SSHRC Partnership Grant
Terms of Reference for Partnership Coordinator for the partnership:
“Civil Society and the Global Refugee Regime”

1 June 2018 to 31 May 2019
35 hours per week
(Renewable upon the agreement of the incumbent and the Project Director)

The SSHRC-funded Partnership, Civil Society and the Global Refugee Regime, is seeking a Full-Time
Partnership Coordinator whose work and responsibilities will be central to the operations, success, and
coordination of this Partnership. The Partnership involves members of the research and NGO
communities in Canada, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Tanzania and elsewhere. The objectives of the
Partnership are to understand and enhance the role of civil society in the functioning of the global
refugee regime through collaborative research, capacity-building, and knowledge mobilization activities,
as outlined in the attached Partnership Summary.

The position is a 1-year contract position (with the possibility to renew) located at Carleton University, in
Ottawa, Canada, reporting to the Project Director of the Civil Society and the Global Refugee Regime
partnership. The salary will be commensurate with experience and is anticipated to be in the range of
$57,000 to $59,000, plus benefits, for 35 hours of work per week.

Duties and Responsibilities
The incumbent will be employed full-time for 35 per week as the Partnership Coordinator. The duties of
this position include:

Planning the project:

  • In collaboration with the Project Director and the Steering Committee, assist the project in
    defining and implementing project activities in accordance with the project’s overall goal and
    objectives, as outlined in the attached Partnership Summary
  • Assist the Project Director and Steering Committee in determining the measures against which
    the project will be evaluated
  • Assist Project Director and Working Groups in developing a detailed work plan that identifies the
    sequences of activities and resources needed to successfully complete the project
  • Develop reporting forms and processes to document project activities and to track project
    progress
  • Monitor the overall progress of the project and make adjustments to the project work plan as
    necessary to maintain pathways toward project objectives
  • Review the project work plan with the Project Director and the Steering Committee and revise
    the work plan as required over the course of the project

 

Financial oversight and administration:

  • Work with the Project Director to process project-related financial transactions
  • Facilitate budget planning and approvals, and financial reporting
  • Provide overall financial oversight to the project, including authorization of funds releases
    resulting from recipients meeting funding requirements, ensuring required financial and
    milestone reporting, and communicating and working with officials of SSHRC, Carleton and
    grant recipients to ensure compliance with funding requirements.

 

Implementing and managing the project:

  • Serve as a member of the senior management team of the Secretariat and attend Steering
    Committee meetings in an ex-officio capacity
  • Attend Working Group meetings on request from Project Director or Working Group leads
  • Work with the Working Group leads to track implementation of individual work plans and to
    ensure that all project information is appropriately documented and secured
  • Manage the Project Secretariat, including the work of the Visiting Fellow, who will be selected
    by academic partners in Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon and Tanzania on a rotating basis and who will
    spend 6-months based at Carleton from June to December each year
  • Participate in the hiring, mentorship, and supervision of student research assistants
  • Assist the Project Director in the supervision of all technical and administrative staff and
    students working on the grant
  • Ensure that all project personnel receive an appropriate orientation to Carleton University and
    the project
  • Work with the Project Director and the Knowledge Mobilization Working Group to implement
    the project’s Knowledge Mobilization strategy, including maintenance of communication and
    social media tools, with the support of student research assistants
  • Work with the Project Director and Training Working Group to implement the project’s Training
    and Capacity-Building strategy
  • Supervise the coordination of logistics for project events at Carleton University, including the
    Summer Institute, an annual training program to be held annually in the May-June period
  • Establish a communication protocol and schedule to update Project Director and the Steering
    Committee, as needed, on the progress of the project
  • Work with the Project Director to develop project-related meeting agendas and schedule
    meetings, including Secretariat and Steering Committee meetings
  • Initiate the development and utilization of internal project management, communication, and
    sharing tools and processes to support the project and its partners and participants
  • Prepare reports on project progress for the Project Director, the Steering Committee, and the
    project partners
  • Work with the Project Director to ensure that the project deliverables are ready on time, within
    budget, and meet quality standards

 

Evaluating the project:

  • With the Project Director and the Steering Committee, oversee the collection and reporting of
    partnership data
  • Work with the Project Director and the Steering Committee to evaluate the outcomes of the
    project (as established during the planning phase)

 

Other duties:

  • In collaboration with the Project Director, provide overall project management leadership
  • In collaboration with the Project Director, provide project management support and guidance
    for Working Group Leads
  • Attend at least one in-person meeting of the partnership per year, and possibly other in-person
    meetings as mutually determined with the Project Director

Qualifications
The following skills, experience, and qualifications are required:

  • Demonstrated experience with the themes and objectives of the project;
  • Completion of a graduate university degree;
  • A minimum of 2-4 years of experience with:
    • Administration of large projects;
    • Financial reporting;
    • Relationship management with academic and community partners; and
    • Research accounting systems;
  • Highly organized, excellent communication skills, and proven team player;
  • Ability to multi-task and prioritize, with strong administrative/project management skills;
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
  • Proficient in the use of computers, social media platforms, and associated software;
  • Familiarity with appropriate protocols with dealing with international partners;
  • Ability to work well in a dynamic environment with minimal supervision;
  • Flexibility in identifying and solving problems and tackling new tasks as necessary.

