THRIVE Project Director

About Us

Established in 1977, GOAL is an international humanitarian agency dedicated to alleviating the needs of the most vulnerable communities. Currently operating in 13 of the world’s most vulnerable countries, GOAL delivers a wide range of humanitarian and development programmes, ranging from humanitarian relief in disaster situations, to focusing on nutrition, food security, and building greater resilience and sustainable livelihoods. GOAL has been working in South Sudan since 1985 with a focus on health, nutrition, WASH, food security and livelihoods. GOAL is continually adapting and responding to the context to support the communities where we work. Currently GOAL works in Twic County in Warrap state, Abyei/Agok in Abyei administrative Area, Renk & Ulang Counties in Upper Nile state, & Kajo Keji County in Central Equatoria state.

GOAL was recently awarded Transforming Household Resilience through Inclusive Economic Development in South Sudan (THRIVE) project by FCDO. The THRIVE programme aims to bolster resilience in conflict and climate affected communities in Greater Upper Nile (GUN). Targeting eight priority counties in Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei States over four years, THRIVE will reach approximately 120,000 households with gender-responsive and inclusive livelihoods development, market system strengthening, financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, climate adaptation, and social cohesion activities. The Programme will be Led by GOAL in partnership with Mercy Corps, CAFOD, and VSF Germany, and local implementing partners. Combining market systems development with locally led participatory approaches, THRIVE offers a unique solution to address root causes of systemic challenges within target pastoral and agro-pastoral value chains which will create long-term and sustainable improvements in household resilience. THRIVE’s strategy is anchored around four integrated approaches: Market Systems Development (MSD); Localised & Community-Led Approaches; Gender Equality & Social Inclusion; and Social & Behaviour Change. THRIVE Project Director will lead the entire program including technical consortium leads in all the geographical areas as indicated in the table above.

Job Purpose

The THRIVE Project Director will provide overall leadership and management of the THRIVE Programme. S/he will ensure that the project consortium is managed in close consultation with the Steering and Advisory Committees. S/he will lead Project Management Unit and liaise with Technical Support Unit for programmatic consultations. The Project Director will support implementation of high-quality Market Systems Development (MSD) programs, through capacity-building of teams, support in conducting market assessments and designing interventions and building relationships with key market actors from the private sector and government. The Director will also participate in designing and writing new proposals for MSD programs, and helping to ensure robust Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Accountability (MEAL), working with our national Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager (in charge of Learning and impact). S/he will also play a lead role in representing the organization’s MSD work externally, through building relationships with key donors and participating in relevant coordination and learning events. To support the country team to define and achieve GOAL’s strategy, the position holder will also be a member of the organization’s senior leadership team.

The THRIVE Director, works closely with the South Sudan Programme Director and other members of the Programmes and Systems Team, enforcing GOAL’s core values and ensuring that it trickles down to National Non-Governmental Organizations that each of the consortium members partners with and private sector that the project targets.

