Cash Consortium of Sudan (CCS) Project Manager – Common Systems & Financial Service Provider (FSP) engagement

Location: Nairobi, Kenya (with up to 40% travel to Sudan)

Position Status: Full-time, 8 months

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps’ Sudan crisis response seeks to meet the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Sudanese and other conflict-affected people across the country. Mercy Corps Sudan is recognized as a leader in market systems, agricultural, and food security and building on this experience, the MC Sudan humanitarian program will layer in resilience and other program activities where appropriate and feasible to do so. Assistance is delivered with a focus on needs, in partnership with local actors and civil society.

The Cash Consortium of Sudan (CCS) is a collaborative platform to advance a progressive vision of the potential of cash assistance to transform humanitarian response and recovery in partnership with vulnerable conflict-affected populations. CCS is led by Mercy Corps, building on its global experience and learning on leading cash consortia in multiple country contexts, as well as general expertise in cash coordination and breadth of technical resources. The consortium includes six international NGO partners and 11 national NGOs, each of which bring strong cash and complementary technical competencies, as well as expansive operational coverage in Sudan. IMPACT is a non-implementing partner dedicated to Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning. IMPACT will support quality data systems and an objective evidence base that will be essential to CCS’ accountability and adaptive management to refine programming approaches to enhance impact as the Sudan crisis context evolves. The CCS will work closely with other consortia and actors in Sudan to deliver an effective CVA response for communities affected by the crisis.

The core pillars of the CCS response include: 1) basic needs through cash assistance both at the community level through Group Cash Transfers (GCTs) delivered to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), as well as at the household-level through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA); 2) strengthening market systems to ensure resilience of key market actors and supply chains as well as strengthening the availability and affordability of key commodities; 3) strengthening capacity of local partner organizations with an emphasis on accompaniment and mentorship; and 4) generation of learning and evidence to inform broader response efforts.

The Position

The purpose of the Project Manger position is to enhance the speed and efficiency of Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) and Group Cash Transfers (GCT) delivery in Sudan through working with partners and the Sudan Cash Working Group (CWG) in FSP scouting, mapping and analysis, recommendations for addressing liquidity concerns, development of common contracting for CCS partners and development of a common payment system that is able to facilitate secure and efficient cash assistance, integrate existing humanitarian organization systems, scale up to accommodate additional actors as need be, and is compliant with international best practices and regulations.

Essential Job Functions

The candidate will work on three fronts, including providing technical advice related to FSP infrastructure and liquidity, development of common contracting of FSPs and development of a common aggregator platform:

Technical support on FSP and liquidity

• Supporting the CCS on technical aspects of FSP engagement and liquidity
• Assisting partners with implementation of last mile delivery pilots
• Supporting ongoing FSP scouting, mapping and performance analysis work
• Engaging and bringing together relevant stakeholders to set recommendations for managing liquidity constraints
• Development of strategies for addressing liquidity constraints and higher level advocacy on engagement with the Central Bank of Sudan and relevant stakeholders

Common contracting

• Development of rules and requirements for FSPs to be part of common contracting
• Development of common procurement policies and structure between CCS Partners
• Tender development and publication
• Negotiation and contracting of FSPs
• Onboarding and training to teams
• Piloting

Common aggregator platform

• Development of a budget, workplan and timeline for the design and roll out of the system
• Review of the minimum viable product for the system development
• Mapping and preparation of recommendations on different system design options
• Conduct platform host research
• Lead in partner consultation, ToR, RFP and developer contracting process
• Development of the common platform structure, rules, requirements and needs
• Ensuring streamlined data pipeline between common registration system and aggregator
• Lead FSP integration process
• Support fundraising efforts and identification of diverse funding sources for the system
• Piloting of system
• Onboarding and training of partner staff
• Facilitate coordination between identified stakeholders to ensure system sustainability and ownership

Overarching actions

• Develop relationships with partner staff, national and international FSPs
• Preparation of periodic reports on progress of the different components
• Presentation and liaison with stakeholders including partners, FSPs, technical working groups and donors
• Budget monitoring
• Oversight on global best practices and technological advances

Accountability

Supervisory responsibility: N/A

Reports directly to: Deputy Chief of Party, Cash Consortium of Sudan

Works directly with: CCS Secretariat, local and international partners, Mercy Corps Regional and HQ Technical Support Units, FSPs

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/BS or equivalent in international studies, economics or other relevant field;
• 5-7 years of international relief and development program management experience, in emergency and recovery program management with a focus on cash based programming
• Previous experience working with a wide range of financial service providers and experience in common payment systems
• Experience in procurement and compliance policies and procedures
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively across multiple stakeholders
• Strong understanding of common payment systems
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving
• Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational and prioritization skills
• Previous experience in supporting consortia desirable
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
• Fluency in English required, knowledge of Arabic desirable

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 Beneficiaries

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards 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.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Nairobi, Kenya and it requires up to 50% travel to support consortium programming and operations in Sudan. This may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing for this role is in individual housing.

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 InteragencyMisconduct 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 elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.