ECHO Partnership Assistant (traineeship)

15 March 2024

Duration: 6 months with the possibility of renewal up to one year (CIP « Convention d’Immersion Professionnelle »)
Preferred starting date: As soon as possible
Traineeship title: ECHO Partnership Assistant
Reporting to: ECHO Manager
Responsible for: Supporting the Partnership Team on ECHO funds
Status: CIP (Trainee). Full-time (5 days/week, 37.5 hrs.)
Based in: Brussels, Plan International EU Office
Net Salary: 1150 EUR per month
Benefits: 10 PLAN holidays for 6 months CIP period, work-related public transport costs reimbursed, Flexible working environment; entitled to up to three weeks maximum of working from abroad/teleworking

Plan International is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We strongly encourage women, minorities, individuals with disabilities or members of other underrepresented groups to apply. In addition, if you do not meet all the requirements and are very interested in the position, you can still apply by letting us know what you would bring to the work of Plan International.

About Plan International

Plan International (PI) is a rights-based development and humanitarian organisation working for equality for girls and better lives for all children. We are independent of government and have no political or religious affiliation. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing all children and especially girls. We are active in over 80 countries across the world.

The purpose and ambition of Plan International EU Office (EUO) is to advance children’s rights and equality for girls in particular in the EU’s external action. In line with Plan International’s new Global Strategy, All Girls Standing Strong Creating Global Change, and the EUO’s 5-year strategy, we will contribute to ensuring that 200 million girls learn, lead, decide and thrive. We work with the EU in its three roles as a donor, policy-maker and promoter of human rights.

This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic individual to join our EU Partnership Team to support in implementing Plan Europe’s funding strategy, in relation to ECHO (European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations), and ensuring EU humanitarian aid pay strong attention to children and girls in particular.

Role specification

This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to Plan International mission while gaining insight into the inner workings of the Partnerships and Influencing Department of the European Liaison Office.

The ECHO Partnership Team Assistant plays a pivotal role in supporting our mission to champion EU humanitarian aid prioritizing children and girls in the humanitarian response, with a particular attention to forgotten/neglected crisis.

As an integral part of the EU Liaison Office the ECHO Partnership Assistant will be collaborating closely with the Partnership team and the Influencing/Advocacy team.

In this dynamic position the Assistant will be instrumental in contributing to the development of global strategies aimed at insitutional resource mobilization, seeking to expand our horizons through both existing and prospective donor relationships.

The Assistant position is pivotal in enhancing Plan International’s approach to resource mobilization and grant management, driving the optimization of procedures, processes, and tools to achieve greater impact, thereby empowering Plan International in securing increased quality funding.

Key responsibilities

Identify relevant EU Funding opportunities (ECHO), review and analyse results and share relevant information with Plan International entities:

Monitor the ECHO funding opportunities.
Disseminate information about current and upcoming funding opportunities to relevant Plan National and Country Offices.
Liaise with all relevant offices within Plan involved in the ECHO GAM (Global Account Management) coordination : Regional Hubs, Global Hub, EU National Offices, Country Offices.
Assist in the follow-up of information requested to/from Plan International’s Country and National Offices regarding EC funding issues.
Support the ECHO Partnership Manager and the Partnership Officer in the consolidation and monitoring of the grants database, rejection database, ECHO HIPs database, and other internal monitoring tools and peer learning platforms.
Review and analyse Plan International’s performance regarding EU funding; extract best practices and lessons learned on the base of a qualitative analysis of specific projects and programmes.
Maintain an up-to-date contact database of relevant focal points and staff within Plan International and the ECHO departments.

Support the development of internal processes and tools at grants acquisition and implementation stages:

Fostering capacity building within the organization by developing and delivering internal training programs, along with offering ad hoc help-desk support.
Support the elaboration of ideas and instruments beneficial for improving internal coordination, information-sharing and quality control of project proposals submitted to ECHO.
Support the drafting of toolkits on ECHO compliance for Plan International’s Country Offices and European National Offices.
Support the drafting of briefing notes on ECHO updated policies for Plan International’s Country Offices and European National Offices.

Support in the preparation of internal meetings, events and trainings around EC grants:

Support the organisation of internal meetings with representatives from Plan International’s National, Country and Regional offices (such as technical committees and Annual Grants Management Meeting).
Support the Partnership team in the preparation of external events (EHF, Aidex, etc.) including the logistics.
Support Plan Internatioanal in liaising with relevant stakeholders at Brussels level.
Support Plan Internatioanal in drafting programmatic briefing notes and contributing to advocacy messages.

Support Plan International EU Office with other tasks as needed:

Support the office with administration (e.g., minutes, logistics of meetings).
Participate to external meetings or events if requested (such as those organized by VOICE) or bilateral meetings with ECHO HQ.

Skills and abilities

Essential

Relevant experience in human rights, political science, international development or any other specific field relevant to PI’s work.
A good understanding of the functioning of the European Union, development policy, especially on humanitarian work, particularly relating to child rights and gender equality.
Excellent verbal and written English communication skills.
Team spirit and willingness to work in a multicultural team.
Able to communicate effectively and to collaborate with colleagues in all the regions where Plan International works.
Very good organisational skills, with the ability to work to a high standard, manage stress while prioritising multiple tasks and meeting deadlines.
Fully computer-literate: skilled and confident user of Office applications, especially MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.
Interest in external relations, partnerships and resource mobilization, programme design and management or related fields.
Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to Plan International’s core values and humanitarian principles.

Desirable

Very good command of English.
Other languages such as French and/or Spanish are an asset.
Previous experience in a related field (EU institutions, NGOs in Brussels and/or the Global South, etc).
Previous experience in the organization of events/meetings.
Spirit of curiousity and self-initiative.
Strong affinity for working with figures and statistics.

How to apply

If you meet the skills requirements above and are interested in applying for this post, please send your CV (no Europass) and cover letter (no longer than 2 pages) in English to

EUORecruitment@plan-international.org with “Application: ECHO Partnership Assistant” in the subject.

Deadline for applications is the 30^th of March 2024 at 23:59, Local Time in Brussels, Belgium.

Applications received after the deadline will not be reviewed. Due to high volumes of applications received, should you not have received feedback on your application within two weeks of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful.

Visa/passport requirements: the candidate must currently hold the independent right to live and work in Belgium and be prepared to ensure that right remains throughout the scope of the contract. Please specify in your application how you hold this right.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy. Plan International is fully committed to promoting the realisation of children’s rights including their right to protection from violence and abuse. That means we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with. Plan International believes that it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. We must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

Thank you for your interest in joining the team of Plan International and for your time in reviewing this vacancy.