Partnership & Institutional Capacity Strengthening Coordinator at Cuso International April 2025

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Reports to: Project Manager

Position type: Fixed-term, Full time

Project: Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership in Tanzania (RWVL)

Funding Partner: Global Affairs Canada (GAC)

Language requirements: Fluent in English and Swahili

Eligibility: Must be legally able to work in Tanzania

ABOUT CUSO INTERNATIONAL

Cuso International is an international cooperation and development organization that works to create economic and social opportunities for marginalized groups. Together with our partners, we are focused on efforts to advance gender equality and social inclusion, improve economic resilience, and deliver progress on climate action. We believe that by sharing skills, we can build better futures.

Cuso International presently supports programs implemented in Africa, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Find out more at www.cusointernational.org

CONTEXT

The Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) Program was initiated in 2017 as a key component of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP). It aims to support local women’s rights organizations (WROs), vulnerable population groups, and feminist networks working toward gender equality and the rights of women and girls. The Renewed WVL Program continues to address the global funding gap for women’s organizations, particularly those operating in crisis-affected regions and facing intersecting forms of discrimination. In Tanzania, the project seeks to support Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs), Young Feminist Organizations (YFOs) and vulnerable group organizations to promote the enjoyment of human rights by women and girls in all their diversity and the advancement of gender equality in Tanzania. The implementation model includes collaboration with local and regional partners, with financial and technical support from Global Affairs Canada (GAC). It emphasizes feminist grant-making, capacity-building, and policy advocacy to enhance gender equality and human rights in Tanzania.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Partnership and Institutional Capacity Strengthening Coordinator will play a key role in strengthening partnerships and building the institutional capacity of Strategic Implementing Partners (SIPs), local women’s rights organizations (WROs), youth feminist organizations (YFOs), and vulnerable population groups. The position will ensure effective collaboration, learning, and organizational growth in line with feminist principles, intersectionality, and gender-transformative approaches.

This role will work closely with WFT-Tanzania, Msichana Initiative, Tanzania Health Forum Initiatives (THFI), and other partners to enhance institutional sustainability, leadership capacity, and advocacy impact.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES

Partnership Management & Coordination:

• Serve as the primary liaison between Cuso International, Strategic Implementing Partners (SIPs), and local WROs, YFOs, and vulnerable population organizations.
• Facilitate partnership agreements, collaboration frameworks, and knowledge-sharing platforms to strengthen collective action​.
• Support strategic alignment and coordination between project stakeholders, ensuring shared learning and joint advocacy efforts​.
• Organize partnership dialogues, networking events, and coalition-building activities for feminist and women’s rights organizations​.

Institutional Capacity Strengthening:

• Design and implement organizational capacity-building programs to support WROs, YFOs, and vulnerable population groups in areas such as:
  • Governance and leadership (feminist leadership, strategic planning)
  • Financial management and sustainability (fundraising, grant management)
  • Advocacy and movement-building (policy engagement, lobbying)
  • Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems​.
• Facilitate trainings, mentorship programs, and peer-learning sessions tailored to the needs of local organizations​.
• Support SIPs in developing resource mobilization strategies, including grant writing and donor engagement

Compliance, Reporting & Learning:

• Ensure that all partnership activities align with Cuso International policies and GAC funding requirements​.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of capacity-strengthening initiatives, collecting feedback for continuous improvement​.
• Contribute to project reports, case studies, and best practices documentation on institutional capacity-building efforts.

Gender Equality & Intersectionality Integration: 

• Ensure that all partnership and capacity-strengthening initiatives integrate feminist, intersectional, and gender-transformative principles​.
• Support inclusive leadership and decision-making within partner organizations, ensuring representation of women, youth, and vulnerable population voices.

Advocacy & Policy Engagement:

• Strengthen the advocacy capacities of WROs, YFOs, and vulnerable populations groups to influence gender equality policies at local, national, and regional levels​.
• Coordinate engagement with government institutions to foster enabling policy environments for gender equality​.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in international development, Sociology, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Organizational Development, or a related field.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of institutional sustainability, governance, financial management, and donor compliance.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in partnership management, organizational development, or capacity-building in an international development context.
• Experience working with women’s rights organizations, feminist movements, and vulnerable population advocacy groups.
• Strong expertise in gender-transformative programming, feminist leadership, and movement-building.
• Strong facilitation, training, and mentorship skills for organizational capacity development.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, advocacy, and coalition-building with government and civil society partners.
• Excellent project management, monitoring, and reporting skills.
• Fluency in English and Swahili (written and spoken).
• Familiarity with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) funding mechanisms and reporting requirements (is an asset).
• Knowledge of Tanzania’s gender equality policies, women’s rights, and vulnerable legal frameworks (is an asset).

Compensation & Benefits:

• Competitive salary and benefits package in line with Cuso International policies.
• Opportunities for professional development and training.
• A dynamic work environment supporting feminist leadership and movement-building.

HOW TO APPLY

Cuso is committed to creating and fostering an inclusive culture. We strive to actively celebrate diversity, advance our equitable practices, and drive greater inclusion. We offer a comprehensive employee benefits package and insurance, generous days of paid time off, including vacation, personal days, and sick days, and more.

Please click the “Apply for This Job” button to submit your application no later than April 06, 2025, at 11:59 PM (EST). Expressions of interest should be sent in English. Your résumé and one-page cover letter should demonstrate how you meet all the essential and any desirable qualifications. Please note that a confirmation email will be generated once you submit your application, but it may be directed to your spam or junk folders of your email inbox.

Cuso International is committed to the integrity of our volunteers, interns, staff, managers, board members and subcontractors in preventing sexual violence in the way we operate. This is done through a defined framework, code of conduct, values and guiding principles, as well as Cooperation Canada’s Leaders’ Pledge.