Background

mothers2mothers (m2m) is an internationally recognized NGO that prevents HIV transmission from mothers to babies and aims to eliminate the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The organization employs mothers living with HIV, known as Mentor Mothers, to provide health services and education to pregnant women and new mothers.

Responsibilities

The Government and Partnerships Lead will be responsible for building and maintaining productive relationships with government stakeholders to support program implementation, sustainability, and health systems strengthening. This includes representing the program in technical working groups, facilitating alignment with national priorities, monitoring policy developments, and coordinating government approvals. The role also involves strengthening strategic partnerships with CSOs, NGOs, youth-led organizations, and development partners, leading country-level partner coordination, and ensuring meaningful participation of stakeholders in program activities. Additionally, the position will establish and support effective Country Advisory Committees (CACs) and mechanisms for community participation, and represent the program externally to enhance its visibility and positioning.

Qualifications and Experience

Minimum Qualifications: Master’s Degree in Public Health, International Development, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Governance, International Relations or a related field. Preferred Qualifications: Additional training in stakeholder engagement, public policy, governance or partnership management.

Required Experience: Minimum 8 years’ experience in stakeholder engagement, partnership building, public health or development programmes. Experience working with and evidence of strong relationships with government ministries and public-sector stakeholders. Experience engaging civil society organisations and community structures. Experience supporting donor-funded programmes. Experience facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnerships. Experience supporting capacity strengthening and localisation initiatives. Experience within HIV, SRHR, adolescent health or community health programmes. Experience working in Mozambique or Zambia. Portuguese language proficiency. Preferred: Experience working with community-led organisations and networks. Local language proficiency advantageous.

Working Conditions

Full time role. Limited travel required. Working over weekends / overtime maybe required occasionally.

The Package

Competitive salary and performance-based incentives. Comprehensive benefits (health, retirement, leave, etc.). Opportunities for growth, leadership, and professional development.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with relevant national, provincial and district government ministries, departments and agencies.
• Represent the programme within technical working groups and stakeholder forums.
• Support implementation of government engagement strategies.
• Facilitate alignment of programme activities with national HIV, AGYW, SRHR, community health and youth priorities.
• Represent the project in relevant government technical working groups, coordination forums and strategic consultations.
• Facilitate collaboration between programme teams and government stakeholders.
• Support government participation in programme planning, review and learning processes.
• Monitor policy developments and provide strategic insights to programme leadership.
• Coordinate government approvals, stakeholder consultations, and project entry processes.
• Identify opportunities for the project to contribute to policy, systems strengthening and government priorities
• Identify and facilitate opportunities for project evidence dissemination and learning to inform government policy, guidelines or implementation approaches.
• Develop and maintain productive relationships with CSOs, NGOs, youth-led organisations, development partners and other relevant stakeholders that contribute to programme outcomes.
• Lead country-level partner coordination and collaboration with the HIV Instrument.
• Support implementation of partnership agreements and commitments.
• Promote trust, transparency and shared ownership among project stakeholders.
• Identify and pursue partnership opportunities for collaboration that strengthen programme reach, quality, sustainability and impact.
• Coordinate stakeholder consultations and engagement activities.
• Monitor stakeholder satisfaction and relationship effectiveness.
• Coordinate in-country stakeholder meetings and partnership meetings.
• Prepare and provide regular partnership updates, briefing notes, presentations, and stakeholder reports to Project lead including opportunities and risks.
• Strengthen strategic engagement with AGYW and youth-led organisations and ensure meaningful participation in programme planning, implementation and review.
• Establish and support effective Country Advisory Committees (CACs) in line with project governance structure.
• Coordinate CAC meetings and follow-up actions.
• Establish and strengthen mechanisms for meaningful AGYW, youth and community participation in programme planning, implementation, feedback and learning.
• Facilitate communication between project leadership, communities and stakeholders.
• Support community-led monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
• Ensure community perspectives inform programme implementation and decision making.
• Ensure meaningful participation of AGYW, community organisations, and other priority populations in decision-making.
• Build partnerships that improve access to HIV, SRHR, GBV and psychosocial services for AGYW.
• Support development of sustainability and transition plans.
• Develop and strengthen partnerships that support programme sustainability and institutionalisation beyond the EKN project period.
• Identify opportunities for government and local partners to take greater ownership of successful programme approaches.
• Identify barriers affecting AGYW access to services and facilitate strategic partnerships or stakeholder action to address these barriers.
• Represent the programme at stakeholder meetings, technical working groups, coordination forums and policy dialogues.
• Promote positive visibility and positioning of the programme.
• Build relationships with emerging stakeholders and influencers.
• Identify opportunities that may contribute to programme sustainability and future growth.
• Provide stakeholder intelligence and contextual insights to programme leadership.
• Support country-level contributions to partnership development efforts.
• Support senior leadership in preparation for key government, donor and strategic partner engagements.
• Support development of policy briefs, technical presentations and other products for strategic engagement

• Government Relations
• Partnership Management
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Community Engagement
• Localisation and Capacity Strengthening
• Policy and Systems Engagement
• Facilitation and Coordination
• Risk Management
• Sustainability Planning
• Relationship Building
• Influencing and Negotiation
• Diplomacy and Political Acumen
• Strategic Thinking
• Collaboration
• Problem Solving
• Communication and Facilitation
• Integrity
• Accountability
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Initiative
• Adaptability
• Resilience
• Learning Agility

• Master’s Degree in Public Health, International Development, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Governance, International Relations or a related field.
• Additional training in stakeholder engagement, public policy, governance or partnership management advantageous
• Minimum 8 years’ experience in stakeholder engagement, partnership building, public health or development programmes.
• Experience working with and evidence of strong relationships with government ministries and public-sector stakeholders.
• Experience engaging civil society organisations and community structures.
• Experience supporting donor-funded programmes.
• Experience facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnerships.
• Experience supporting capacity strengthening and localisation initiatives.
• Experience within HIV, SRHR, adolescent health or community health programmes.
• Experience working in Mozambique or Zambia
• Portuguese language proficiency
• Experience working with community-led organisations and networks.
• Local language proficiency advantageous