Manager of Partnership

📍 Location: Thai-Myanmar Border
🏢 Work Setup: This role offers a blend of field engagement and office collaboration. You'll spend approximately 60% of your time traveling across the Thai-Myanmar border region, walking alongside local church partners, strengthening relationships, providing coaching, and supporting ministry effectiveness.

When not in the field, you'll collaborate closely with colleagues at Compassion's Chiang Mai National Office, contributing to strategic planning, team development, partnership management, and cross-functional initiatives that support impact across the region.

About the Role

As Manager of Partnership, you will lead a team of Partnership Facilitators who serve as Compassion's primary liaison with local church partners. You'll provide strategic leadership, coaching, and operational oversight to strengthen church ownership, ministry capacity, accountability, and sustainable impact for children and youth.

This role requires a leader who can build trusted relationships with church leaders, navigate complex organizational environments, facilitate crucial conversations, and develop high-performing teams. You will mobilize Compassion staff and resources to strengthen local church partners and achieve shared outcomes for children, youth, and communities.

What You'll Do

Lead and Develop People

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Partnership Facilitators.
• Foster a culture of learning, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Manage performance, recruitment, staff development, engagement, and team capacity building.
• Build the capacity of assigned staff to effectively support, coach, and strengthen local church partners.
• Empower staff to respond to church partner needs, prioritize effectively, and make decisions that strengthen relationships and ministry outcomes.

Strengthen Local Church Partnerships

• Lead your team in supporting local church partners throughout the church partnership lifecycle, from needs assessment and planning to implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Strengthen church ownership, ministry capacity, accountability, governance, and sustainability.
• Develop, review, and implement partnership agreements and MOUs.
• Build strong relationships with church leaders, denominational networks, community stakeholders, NGOs, and other key partners.
• Facilitate collaboration, shared learning, and resource mobilization among local church partners.
• Ensure each local church partner receives the support and resources needed to serve children and youth effectively within their unique community context.

Provide Strategic Leadership

• Contribute to strategy development, annual planning, budgeting, and resource allocation.
• Provide strategic insights and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Navigate sensitive governance matters and lead crucial conversations with wisdom, professionalism, and integrity.
• Identify risks, resolve conflicts, and adapt approaches to changing community and ministry needs.
• Ensure team alignment with Compassion's Partnership Management processes, objectives, and organizational priorities.

Champion Child Protection & Accountability

• Advocate for the well-being and protection of children in all partnership activities and decisions.
• Ensure child protection and safeguarding standards are understood and upheld throughout the lifecycle of every church partnership.
• Monitor progress through facilitation work plans, field visits, church partner feedback, reports, and evaluation data.
• Ensure partnership commitments, organizational standards, and accountability measures are consistently met.
• Collaborate closely with Program Support and Business Support teams to ensure local church partners receive high-quality support and resources.

What We're Looking For

✔ Bachelor's Degree in Development Studies, Management, Social Sciences, Community Development, Public Administration, or a related field

✔ At least 5 years of partnership development experience within NGO, humanitarian, faith-based, church, or community development settings

✔ At least 5 years of leadership and people management experience

✔ Proven experience managing partnerships and developing partnership agreements or MOUs

✔ Strong understanding of organizational governance, accountability systems, and institutional development

✔ Demonstrated success in conflict resolution, negotiation, stakeholder engagement, and facilitating sensitive conversations

✔ Proven experience leading, coaching, mentoring, and developing teams

✔ Experience working closely with church leaders, church networks, and faith-based organizations

✔ Strong understanding of church-based partnership models and local church capacity strengthening

✔ Excellent communication, relationship-building, strategic thinking, and decision-making skills

✔ Strong understanding of the cultural, social, and ministry context of the Thai-Myanmar border region

Who You Are

You are a strategic, people-centered, and servant-hearted leader who is passionate about strengthening local churches and developing others. You thrive in building trusted relationships, navigating complexity, coaching teams, and empowering local church partners to create meaningful and sustainable impact for children, youth, and families.

Why Compassion?

💙 Contribute to meaningful work that supports children, families, and communities

🤝 Partner with dedicated local church leaders who are committed to serving children and youth

🌱 Invest in the growth and sustainability of local church ministries

📈 Lead and develop a talented team while strengthening church partnerships across the region

🌍 Help create lasting, locally led impact through strong relationships, effective leadership, and collaborative ministry

If you're passionate about leadership, church partnership, community development, and empowering local churches to thrive, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply today and help equip local church partners to create brighter futures for children, youth, families, and communities across the Thai-Myanmar border.