About the Role
The Associate, Partnerships supports the development and management of Shamiri’s government relationships and strategic partnerships. This is an operational and coordination role. You will keep the partnership pipeline moving, maintain the systems that track government and partner engagement, and ensure that commitments made at the relationship level translate into executed agreements and active workplans. You will enable the Director to focus on high-level relationship building and advocacy by ensuring nothing falls through the cracks below.
Why This Role Exists
Shamiri’s path to 10 million young people runs through government. That ambition requires a disciplined, well-managed partnership operation: accurate ecosystem mapping, consistent follow-up, coordinated internal communication, and reliable documentation. Without this role, the quality and responsiveness of Shamiri’s government and partnerships work cannot be maintained at scale.
Responsibilities
Government Relations
- Support the cultivation and maintenance of relationships with key government officials, ministries, agencies, and committees to keep Shamiri’s work on the national and county mental health agenda.
- Support development of MoUs with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health, extending Shamiri’s reach across public schools and national mental health programming.
- Nurture relationships with county-level Education, Youth, and Health officials to support programme execution and identify opportunities for government-as-a-doer pilots.
- Support the development and implementation of government engagement strategies that influence mental health policy, legislation, and regulation at national, county, and local levels.
- Monitor proposed legislative and regulatory changes affecting mental health services; provide timely analysis and recommendations.
- Track all government interactions and ensure consistent follow-up and execution of agreements.
- Maintain a live, comprehensive database of government contacts at national, county, and local levels.
- Coordinate with internal teams to ensure alignment between advocacy efforts, programmatic activities, and Shamiri’s overall goals.
- Draft policy briefs, evidence-in-action reports, presentations, and memoranda in coordination with the communications team.
Strategic Partnerships
- Support the Senior Associate and Director in identifying, cultivating, and managing relationships with mission-aligned organisations across research, advocacy, philanthropy, education, healthcare, and innovation.
- Support the design of partnership frameworks covering onboarding, implementation, co-branded delivery, and shared learning.
- Support partnership due diligence and MoU/contract negotiation, ensuring alignment with Shamiri’s mission, legal requirements, and IP protections.
Operations & Systems
- Identify inefficiencies in partnership workflows and propose improvements.
- Support the maintenance of updated SOPs, documentation, and training guides for partnership operations.
- Use internal systems to ensure transparency, follow-through, and effective cross-team communication.
Learning & Adaptability
- Stay current on government priorities, political developments, youth mental health trends, and community-based implementation — translating insights into partnership strategy.
- Navigate ambiguity and shifting priorities with calm and initiative.
- Participate actively in training, workshops, and supervision sessions.
About Shamiri Institute
Shamiri Institute is a Nairobi-based nonprofit scaling evidence-based youth mental health services across sub-Saharan Africa. Our programmes are designed to reach young people where they are, using peer facilitators and task-shifting to achieve impact at a fraction of traditional costs. We have reached over 200,000 young people to date. Our current strategic goal is to reach 10 million young people annually by 2031 through government-led delivery, scaling first across Kenya and then into other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The Partnerships team is at the centre of that ambition.
Requirements
Skills & Attributes
- Relationship Management — Builds authentic, mutually beneficial relationships with government officials, civil society, and institutional partners.
- Government Engagement — Understands Kenya’s political and governance landscape: how decisions get made, who the key stakeholders are, and how to keep processes moving through bureaucracy.
- Negotiation — Identifies mutually beneficial terms and supports the drafting of clear agreements that protect Shamiri’s mission and legal interests.
- Project Management — Tracks complex, multi-stakeholder workstreams; manages timelines, flags risks early, and delivers reliably without close supervision.
- Communication — Strong written and verbal communicator; able to translate complex information for government audiences and draft policy-facing documents to a high standard.
- Data Analysis — Uses programme data and partnership metrics to inform decisions and track effectiveness.
- Local Context — Working knowledge of Kenya’s education, health, and youth systems and the cultural and political nuances that shape implementation.
- Discretion & Diplomacy — Manages sensitive government and partner interactions with tact and confidentiality.
- Organised & Detail-Oriented — Maintains accuracy and structure across tasks; nothing falls through the cracks.
- Reliable Follow-Through — Completes work to high quality and meets commitments without needing close supervision.