Partnerships Officer (Resource Mobilization)

Organizational Context

The Regional Office for Africa (RAF) plays a pivotal role in coordinating FAO's efforts to address food security, agriculture, and rural development priorities throughout the region. It adopts a multidisciplinary strategy for planning and executing key initiatives, collaborating closely with headquarters divisions, departments, and offices to ensure alignment with the organization's strategic agenda. RAF also liaises with region-wide bodies, including Regional Economic Integration Organizations (REIOs), to promote policy dialogue and facilitate partnerships aimed at enhancing capacity development and resource mobilization.

This position is based in the Regional Office for Africa located in Accra, Ghana, and the Partnerships Officer reports directly to the Assistant Director-General/Regional Representative of RAF.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the execution of FAO’s strategies for partnering with Civil Society Organizations and engaging the private sector within the region or nationally.
• Identify and nurture strategic links between non-state actors and FAO’s objectives and initiatives.
• Offer guidance and support to decentralized office teams on adhering to corporate policies concerning engagement with non-state actors.
• Implement annual plans that prioritize work with non-state actors aligned with FAO’s strategic goals.
• Contribute to global advocacy efforts and strategic initiatives regarding partnerships.
• Establish and maintain partnerships in areas related to food security, nutrition advocacy, innovation, and programme delivery, ensuring effective monitoring at regional and national levels.
• Support country-level activities aligned with Country Programming Frameworks to translate FAO knowledge into impactful results, encouraging active partner inclusion.
• Develop comprehensive documentation such as summaries and briefs to foster partner engagement with FAO projects.
• Advise senior management on donor policy trends and major donor-related issues, providing recommendations to enhance partnerships.
• Maintain consistency and quality in partnership-related materials and communications tailored to country-specific contexts.
• Promote collaborative processes including joint projects, meetings, and information exchange among partners.
• Participate in capacity-building activities through training sessions, seminars, and development of relevant tools and materials.
• Support advocacy and fundraising strategies at global and country levels, identifying and pursuing new funding sources.
• Coordinate regional partnership efforts, ensuring alignment with headquarters units such as Resource Mobilization and Communications.
• Monitor partnership agreements and provide detailed reports to senior management.
• Analyze and recommend improvements to internal policies for engaging non-state actors and private sector partners.
• Facilitate staff capacity development to strengthen partnership capabilities across regional and country offices.

Qualifications and Competencies

• Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in fields such as international relations, public relations, political science, international development cooperation, or development economics.
• At least seven years of relevant experience in international development cooperation, donor-funded programs, fundraising, negotiations, or public relations/advocacy.
• Proficient in English (level C) with intermediate proficiency (level B) in another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish).
• Demonstrated success in building and managing partnerships, fundraising, and producing briefing materials about donor policies and international cooperation contexts.
• Experience working in diverse geographic locations, particularly field-based roles, is preferred.
• Strong analytical and conceptual abilities, with sensitivity to gender and cross-cultural issues.
• Experience engaging Indigenous Peoples and working on related thematic areas such as food systems, women's and youth issues, seeds, geospatial data, and program design is advantageous.

Additional Information

• This is a fixed-term professional staff position (Grade P-4) based in Accra, Ghana, with an initial two-year appointment and the possibility of extension.
• The position entails on-site full-time work.
• FAO promotes workforce diversity and encourages applications from qualified women, nationals of underrepresented member states, and persons with disabilities.
• All selected candidates will undergo thorough reference and background checks, and must adhere to the highest professional ethics and FAO values, including zero tolerance for misconduct.
• FAO integrates environmental sustainability within its strategic priorities and operations as part of its global mandate to promote efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems.