PROJECT DIRECTOR - SOMOUD ENHANCING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE PROJECT

Programs Port Sudan, Sudan

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Description

Location River Nile, Northern and Kassala States  

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps (MC) is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Program / Department Summary

The Mercy Corps project in the River Nile, Northern Sudan and Kassala States is designed to complement the current humanitarian aid to Sudan by laying a foundation for medium- and longer-term development support in areas with high concentration of Internally Displaced Persons IDPs. It aims to contribute to build for the future of Sudan by restoring access to basic services and food, protecting human capital, and enhancing communities’ resilience using a bottom-up approach. Mercy Corps (and partners) will deliver food security and livelihoods (FSL) interventions These states were prioritized based on IDP influx, relative security, and overall project feasibility criteria, such as access and proximity to productive agricultural areas that supply food to domestic markets serving IDPs and host communities. 
 
SOMOUD is a joint World Bank, UNICEF, WFP, and Mercy Corps program. WFP and Mercy Corps are chiefly responsible for Component 2 of SOMOUD focused on food security. SOMOUD aims to target Farmer Organizations, SMEs, and Consumer Cooperatives, utilizing a market systems development approach.
 

General Position Summary

The Project Director will lead all Mercy Corps activities across multiple states with direct management over these teams / individuals. S/he will be responsible for program activities being on-time and on-budget. S/he is responsible for the office’s adherence to all internal and external/donor regulations as well as those required by the Government of Sudan. The Project Director will liaise with local partners and government officials required for the efficient implementation of this program.
 

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION 

  • Support the teams in the delivery of the overall goals of the SOMOUD Project. This includes new partnerships, technical activities and strategies in the relevant sectors.
  • Support to program managers with technical expertise in these sectors and ensure any and all methodologies used by Mercy Corps and partners are consistent with local law and best international standards.
  • Provide leadership support to the River Nile, Northern Sudan and Kassala States’ offices and partners.
  • Support the country's leadership to design and execute a vision of humanitarian, peace building and development programming as part of the country strategy. Support the writing of proposals and reporting, as necessary.
  • Actively participate and represent Mercy Corps in coordination meetings with UN agencies, and coordination meetings with NGO colleagues, local authorities and other stakeholders. as directed by the Director of Programs in order to align our vision, strategy and activities with emerging needs and strategy. 

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 

  • Provide supervision, support, and mentoring to the Strategic Leadership and Learning steering committee structure, project managers, project teams, the leads of each department and all other staff. S/he is responsible for the overall harmony and efficiency of the entire team in River Nile, Northern and Kassala States in this project.
  • Foster a collaborative team atmosphere that engages and supports all team members.
 

Program Development, IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORTING 

  • Responsible for the implementation of this project within the allocated timeframe and budget.
  • Work closely with the Director of Programs to identify new challenges or gaps and make efficient and effective changes.
  • Will hold regular cross-department meetings to ensure program, operations, finance and MEL are effectively coordinating and operating together for the advancement of this project.
  • Work closely with the Finance team and head of each department for weekly check-ins and planning. Troubleshoot any issues with compliance or forecasting. Elevate issues to the Project Managers and Finance Manager in the country office, as needed.
  • Responsible to oversees and support with the procurement planning and activity planning for all departments under his/her supervision.
  • Hold frequent meetings with project partners and ensure cooperation/lessons learned when applicable.
  • Ensure implementation of key project initiatives – including but not limited to PM@MC (Program Management at Mercy Corps), CARM (community accountability and response mechanism); cash programming minimum standards; gender and protection mainstreaming; etc. – across all MC field offices.
  • Routine checks (inspections) to ensure procurement, storekeeping, asset management and fleet management are in accordance with agency guidelines and policy.
  • Ensure that all donor reports are submitted on time and to the highest possible standard.
  • Support effective monitoring and reporting in conformity with country M&E systems.
  • Ensure that program lessons learned are documented and incorporated into future programming.
 

Representation AND Coordination 

  • Establish and maintain close and productive relationships with local authorities, cluster coordination, as well as relevant national government authorities, in close coordination with the Technical Leads and Project Managers in target areas.
  • Represent MC at all relevant coordination meetings at the field level provide written updates about each representation and actively participate in humanitarian advocacy initiative at field and national level.
  • Coordinate with other INGOs in Sudan to ensure MC’s comparative advantage and identify new strategic partnerships.

 

SAFETY AND SECURITY

  • Work closely with the country team’s security focal point to ensure that programs are contributing to and responding to safety and security plans and procedures.
  • Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security management priorities.
  • Ensure that team members in all field offices strictly abide by security standards in each office location.

Organizational Learning

As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

 

Accountability to Program Participants
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
 

Supervisory Responsibility

  • SOMOUD Project team, including Project Managers, and State Project teams – direct supervision
  • Operations, HR and Finance in North Sudan, River Nile, and Kassala field offices – Day to Day Supervision in coordination with the head of department 

Accountability

  • Reports Directly To: Director of Programs
  • Works Directly With: Country Director, Director of Programs, Area Manager, Technical Leads, PAQ ad MEL, Liaison/Security, Operations, Finance and HR departments.

Knowledge and Experience

  • MA/S or equivalent experience in social science, management, international development or other relevant field;
  • At least 7 years of overseas experience including 3 years in a senior management position;
  • At least 3 years of experience managing a food security or market development programs (value chain development experience required), land conflict or other conflict programs (or a combination of these types of programs)
  • Conflict management experience preferred;
  • At least 2 years’ experience in managing a consortium program with other INGO partners in a complex operating environment.
  • At least 3 years’ experience in managing large teams in multiple remote locations;
  • Technical knowledge of agriculture, market development, conflict mitigation and management, resource governance, and/or gender;
  • Previous experience with multilateral donor funded programs and/or large-scale bilateral donor funded programs preferred;
  • Strong management and organizational skills, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues;
  • Strong written and oral communication skills in English, including report development, writing and editing;
  • Experience / skills managing programs in insecure regions required;
  • Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members;
  • Experience in Africa, specifically Sudan, preferred; 
  • Patience, perseverance, initiative and a sense of humor required

Success Factors  

The successful candidate should have the ability to apply high quality standards of programming in our teams, partners and facilities in remote and challenging environments. This requires, patience, good humor while holding stead-fast to international standards in all activities. S/he must be able to work closely with a diverse team to adapt materials and methodologies to best meet the circumstances in targeted communities. S/he must work well across Mercy Corps teams who are not technical experts and are also critical to the success of these programs.
 

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions 

The position is based in Port Sudan, and it requires up to 50% travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing for this role is in shared housing and staff will have access to limited medical services and the living situation is of remote standards. 

Ongoing Learning 

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics 

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential US-Based employees. This is done following the conclusion of recruitment and prior to assuming full employment. 
 

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