Job Description
IRUSA is seeking a Partner Services Specialist who will play a critical role in safeguarding and advancing the organization's domestic and international humanitarian programs by identifying, assessing, onboarding, and supporting high-quality institutional partners. The Partner Services Specialist serves as the frontline gatekeeper for IRUSA's partner network, conducting due diligence, compliance reviews, financial assessments, and risk profiling while ensuring alignment with organizational policies, donor requirements, and humanitarian principles.
The position requires balancing rigorous legal, financial, and regulatory compliance with the flexibility needed to support humanitarian operations in complex and rapidly changing environments. The candidate must demonstrate commitment to IRUSA's faith-inspired values and principles, as well as a commitment to the vision and mission of the organization.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Conduct partner capacity assessments and comprehensive due diligence for prospective U.S. and international partners, including Anti-Terrorism Screening (ATS), sanctions screening, media checks, and other compliance reviews.
Perform preliminary risk assessments to identify legal, operational, financial, and reputational risks and provide recommendations regarding partner eligibility.
Collect, verify, maintain, and annually update partner documentation, including legal registrations, governance structures, organizational profiles, and historical performance records.
Ensure partners comply with applicable legal requirements, sanctions regulations, safeguarding standards, ethical reporting mechanisms, and global data protection requirements in coordination with the Legal team.
Review and analyze partner financial documentation, including IRS Form 990s, audited financial statements, balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and internal controls to assess organizational capacity and financial health.
Coordinate partner onboarding and serve as the administrator for the Grants Management System (Fluxx), supporting partner registration, organizational profiles, banking information, and user account setup while providing technical assistance as needed.
Evaluate prospective partners for alignment with IRUSA's strategic priorities and facilitate coordination between partners and internal technical teams.
Review partner organizational policies to ensure alignment with IRUSA standards related to sanctions compliance, safeguarding/PSEA, anti-fraud, procurement, and other organizational policies.
Serve as the initial point of contact for partnership inquiries and provide recommendations regarding partner viability before coordinating introductions to appropriate internal departments.
Apply a humanitarian lens to due diligence and onboarding processes, adapting compliance procedures during emergency responses and rapid-onset humanitarian crises.
Coordinate and facilitate Communities of Practice (CoPs), encouraging knowledge sharing, peer learning, collaboration, and engagement among institutional partners.
Plan, organize, and coordinate partner convenings, workshops, meetings, and other stakeholder engagement events, including logistics, scheduling, and speaker coordination.
Continue to improve job-related knowledge through training, workshops, conferences, and professional development opportunities.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications and Competencies:
Bachelor's degree in International Relations, International Law, Public Policy, or a related field required.
Minimum of three (3) years of progressive experience in institutional partnerships, grants management, legal and regulatory compliance, risk management, or humanitarian program management within the humanitarian or international development sector.
Demonstrated knowledge of humanitarian operations, nonprofit financial analysis, restricted funding mechanisms, audit reviews, sanctions compliance, and international regulatory frameworks, with the ability to translate complex risks into practical guidance for diverse stakeholders.
Experience conducting due diligence, partner capacity assessments, compliance reviews, financial assessments, and organizational risk profiling.
Excellent organizational, analytical, project management, and problem-solving skills, with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively across multicultural and cross-functional teams.
Experience planning and coordinating partner convenings, stakeholder engagements, workshops, and Communities of Practice, with willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required.
Must be eligible to work in the United States and demonstrate a strong commitment to IRUSA's humanitarian mission, faith-inspired values, and organizational principles.
At Islamic Relief USA we are committed to safeguarding and protecting all individuals we come into contact with through our work. IRUSA representatives must adhere to its organizational values: Sincerity, Excellence, Compassion, Social Justice, and Custodianship. In accordance with these values, IRUSA operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Code of Ethics, and Anti-Harassment and Discrimination.