Preference will be given the candidates who can also demonstrate the following:

  • Proficiency in English and French;
  • Demonstrated experience in partnership building, including the ability to work with a diversity
    of actors with differing needs and priorities, including academics, operational nongovernmental
    organizations and affected communities themselves;
  • Experience with developing and implementing knowledge mobilization strategies, including the
    dissemination of information and materials to diverse stakeholders;
  • Experience in monitoring, evaluation and reporting in the context of multi-year projects;
  • Experience working effectively in multicultural environments;
  • Demonstrated experience with logistical coordination and remote management.

Application process
Candidates should submit the following to the Project Director, Dr. James Milner, via e-mail
(James.Milner@carleton.ca) by 10am Ottawa time on Wednesday, 25 April 2018:

  • Maximum 2-page cover letter outlining the candidate’s motivation in applying for the position
    and highlighting how their experience meets the above Qualifications, speaks to the position’s
    Duties and Responsibilities, and complements the project’s goals and objectives;
  • CV

 

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted by 5pm on Friday, 27 April 2018 and will be invited to an
interview, either in person at Carleton University or via Skype, the week of 7 May 2018.

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide the names and contact details of two references prior to
the interview.

This project is strongly committed to fostering diversity within its community as a source of excellence,
enrichment and strength. We welcome applications from those who would contribute to our diversity
including, but not limited to, women; visible minorities; First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples; persons
with disabilities; and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity and expressions. All qualified
candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Partnership Summary
“Civil Society and the Global Refugee Regime”

Responding to the needs of refugees is a truly global challenge. While Canadians have
demonstrated their commitment to refugees through their extraordinary engagement with the
resettlement of Syrian refugees, 86% of the world’s refugees remain in the global South. Resettlement
opportunities only exist for 1% of these refugees. How can civil society, in Canada and in affected
countries, contribute to more predictable responses to the needs of refugees in the global South? What
new knowledge can best help Canada contribute to solutions?

The importance of these questions was highlighted during a SSHRC-funded workshop at
Carleton University in September 2015. Academics from the global North and South and representatives
from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Government of Canada and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agreed that enhanced civil society engagement in responding to
the needs of refugees in the global South would improve outcomes for refugees, hosting states and
donor and resettlement countries, like Canada. In response, four Canadian academics worked with two
of Canada’s leading humanitarian NGOs – CARE and Oxfam – through 2016 to develop a partnership that
will co-create new knowledge, build capacity in Canada and in affected countries, provide quality
training for students, emerging scholars and other highly qualified personnel, and mobilize new
knowledge to enhance theory, policy and practice.

Collectively, we identified a specific area of activity where our partnership will be able to affect
change within 7 years, namely the process of implementing global refugee policy in local contexts. While
a range of global policies exist to respond to the needs of refugees, we do not yet understand if, why
and how these policies are implemented in local contexts. As argued by the United Nations Secretary-
General in 2016, “the required conventions, frameworks and tools [to help refugees] are in place [but] all need to be fully implemented.” Likewise, the Government of Canada has highlighted the important
role academics, NGOs, local civil society and refugees can all play in developing innovative approaches
to ensure that local responses to refugees adhere to global standards.

In response, we have established a partnership between NGOs and academics in the global
North and South. We will build from the diverse strengths and perspectives of partners to co-create a
comparative study of efforts to implement global refugee policy in diverse local contexts, identify the
range of factors that condition implementation, and determine where and how civil society actors can
contribute to improved outcomes for refugees. Specifically, we will engage with the “everyday politics”
of the global refugee regime in diverse national and local contexts where refugee policy and practice
must be negotiated with a range of actors. In developing this engagement, we are committed to working
with those who have a ground-level perspective, especially NGOs and refugees themselves.

We will begin with the cases of Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon and Tanzania, benefiting from the active
engagement of leading researchers in each country. Guided by the literature on policy implementation
and employing complementary methodologies, we will train 96 graduate students and directly fund 48
graduate students to conduct fieldwork in affected countries, working in close collaboration with local
academics and policy actors. To build research and practitioner capacity, we will host annual Summer
Institutes in Canada and in affected countries (benefiting more than 300 NGO workers), train refugees
and NGO workers in citizen journalism, support fellowships at Carleton University for 6 visiting fellows
from the global South, and collaboratively design and implement professional development programs
for NGOs. We will mobilize our co-created knowledge through an Open Access, peer-reviewed,
publication series, a digital platform and sustained dialogue with states and the UN system. Through
these activities, we will enhance the role of civil society in the global challenge of protection and
solutions for refugees.