Main Areas of Responsibility

• The THRIVE Project Director will provide dynamic programmatic leadership and strategic direction to ensure technical and financial integrity of the THRIVE program.
• Support program teams to conduct high quality assessments including ARC-D, R4S and Livelihoods Assessment, providing the foundation for program design
• Support program teams to design interventions for MSD programs, using tools such as Results Chains and ‘Who Does, Who Pays?’ matrices
• Support program teams to develop and implement work plans for MSD programs, maintaining a clear focus on facilitation principles
• Work with program teams as they develop partnerships with private sector and government actors, and lead the process of developing partnerships with key ‘Lead Firm’ actors, such as large businesses and government
• Oversee program planning (i.e., development of work plans and operating budget) and reporting (i.e., review and approve periodic budgets and reports), assuring they are delivered on time and to exceptional quality standards.
• Manage the THRIVE program budget through monitoring program implementation of activities versus spend rates, and ensuring that that donor budget is adhered to, and modified, as necessary.
• Play a lead role in setting a strategy for mainstreaming gender and women’s economic empowerment into our MSD programs, and support implementation of this strategy
• Ensure cross-cutting themes e.g. CHS & relevant technical standards, such as Sphere, are mainstreamed in the THRIVE programme, where appropriate and relevant.
• Encourage a learning and dynamic environment that facilitates two-way learning with various stakeholders, including other parts of GOAL.
• Promote semi-annual programme learning and reflections to strengthen the quality of the program and to document learnings.
• Coordinate closely with other programme department heads (Food Security and Livelihoods Coordinator, Health and Nutrition Coordinator, MEAL Quality Coordinator, Grants Coordinator and GESI Manager) to ensure integration and collaboration amongst the different GOAL approaches
• Liaise with the Systems and Finance Departments to ensure the THRIVE programme has:
  • the appropriate staffing and resources required for effective and efficient programme delivery,
  • quality and timely supply chain management and delivery of project commodities and equipment.
  • Timely budget and expenditure monitoring
• Assure that THRIVE team understands and is adhering to Financial, HR, Procurement, Logs and IT policies and procedures.
• Provide oversight on strategic programming issues, promoting alignment between GOAL and partners in key approaches, methodologies, and principles.
• Ensure inclusion of partners into program design, grants management processes and program quality activities.
• Represent the organisation at academic events, conferences, media forums, etc.
• Identify and nurture strategic partnerships with other organizations and institutions.
• Present concepts and ideas to donors, partners, and peer organizations that influence them to drive innovation and positive change.
• Ensure GOAL is appropriately represented in external coordination mechanisms including the sector- specific clusters and technical working groups both nationally and at the state level
• Work with the Director of Programs and the MEL Coordinator to ensure that monitoring and evaluation is practical and reflects best practices for MSD programs
• Contribute to consortium and agency-wide initiatives such as donor meetings, exhibitions and joint monitoring visits.
• Support new and ongoing programs with best practice advice and assistance on assessment, implementation, research, and evaluation needs.
• Conduct assessments; write case studies, learning documents, short articles, and blogs; and develop internal and external dissemination plan for all products.
• Nurture partnerships with universities, research institutions, and other organizations to produce case studies, assessments, and other learning documentation, as well as enhance program quality.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a field related to economics, international development, business management or subject with relevance for market systems development are preferred.
• Participation in MSD training is strongly preferred, for example the two-week Springfield training in Glasgow/Bangkok
• 5-7 years of practical experience working on market systems development programming, that includes:
• Undertaking market assessments and writing market assessment reports
• Participating in the design of MSD programs and supporting proposal development
• Providing training for team members on MSD theory and practice
• Supporting development of robust results measurement systems, measuring impact on beneficiaries and system change
• Demonstrating strong theoretical and applied knowledge of the field of expertise.
• Practical field experience, typically over the course of 2 years, that includes:
• A combination of successful temporary duration field assignments (under two weeks), longer-term field assignments (two or more weeks), and/or living in a field location for an extended period to work in a country or field office.
• Several emergency response assignments or other crisis response work that demonstrates the ability to successfully adapt support and assistance methodologies to real-world complexities.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to the organisation project sites and field locations, including traveling to insecure environments.
• Proven managerial experience in food security and livelihoods, WASH, emergency programming or related fields in a management capacity.
• Demonstrated track record of working across teams and fostering partnerships across a variety of stakeholders at a senior level.

GOAL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive environment for all employees. We know that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling GOAL’s commitment to equal employment opportunity and equal treatment. GOAL does not discriminate against any employee or volunteer; or any applicant for employment or volunteering on the basis of age, gender identity, ancestry, political opinion, civil status, medical condition, ethnic background, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

Safeguarding

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with GOAL as a result of our activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

Accountabilitywithin GOAL

Alongside our safeguarding policy, GOAL is an equal opportunities employer and has a set of integrity policies. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability:

• Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.
• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.
• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a GOAL staff or partner.

General Terms and Conditions

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document.