Main purpose of job:

With high ministerial interest and significantly increased development spend, the British Office Sudan is looking to recruit an experienced and passionate Senior Programme Manager (SPM) to lead the delivery of a portfolio of complex programmes and to help take forward an ambitious agenda for programme delivery excellence across the full team. 

You will have a unique opportunity to help deliver the UK’s ambition in Sudan and lead the delivery of our development programmes. You will:

• Work as part of a multidisciplinary virtual mission and team to deliver Development policy and programmes across Sudan.
• Play a leading role in the BOS delivery of the development portfolio (£146m in FY25/26);
• Work with the PRO and SRO to support our successor political programme, which will need to flex and adapt to an ever-changing complex context in Sudan;
• Be the first point of contact in solving complex programme management challenges;
• Lead and line manage a team of programme managers, working closely with the G7 Portfolio and Programme Manager to ensure the highest standards of programme management and oversight are applied.
• Support the professional development of the team, including on all aspects of programme management.
• Make a corporate contribution to the wider virtual BOS mission e.g. People and Welfare Group; Learning Days etc.

Roles and responsibilities:

As Senior Programme Manager, you will oversee the management of a team’s portfolio as well as leading the programme management of complex and/or high value programmes. You will have excellent understanding of the FCDO Programme Operating Framework, provide advice to colleagues on programmatic issues and lead on compliance and financial management for the programmes which they manage. Key responsibilities include: 

1. Programme Leadership – Lead the delivery of BOS’ political and development programmes. As a Senior Programme Manager, you will be a reliable source of leadership within the programme team, not only responsible for the day-to-day management of specific programmes, but also providing expert advice and leadership to other members of the team, to ensure the team’s compliance to UK Government rules. You will put in place robust systems for managing this within the team and depending on the programme, lead on programme design, mobilisation and if required, act as a Programme Responsible Owner (PRO).
2. Establishing and maintaining strong relationships with our implementing  partners to ensure our programmes deliver the intended results and that we maximise our impact. You will be required to have a strong understanding of the requirements of partners set out in our contracts or grant agreements and use these to manage and incentivise strong performance from partners, as well as compliance with UK rules and standards.
3. Delivering robust financial management of programmes by working alongside Programme Managers and Officers to ensure spending limits are adhered to, variances are minimised and value for money is achieved. You will play an important oversight role to ensure the team proactively manages accurate financial forecasting over the year and profiling for outer years, ensures timely payment of invoices, and robust scrutiny and follow up of financial reports and annual audited statements. You will work closely with partners to understand risks to spend, explain UK requirements and challenge poor financial performance.
4. Proactively managing risk (including fiduciary risk) of programmes. You will engage constructively with partners and the FCDO PRO to ensure we identify the key risks to programme delivery, discuss these regularly and respond promptly and effectively to mitigate risks, including escalating these to senior management when required. You will ensure the UK’s zero tolerance approach to fraud and corruption is effectively implemented for your programme.
5. Strengthening programme management capacity in your team and the wider British Office Sudan. This will involve working with the G7 Portfolio and Programme Manager on capability-building, participating in cross-office forums like the Monthly Portfolio Meeting, sharing lesson learning across the office, and contributing ideas on how to improve programme delivery.
   

Resources managed: (staff and expenditure)    

You will have line management responsibilities of 1 HEO Programme Manager.

• A strong and credible leader, who delivers through others.
• A strong understanding of FCDO Programme and Project management (PPM) processes, procedures and best practice, including the PrOF.
• Experience of delivering complex programmes in an access-constrained and FCAS context.
• The resilience to manage multiple projects/programmes concurrently, with the ability to take the initiative and manage own workload.
• Proven financial and risk management knowledge, to support effective programme delivery.
• Ability to work with a range of stakeholders, both internal and external, and challenge implementing partners when required.
• Effective line-management and commitment to personal development of team-members to build capability within the programme delivery profession.
• Expert written & spoken English