Desired start date: 01/04/2024
Duration of the mission: 1 year minimum.
Location: Juba.
SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL (SI) is an international humanitarian aid association which, since more than 40 years, has been providing assistance to populations affected by armed conflicts and natural disasters by meeting their basic needs for food, water and shelter. Particularly committed to the fight against diseases linked to unsafe water, the leading cause of death in the world, SI’s interventions provide expertise in the field of access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, but also in the essential area of food security and livelihoods. Present in some twenty countries, the SI teams – 2500 people in total, made up of expatriates, national staff, permanent staff at HQ, and a few volunteers – intervene with professionalism and commitment while respecting cultural norms.
ABOUT THE MISSION
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL (SI) has been operating in South Sudan since 2006, conducting activities in emergency and post emergency context, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, including IDP camp settings. Its expertise in running emergency WaSH intervention is highly acknowledged by all WaSH actors and donors. Furthermore, SI is implementing longer term WASH and FSL activities in multiple locations.
Since the onset of the crisis in 2013, hundreds of thousands of people have been fleeing the conflict in South Sudan and an estimated 8.4 million are in need of humanitarian assistance as of 2023. Severity of food insecurity continues to grow due to compounding shocks amplified by intensified sub-national violence, three consecutive years of widespread flooding, localized dry spells, and an ongoing protracted macro-economic crisis with heightened poverty and vulnerability (more than 80% of the population is reportedly below the poverty line).
In April 2023, fighting broke out in Khartoum, Sudan, spreading to other parts of the country in the following days and weeks, and resulting in mass displacement from Sudan to Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. By end of 2023, more than 480 000 people had reportedly displaced to South Sudan, the vast majority of entering through the Joda/ Wunthow border point in Renk County, Upper Nile State, the northernmost border crossing in South Sudan. Of those crossing, 82% were South Sudanese returnees, many of whom fled war in then-southern Sudan prior the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, or war in South Sudan between 2013 and 2018.
Following the influx of displaced people to Upper Nile and Unity States, Solidarités International mobilized an emergency response. The two SI emergency teams – responding to natural disasters, epidemics, and population displacement – were deployed early on to participate in the coordination and organization of the response. In Upper Nile, SI already had an office in Malakal (where one of the deployable team is based) and a field-office in Kodok. Two additional field offices in Renk and Melut have been set-up to support the ongoing response to the Sudan Crisis and to ensure constant monitoring and rapid access to affected communities. SI’s long term presence in Upper Nile enables the organization to ensure proper coordination with other key players on the ground in order to provide a high-quality response and avoid duplication of efforts.
The second national emergency team usually based in Juba, has been deployed to Unity State since May 4th to conduct Rapid Needs Assessment and to lead the emergency response in Rotriak and Pariang displacement sites.
SI is currently working to scale-up its response in both Upper Nile and Unity by recruiting additional team members to reinforce its capacities over the coming months.
The activities implemented are in the sectors of WASH, FSL, Shelter, RRM and Emergency Preparedness Response.
In 2023, the mission’s estimated budget is around USD 5+ million, and there are 100+ employees.
To learn more about the South Sudan mission, please click here.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
The Country Director is Solidarités International’s official representative in a country. He / She oversees the smooth running of the mission. He / She proposes mission strategy, according to the geopolitical and humanitarian context, and ensures its implementation once it has been validated. He / She monitors projects, ensuring that they are progressing in accordance with the Solidarités International charter and complying with internal and contractual procedures. He / She mobilizes the material and financial resources necessary for the programs to run effectively and supervises the administration of these resources. He / She coordinates the teams in place and ensures their security on the mission. He / She is the direct liaison for Solidarités International’s HQ.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:
Security
– Serve as main focal point for the mission for critical incidents.
– Liaise with security national authorities and other stakeholders (INGOs, INSO, NGO Forum, UN).
– Ensure security procedures and analysis are regularly updated.
– Brief new staff on security context of the country and the mission.
– Maintain overview of the security context by studying the daily, weekly, and quarterly security analysis from relevant organizations (INSO, NGO Forum).
External outreach
– Serve as main point of contact for strategic decisions with donors, UN, NGO Forum or other NGOs.
– Keep awareness of relevant donors and their funding priorities.
– Maintain regular communication with the donors.
– Represent SI in director level fora.
Annual strategy
– Lead the exercise of defining the annual strategy.
– Ensure the application of the strategy throughout the new proposals.
– Review the fulfillment of strategic goals.
Strategic management
– Lead the Coordination team.
– Make strategic decisions influencing the direction of the mission.
– Maintain overview of the security and funding context of the country as well as situation of the mission (financial, HR, logistics) to inform the strategic decisions.
Coordination within the mission.
Coordination with HQ.
Team management.
PRIORITIES FOR THE FIRST 2/3 MONTHS:
– Oversee the implementation of the annual strategy 2024.
– Reinforce the security management / contingency planning of the mission
– Dynamic analysis of the context to identify new potential needs / relevant areas of intervention
– Consolidate the recent scale-up of the mission to ensure programmatic quality and process compliance
– Sustain and further develop SI’s funding strategy in South Sudan and identify new donors to diversify the funding portfolio.
– Support the Senior Management Team in their coordination roles.
– Regularly represent SI with donors, local authorities, NGOs J17and Coordination forum.
YOUR PROFILE:
EDUCATION: Master Degree in humanitarian/development studies, social sciences, management or other related discipline.
Specific skills and experience:
– At least 2 years working as a country director and 5 years in the humanitarian sector.
– Excellent communication, organizational and prioritization skills and the ability to multi-task and support and/or fill multiple positions at one time.
– Ability, acquired through experience, to represent the organization and negotiate and defend SI’s interests with a diverse range of government officials, departments and ministries, civil society organizations, and other international organizations professionally and appropriately.
– Demonstrated attention to detail and ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work both independently and cooperatively with team members.
– High management abilities, and particularly team management skills and capacities to provide distance technical support.
– Proven ability to deal with donors and operational partners.
– Technical knowledge in SI sectors of expertise (WASH, FSL, Shelter) is an asset.
– Good stress management.
– Experience working with SI (or a similar organization) is an asset.
– Prior experience in South Sudan would be considered as an asset.
Language: Fluent in English, written and spoken. Arabic is an asset.
SI WILL OFFER YOU
A salaried position:
According to experience, starting from EUR 3740 gross per month (3400 base salary + 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly) and a monthly Per Diem of USD 700.
SI also covers accommodation costs and travel expenses between the expatriate’s country of origin and the place of assignment.
Breaks: During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time off is implemented at the rate of 7 working days every three months (with a USD 850 break allowance, allocated by Sl). To these breaks periods, SI grants one (1) additional rest day per month worked.
Insurance package: Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which refunds all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.
LIVING CONDITIONS:
The Country Director can live in a shared guesthouse with the other international staffs or can live in his/her own flat (with a housing allowance given by SI).
Individual room in the guesthouse, with electricity 24/7. NB: During field visits, living conditions are much more basic.
Juba, as the capital of South Sudan offers a good variety of markets, supermarkets, restaurants, and bars.