Peacebuilding Programme Manager – Darfur

Concordis has worked in Sudan and South Sudan since we were formed as an organisation in 2004. The devastation caused by the current war is heart-breaking, but it also reminds us of the vital importance of peacebuilding.

Concordis continues to implement directly in South Darfur, with a team of eight national staff who remain in Darfur and three more working from outside the country. The team consulted over 3,500 people before the war began and identified a network of 103 local peacebuilders across South Darfur. We work alongside national partner Malam Darfur Peace and Development, and support local peacebuilders where conflict is fought and felt. You’ll take on leadership of the team 18 months into the current EU grant.

You are an experienced peacebuilder and manager of people and programmes, and have worked previously in Sudan. You have proven ability in designing and adapting programmes, keeping them relevant and accountable in complex local contexts, ideally in Darfur.

You also have a track record of engaging effectively and proactively with international donors, sharing analysis, communicating the vision and winning funds. You’ll use those skills as you adapt the current programme to meet entry points for peacebuilding, as you work with the team and local partners in designing the next steps, and as you work collaboratively with donors in keeping them on board.

Despite the evident challenges, we see opportunities and an urgent need to support local peacebuilders in managing South Darfur’s myriad local conflicts, to prevent them escalating or from becoming instrumentalised in the war. There are also emerging opportunities to expand on this programme elsewhere in Darfur, and with Darfuri herders displaced into South Sudan and beyond.

This will require visionary leadership and the skill and drive to navigate a way forward in the coming months and years.

Concordis’ peacebuilding programme in South Darfur is primarily about promoting peaceful coexistence amongst and between pastoralist groups and the settled population. This mirrors our existing work over the border in Central African Republic, where we engage with some of the same pastoralists during the dry season, and complements our ongoing work along the border of Sudan and South Sudan, including in Abyei.

This work can demand a lot from all of us, and we have high expectations for the person in this post, but they’ll be part of a supportive team, leading an exciting programme, helping to make a measurable change for peace.

Concordis is a UK registered peacebuilding charity with programmes in Sudan, South Sudan and Central African Republic, plus some new work in the pipeline. We work alongside those involved in or affected by armed conflict, helping them find workable solutions that address the root causes of conflict and contribute to lasting peace and economic development. We’re committed to finding solutions that benefit women as well as men, those in armed groups as well as those who chose not to take up arms, national governments as well as civil society.