POSITION TITLE: Country Director
DATE: February 2015
COUNTRY PROGRAM: Sudan
RESPONSIBLE TO: Regional Program Manager at HQ
STATUS: Full Time 
SUPERVISORY CAPACITY: Program employees and local staff

 

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COUNTRY PROGRAM MISSION 
 
 The American Refugee Committee (ARC) Sudan Program started in 2004 in response to the emergency needs of some 500,000 war-affected IDPs and host populations in the Tullus and Gereida corridors in South Darfur. In 2014, ARC expanded services into underserved villages in the East Darfur. The overall aim of the program is to improve the well-being of the target populations by addressing their immediate humanitarian needs and contributing to long-term community stabilization.

In conjunction with the Head Office in Khartoum, the field offices in Nyala, South Darfur and East Darfur support the delivery of primary health care services at 16 rehabilitated community clinics, one reproductive health unit and one BEmOC facility. Water and sanitation services, including the construction/rehabilitation of boreholes, water yards, household and institutional latrines and hygiene promotion messages, are also delivered in over 70 conflict-affected communities. A small agriculture component assists resettling IDPs and host populations with seeds, tools and extension services to grow their own food. ARC programs enable resiliency in rural communities in both regions in the face of recurring conflicts and natural disasters such as drought, flooding and environmental degradation. The goal is to aid transition to early recovery in Darfur, in an equitable and environmentally sustainable manner. 
 
With an annual budget of between ${esc.dollar}{esc.dollar}{esc.dollar}{esc.dollar}9-12m, the Sudan Program has 12 expatriates and over 550 national staff, some of whom are seconded from the line Ministries of the Sudan government.


PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE POSITION 

Based in Khartoum, the Country Director is responsible for delivering high quality programs, identifying new opportunities, and continuing to strengthen ARC’s reputation for innovative programs. The Country Director works with communities affected by displacement to identify their needs and craft programs to sustainably address those needs. The Country Director provides strategic leadership to maintain a high performing team, ensure effective program implementation in a particularly challenging environment, and to grow the ARC Sudan portfolio.  The Country Director also serves as the primary liaison with ARC global teams to ensure close collaboration, leveraging of global technical expertise and rapid resolution of obstacles.


MAJOR AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY
PRIMARY DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES % OF TIME 

Program Management (30%)

• Facilitate the development and achievement of a country strategy.
• Ensure program indicators and quality standards are achieved, maintaining frequent communication with ARC headquarters to promptly identify and resolve challenges.
• Implement solid program management disciplines to ensure program effectiveness, quality and innovation.
• Establish and implement program objectives, activities, evaluations, and assessments with technical support of International Programs team.
• Manage timely preparation and submission of high quality narrative and financial reports to donors.
• Ensure that field teams have the necessary tools, resources, information, and assistance to deliver services that meet or exceed internationally accepted standards and protocols.
• Support learning from success and failure, documenting best practices and facilitating collaboration.

Program Development (20%)

• Lead the development and execution of ARC Sudan resource mobilization strategy, thus meeting revenue projections.
• Assess current and potential needs of refugee and other vulnerable populations. Design new community-based initiatives that respond to the evolving needs of displaced populations and affected communities. 
• Proactively cultivate relationships with existing and new donors, analyzing the funding environment and trends, and fostering a proactive approach to new funding opportunities.
• Manage collaborative proposal development process to ensure proposals are strategically aligned, technically strong, achievable and realistically budgeted.
• Diversify funding and maintain key relationships with a broad range of major donors and foundations.
• Build and strengthen external relationships and represent ARC with donors, the host government, international and national organizations; facilitate partnerships with other organizations for programming and advocacy.
• Build capacity of Sudan teams to write successful proposals, providing training and coaching to increase the confidence and skills of staff.
• Participate in relevant interagency and governmental meetings and promote positive relationship and cooperation with agencies and governmental entities.

Financial (20%)

• Develop and monitor the annual country budget, and ensure timely management of financial reporting, audit compliance, and cash flow.
• Monitor all financial expenditures including burn rate, accounts payable, petty cash, etc. Ensure all fiscal controls and donor required policy controls are carried out.
• Provide oversight of country program budgets and management of program spending. Anticipate potential funding gaps, develop contingency plans, and closely monitor costs to prevent uncovered program cost.
• Prepare and submit activity reports to donors as well as monthly updates to headquarters.

Administration (15%0

• Oversee the management of procurement and inventory to ensure compliance with donor guidelines and ARC policies, and update systems as needed.
• Monitor the security situation and ensure security protocols and procedures are followed.
• Ensure staff understanding and compliance with donor requirements and with ARC policies and procedures.

Personnel Management  (15%)

• Recruit, orient and mentor professional international and national staff, and continually cultivate high performing teams.
• Ensure staff is properly trained and performance expectations are clear.
• Review and adjust organizational structure and job descriptions as needed to provide clear work expectations and adequate resources for achieving program goals.
• Conduct annual performance reviews and support staff in their ongoing professional development.
• Work collaboratively with headquarters as needed to respond to and manage employee and work environment issues.
• Ensure operating policies, procedures, and communication protocols are clear and consistent.

EDUCATION, TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED 

• Minimum five years (seven years preferred) high-level international management experience, with good knowledge of the principal players, issues, policies and trends in the international humanitarian arena.
• Knowledge of the regional political and social conditions.
• Familiarity with US government, UN, private, and multi-lateral funders.
• Demonstrated financial management experience with NGO’s.
• Demonstrated success in program development, implementation, project monitoring and evaluation.
• Proven strong negotiation skills.
• Ability to manage a diverse team effectively, balance the interests of different stakeholders, and provide excellent leadership by maintaining a constructive work environment and setting a positive example.
• Excellent organizational, administrative and management skills. Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and meet deadlines in a dynamic environment.
• Experience working in conflict, post-conflict and/or development settings; previous experience in Sudan and East Africa a plus.
• Undergraduate degree required, master’s degree preferred.

KEY BEHAVIORS & ABILITIES 

• Commitment to personally champion ARC’s program vision and mission and inspire others to do the same.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including effective presentation and facilitation skills
• Strong leadership and management skills including strategy formation, process improvement and team building.
• Excellent strategic thinking, process management and problem solving skills
• Collaborative, result-oriented management style.
• Initiative, resourcefulness and innovation.
• Experience in managing multi-cultural and multi-level (numerous offices) programs.
• Strong participatory leadership and interpersonal skills. Ability to motivate staff and lead a high performing team in a politically sensitive environment.
• Strong oral and written communications skills; strong computer skills.
• Fluency in English required.
• Fluency or working knowledge of local languages desirable.

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