Coordination and Knowledge Sharing
 

• Provide regular updates to the Sudan CO on donor engagement progress, risks, and opportunities.
• Contribute to internal knowledge products, partnership lessons, and donor trends.
• Provide direct supervision and mentoring support to Partnership Analyst, based in the same Nairobi unit. Guide his/her gradual transition toward assuming a broader partnership portfolio, progressively enabling the Analyst to independently manage selected partner relationships and donor engagement activities.
• Build capacity among programme staff on donor requirements and proposal quality.
   

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.
 

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The Partnerships Specialist will supervise the Programme Analyst in Nairobi.

Competencies

• Core Competencies:

Achieve Results: LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact

Think Innovatively: LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems

Learn Continuously: LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands

Act with Determination: LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results

Engage and Partner: LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration

Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

People Management

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site. 

• Cross-Functional & Technical competencies: 

Business Direction and Strategy-System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business Management-Portfolio Management: Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment

Communication: Communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience. Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels 

Business Management & Partnership Management: Build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.

Partnership Management & Emerging Partnerships: Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships.

Partnership Management & IFI Partnerships: Knowledge and understanding of IFIs (strategies, approaches, processes and systems). 

Partnership Management & Resource Mobilisation: Ability to identify funding sources, match funding needs (programmes/projects/initiatives) with funding opportunities, and establish a plan to meet funding requirements 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in International Development, Economics, Political or Social Sciences, or related field is required, OR
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years (with master`s degree) and 9 years (with bachelor`s degree) of extensive experience in monitoring & evaluation, resource mobilization and partnerships building, especially in crisis settings is required.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems and advanced programmes for data analysis is required.
• Experience in key UNDP programmatic areas of intervention in post-crisis and recovery settings is desired.
• Experience in design, monitoring, and evaluation of resource mobilization strategies is desired.
• Demonstrated project and programme design and management experience is an asset.
• Previous experience in resource mobilization and partnerships building with a multilateral or international organization is desired.
• Experience with conflict/post-conflict settings is desired.
• Experience in reports` writing and presentation is desired.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination. 

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles. 

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

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