Programme Manager (Team Leader, Recovery and Resilience Pillar)

The ongoing conflict in Sudan has led to significant loss of lives and livelihoods, and the displacement of millions both internally and externally. Fifteen months into the conflict, Sudan faces one of the fastest growing crises globally, with unprecedented humanitarian needs. According to the 2024 revised Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), approximately 25 million people require humanitarian assistance, including over 14 million children.

The influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) into already fragile communities is increasing their vulnerabilities, putting pressure on scarce basic services and natural resources, and threatening community resilience. According to the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), more than 11 million people have been displaced internally, with 7.3 million displaced since April 2023. The UNDP/IFPRI assessment highlights an accelerating food insecurity crisis, with up to 59% of rural households facing moderate or severe food insecurity, disproportionately affecting female-headed households.

The conflict has also led to the destruction of productive assets, agricultural land, and the disruption of markets and trade routes. Over 70% of respondents to a UNDP/IFPRI survey indicated they did not cultivate any land during the 2023 summer season. Urban and rural household incomes have been severely disrupted, and the cost of food and production inputs has soared, with staples such as sorghum, wheat, and millet becoming unaffordable for many. The devaluation of the currency has further exacerbated the situation, making it difficult for Sudan to import sufficient food stocks. The situation is critical, with significant unemployment challenges, particularly among youth and university graduates, and a striking 73% of people fleeing the war not gathering in camps but finding refuge within host communities, placing additional pressure on these communities and threatening social cohesion.

UNDP-Sudan has been making significant contributions to the 2024 revised HNRP and the Sudan Famine Prevention plan through active engagement in coordination platforms as well as the implementation of integrated solutions that enhance access to Health care, Safe water sources, livelihoods and economic opportunities, clean and affordable energy whilst promoting peace and social cohesion. UNDP is intending to contribute to mitigating and averting a humanitarian catastrophe by using cash-based interventions to improve food security of both IDPs and host community members while contributing to resilience building.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Within UNDP Sudan, the Recovery and Resilience Pillar aims to address socio-economic problems and strengthen the effectiveness of key economic institutions to deliver people-centred recovery and resilience interventions. It aims to build the space, capacity and trust for excluded and vulnerable groups to improve their socio-economic situation so that the resilience of communities can be improved. 

Under the overall guidance of the Resident Representative and under direct supervision and line management of the Deputy Resident Representative/Programme, the Programme Manager (Team Leader) sets the strategic direction and oversees the Recovery and Resilience pillar Programme with its diverse components across Sudan. He/she advises the country office senior management on development and implementation of the Programme/Projects, cost effectiveness and responses to emerging complex challenges in managing the Programme. He/she leads and supervises the Programme/Project staff working in different geographic areas of responsibility of the Programme ensuring cross-unit cooperation and coordination. He/she works closely with internal and external counterparts, development partners, NGOs, civil society, private sector etc., to successfully deliver UNDP Programmes. He/she ensures a client-oriented approach and consistency with UNDP rules and regulations. 

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration. 

Key duties and accountabilities include:

Ensures effective program management: 

• Advise and support the office-wide efforts in piloting planning-based integration and issue-based integration to ensure programme coherence and increase sustainable impact of UNDP’s Recovery and Resilience programme.
• Conduct relevant analysis and develop technical policy advice and programme documents that responds to needs on jobs and livelihoods (MSMEs recovery and growth; active labour interventions) that ensures decent work conditions.
• Develop and operationalize a contextualized private sector and MSMEs recovery and growth, in particular through sustainable access to finance and business development.
• Technically lead and contribute to the assessments of the needs, capacities available, resources and market conditions, including specific condition to employment opportunities for vulnerable groups including women.
• Map, identify and prioritize approaches and models based on the assessment to ensure demand-based, context sensitive programming.
• Provide overall management and supervision of implementation of the program in line with UNDP’s and local partners’ priorities and approved agreements, and as per UNDP operational policies and guidelines. This includes management and coordination of a larger team of project staff based in the Port Sudan and field deployments.
• Ensure technical coherence, quality and standard throughout the program and its project components.
• Maintain close working relations with national and local partners to ensure optimum programme impact as well as participation and ownership by national stakeholders, including civil society.
• Oversee the planning and coordination of, as well as participate in, Project Board meetings and other relevant coordination processes including producing relevant reporting.
• Encourage and find opportunities for cross-pillar synergies, identify cross-cutting issues and work to advance enablers such as digital and innovation.
• Lead and direct programme work planning in all its aspects, including forecasting of programme requirements timing and priorities, budgeting, work distribution and tasking to ensure satisfactory progress and timely completion of the overall portfolio programming and its constituent project components.
• Supervise and manage the work of project staff in Port Sudan and field offices and conduct performance assessments as per agreed TORs and workplans. Promote and implement adaptive management practices in program and project management.
• Adhere to UNDP’s rules and regulations and internal control mechanisms in the areas of contracting, assets, procurement, recruitment etc., as required. Serve as approval authority for financial transactions in the system up to designate level, as required.
• Ensure the effective and efficient utilization of all financial and human resources with a view to maximizing program performance and impact. Ensure operational and financial closure of projects with the operations team.
• Ensure timely and accurate input to the Country Office for compliance with programme-related UNDP and donor reporting obligations and requirements. This includes drafting of annual progress reports. Support/facilitate external evaluation, audits and donor assessments.
• Ensure periodic collection of case studies, human interest stories, new partnerships and best practices for inclusion in donor reports, the UNDP newsletter and UNDP website.
• Advance communications and visibility of results in close collaboration with the Communications Team.
• Participates in internal control mechanisms for adherence to UNDP rules and regulations in contracts, assets, procurement, recruitment, etc. as required.
• Manages day to day administrative matters for the project with support from administrative staff and the performance of consultants, specialists, and advisers;

