AREA MANAGER – NORTH & EAST SUDAN

Position Description

Location Port Sudan, Sudan

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps 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 Summary

Mercy Corps Europe, formerly known as Mercy Corps Sudan, has been operational in Sudan since 2004 and currently leads humanitarian assistance and longer-term development efforts in conflict-affected South Darfur, South Kordofan, North Kordofan, Gedaref, and Khartoum States, supporting host communities, IDPs, returnees and refugees. Mercy Corps’ current areas of programming include food security and livelihoods, WASH, health, nutrition, peace building and protection, resilience, and Market Systems Development

General Position Summary

The Area Manager has the overall responsibility for the strategic leadership, direct management, direction, reputation and execution of Mercy Corps’ multi-sector response and development in North Sudan, River Nile, Gedaref and Kassala. The Area Manager will be responsible for developing and maintaining effective relationships and communication with donors and UN agencies in the field as well as partner NGOs and government agencies operating in the area.

Reporting to the Country Director, the Area Manager is the direct supervisor of an international and national team of operational staff who in turn oversee large teams of international and national programme and support staff. The Area Manager provides support and guidance to project teams on project cycle management, budget management and operational functions, including finance, HR, administration, logistics and procurement. In addition, The Area Manager provides leadership to ensure the successful implementation of all projects, with the support of the country-wide Technical Coordinators and constantly monitors the context to ensure programing is relevant and responsive to priority needs. In this capacity, the Area Manager is also responsible for representing Mercy Corps publicly at the field level, including in coordination fora, national and local authorities, with other agencies and with donors, and for providing the direct link in communications betweenMercy Corps’ North Sudan, River Nile, Gedaref and Kassala offices, seeking Sudan’s program direction and input on important programmatic and operational issues in a timely manner. Finally, it is essential that the AM provides strong oversight of security management of the Mercy Corps team and ensures all safety and security measures, including contingency plans and standard operating procedures, are in place and well understood and observed by all staff.

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Support the North Sudan, River Nile, Gedaref and Kassala team in the delivery of a portfolio of humanitarian programs. This includes new partnerships, technical activities and strategies in the broad sectors of WASH, FSL, MPCA, Health, Nutrition and Peace-Building.
• 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 North Sudan, River Nile, Gedaref and Kassala offices field office.
• 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.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT / PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Hands-on support to the start-up of programs and on-going program activities such as WASH, FSL, MPCA and peace-building. In addition to technical program outputs, this includes liaison with Mercy Corps operations, with activities ranging from recruitment and onboarding of team members, secondment and payment mechanisms of professionals from the State Ministries, procurement and also monitoring plans.
• S/he will be onsite at Mercy Corps-operated/supported facilities/intervention areas and provide direct, hands-on oversight to program activities and outreach strategies core to the humanitarian work including the design and execution community campaigns and messaging. Ensure that all campaign materials and trainings are in total compliance with national Ministries’ and international/UN standards.
• Specific, technical oversight to all humanitarian and development work from the onset of the program: ensuring a consistent understanding and compliance across all staff and partners to standards established by local governments, donors, UN agencies and Mercy Corps.
• Promote the effective and efficient use of program funding and project impact through programme integration
• With the support of MEAL staff, monitor the implementation of projects, support research and learning initiatives and ensure the execution of evidence-based improvement plans
• Contribute to the strategic direction of the Mercy Corps’ programs, in close collaboration with the Technical Advisors in line with the Mercy Corps platforms, for instance, initiating strategy planning meetings at field level, and supporting development of corresponding strategic documents
• Maintain regular interaction and consultations with other Mercy Corps Area Managers to promote synergy and cross-learning among Mercy Corps teams and projects in other program areas of the country.
• Support staff to produce Detailed Implementation Plans (DIP), Procurement Plan and Comprehensive Workplans for each of the programs implemented through the North Sudan, Revier Nile, Gedaref and Kassala offices field offices
• Ensure effective and in-time and within budget Workplan implementations for each programs and report on weekly basis to the Leadership.
• Prepare draft donor reports for the reporting period as required by the donor agreement.
• Adhere to the PM@MC requirements for all programs under implementation.
• Ensure all Mercy Corps HQ or Country Based SOPs are effectively implemented.
• S/he will engage directly with workers and community mobilizers to establish a routine, cadence and flow of work so that the intended program objectives – and emerging needs of the locality – are met.
• Meet with local partners and support their quick adaptation to program activities, objectives and standards. Host and lead kick-off workshops (across partners and departments) for key activities and the shared vision that are at the core of programs.
• S/he will examine the paperwork and reports from each program/project to ensure the data collected is consistent with Mercy Corps and donor requirements and accurately portray the works and conditions.
• Liaise with partners and the line ministries as needed for administrative and technical issues to ensure these programs are totally in line with the government strategy.
• Provide guidance to the M&E team at the onset of monitoring and assessment strategies. Provide direct and technical support to the tools used in these programs so that they accurately capture the data.
• Represent Mercy Corps at relevant Clusters, as required.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Assist in the recruitment and training of program staff to ensure staff are of the quality and capacity to ensure the successful implementation of all Program activities. Monitor and advise on staffing needs throughout the programs in the North Sudan, River Nile, Gedaref and Kassala offices. Ensure evaluations and disciplinary measures are made, as necessary according to MC policy.
• Ensure the close coordination and sharing of information between the various sectors of the program staff including engineering, agriculture, community development and program support with regular program meetings and activity plans.
• Provide direct and ongoing supervision and managerial support to all project managers under the humanitarian portfolios in North Sudan, River Nile, Gedaref and Kassala offices.
• Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

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.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

REPORTING

• The Area Manager will report regularly, formally and informally, and in a timely fashion to the Director of Programs to ensure optimal communication and rapid feedback, support, instructions, decisions when needed so as to facilitate the Area Manager’s work and achieve the set programmatic goals objectives.
• The Area Manager will also report and seek advice as needed to the various and relevant technical leads at regional and HQ levels on the performance of team leaders and technical staff under the Area Manager’s direct management and supervision. This to ensure quality and timely program deliveries.

Supervisory Responsibility

• Team Leaders – direct supervision
• Operations, HR and Finance in North Sudan, River Nile, Gedaref and Kassala field offices – Day to Day Supervision in coordination with the head of departments

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Programs

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

Knowledge and Experience

• This position requires a Bachelor or Master’s Degree in relevant subject or equivalent proven skills and experience.
• A minimum 5 years of proven experience managing humanitarian programmes and operations in complex environments.
• History of working effectively and respectfully with host country government, INGO and NGO partners.
• Experience with sub-granting procedures and monitoring under donors compliance. requirements.
• Field experience and broad knowledge of characteristics relevant to conflict-affected or post-conflict contexts, and specific operational experience with IDPs and refugee emergency and recovery programming within a host community.
• Experience in programme management including budget holder oversight, programme implementation and staff management
• Experience of coordinating activities across sectors
• Experience and understanding Humanitarian response programming, Food Security and Livelihoods, WASH, Health and Nutrition sectors, and Sphere standards. Further experience in Cash+ and Peace Building Programs is a plus.
• Experience on Program Assurance and Quality Standards and monitoring and evaluation and report writing.
• Strong communication skills; able to work in person and remotely with a geographically dispersed and culturally distinct team.
• Ability and willingness to work in remote and isolated locations with ever changing security scenarios
• Knowledge and strong ability in English and English/Arabic preferred.

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, Sudan and it requires up to 25 % 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 good medical services and the living situation is of a high standard.

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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