Ensures partnership building and resource mobilization:

• Develop, strengthen and maintain constructive working relations, networks and partnerships with relevant key counterparts at different levels, including government, civil society organizations, implementing partners, the private sector, other development partners, UN entities and the donor community.
• Advise and support the country office in strengthening partnership and donor relationship management including visibility and strategic engagement and advise senior management on resource mobilisation efforts.
• Lead the country office to meet resource mobilization targets including by leading development of donor proposals and maintaining a responsive partnership liaison system.
• Guide and oversee implementation of an effective communication strategy to promote and foster awareness about the projects among its multiple stakeholders and the public at large.
• Support ongoing coordination efforts of the UN in Sudan’s Common Approach, UN-internal and external coordination structures and platforms.
• Advocates for UNDP’s work and represents UNDP with the partners, the donor community, and international financial institutions, where requested.
• Liaises regularly and forges close linkages with other UN programmes, agencies and entities, as well as other international and national stakeholders concerned with or providing assistance on recovery and resilience.
• Contributes to the harnessing of effective partnerships and competitive selection of partners for implementation of UNDP projects.
• Identify the appropriate modality of implementation and partnerships for socio-economic recovery interventions that ensures coherence and sustainability, based on the assessment, and facilitate the procurement and agreement process.
• Regularly monitor the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience portfolio programmes and projects.

Ensures innovations, advocacy and knowledge building:

• Provide thorough analysis of the social and economic situation in Sudan and preparation of substantive inputs to strategic documents.
• Identify ideas and opportunities for the development of new interventions in the thematic area of Recovery and Resilience.
• Facilitate the alignment of the Recovery and Resilience work with emerging priorities in the light of ongoing ceasefire negotiations and possible renewed political transition negotiations in Sudan.
• Identify capacity building needs and opportunities. Ensure appropriate trainings, workshops and other relevant activities are organized in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, civil society, donors, and/or academia on recovery and resilience.
• Facilitate knowledge and capacity building, knowledge sharing, and advocacy relevant to the assigned thematic areas.
• Identify opportunities for bringing on board context-relevant global and regional experiences and best practice to the program.
• Ensure program reports capture results, lessons learned and good practices for possible wider application. Identify and synthesize best practices and lessons learned from the programme for organizational learning.
• Participate in and ensure sound contributions to knowledge management networks and communities of practice. Facilitate innovative mechanisms for dissemination of knowledge emerging from the projects.
• Provide leadership on Recovery and Resilience issues within the framework of various coordination structures and documents.
• Promote advocacy for UNDP’s work in addressing development challenges. Develop knowledge resources and products to share with program partners.

Ensures provision of advisory services and technical expertise:

• Provide strategic guidance and technical leadership to the Project Teams and the UN-CT in areas of resilience and recovery, with a thematic focus on:
• Coordination at the UNCT on the issues and programmes related to socio-economic recovery and participate in the relevant working groups and liaise with other relevant sectors and partners.
• Establish effective links with other sectors, partners, UN agencies and stakeholders to design joining efforts (joint programming, planning and implementation) and build new partnerships.
• Explore innovative partnership especially with private sector and academia for socio-economic recovery and resilience.
• Map, identify and prioritize potential partners and actors for interventions, and engage in direct discussions and negotiations with them.
• Build Socio-economic data ecosystem to map contribution of Recovery and Resilience Pillar to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Ensure the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, a human rights-based approach to programming, and conflict sensitivity considerations into the overall design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects.
• As required, represent the program in national and international fora and discussions on recovery and resilience.
• Provide substantive inputs to the preparation of policy notes, briefings, statements, and events.
• Proactively identifies risks and challenges to on-going operations of the Recovery and Resilience projects and provides mitigation strategies.

Other Duties:

• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: 

• The Program Manager (Team Leader) supervises and manage a team composed of professional and general service staff both at portfolio and project level. S/he will be supported by an operations team including M&E and financial experts.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: 

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Economics, Social Sciences, Political Sciences, International Relations, Peace and Conflict studies, International Development or any other relevant field is required. OR
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above, in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills:

• Minimum 10 years of experience (with master’s degree) or 12 years (with bachelor’s degree) in development and/or humanitarian fields related to socioeconomic recovery, job and livelihoods, social cohesion, and area-based approach, is required.
• Experience working within conflict and post-conflict settings; in particular in relation to early recovery working with local governments, civil society, and development partners; is a significant advantage.
• Prior field experience in crisis and post-crisis countries with UNDP / UN is desired.
• Direct experience in the design and/or implementation of Resilience, Recovery and Area-Based programmes is an asset.
• Experience in innovation and experimentation in the area of MSMEs/Private Sector engagement and recovery, and social protection is desired.
• Experience in Digital programming including digital payment, mobile wallets, e-commerce platform will be an asset.
• Experience in building large scale partnerships with UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs and Civil Society would be an asset.
• Prior field experience with UNDP or another UN entity is a significant advantage.

Languages: 

• Fluency in written and oral English is required.
• Fluency in another UN language is an asset.

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/20726