REACH Deputy Country Coordinator – Programs for South Sudan

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative, AGORA, and PANDA. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis, and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organisations have a strong complementarity relationship formalised in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support in its fields of intervention.

REACH, the largest of IMPACT’s initiatives in Iraq, was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) needs and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

We are currently looking for a REACH Deputy Country Coordinator to oversee our programs in South Sudan

Department: REACH South Sudan

Position: Deputy Country Coordinator – Programs

Contract duration: 12 months

Starting Date: As soon as possible

COUNTRY PROFILE

IMPACT, through REACH, has been implementing programming in South Sudan since 2012. Responding to the Sudan Border Crisis, REACH initially engaged through coordinated information management support – in the form of refugee camp mapping and service provision analyses, thematic assessments, and multi-sectorial needs assessments – in Maban County, Upper Nile State and Pariang County, Unity State. IMPACT was engaged by the DFID (Department for International Development) (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) to provide a series of impact evaluations of their BRACE programming across Greater Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile States in 2013; a program with run for two years, included 5 total assessments, and touched a total of more than 20,000 households. Immediately following the conflict of December 2013, REACH expanded its programming to include the IDP response, participating in Initial Rapid Needs Assessments of conflict affected areas, providing mapping and monthly service provision analyses for major IDP sites around the country, and running large-scale IDP return intentions assessments.

The year 2018 saw the expansions of both IMPACT and REACH programming to 10 of 10 states, spanning the refugee, IDP and development responses, and covering diverse activities such as cross-border port monitoring, assessments of hard-to-reach areas, flood mapping and vulnerability analysis, market monitoring and supply chain analysis, analysis of tensions and conflicts over access to natural resources, and third party monitoring of humanitarian and development programming. In 2019, REACH expanded its role within the technical space, increasing involvement in Integrated Phase Classification (IPC), Needs Analysis Working Group, UN technical agencies, and academics. In response, REACH has also expanded into multiple new research cycle streams outside of its traditional Area of Knowledge approach – including sector specific, population movement, and AAP research.

Broadly, REACH South Sudan implements assessments across three core pillars:

• Monitoring of the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, through monthly assessments covering over 2,000 settlements in South Sudan; tracking and analyzing large-scale population movement trends including returns and seasonal movements through port and road monitoring; market monitoring including Joint Market Monitoring and WASH market monitoring.
• Informing Emergency Prioritization in the response through providing direct technical support to humanitarian clusters through active engagement with coordination bodies, dedicated assessments and information products, and strategic engagement to promote evidence-based understanding and identification of emergency and catastrophic needs in South Sudan; engagement of Emergency Rapid Response Mechanism rapid assessments and tracking of Areas of Concern.
• Mainstreaming Accountability to Affected Populations and Conflict Sensitivity, including through standalone assessments on community priorities relating to humanitarian needs and perceptions of assistance, contextual analysis of the impact of aid on community dynamics; as well as providing a critical AAP and contextual lens to all REACH SSD research.

POSITION PROFILE

REACH is currently recruiting for a Deputy Country Coordinator (DCC) to, under the supervision of the REACH Country Coordinator, oversee the program development and program management of REACH country projects across South Sudan. The role will involve oversight of all REACH South Sudan research cycles (projects), line management of and project management support to the focal points of all REACH research units and teams (Research Managers and/or Senior Assessment staff), project and grants development and management, including liaison with and reporting to donors, human resource management (recruitment and staff welfare), external engagement (representation, partnership development and maintenance), strategy development, through contextual understanding both of the crisis and the coordination structure, as well as upholding team morale. The position will be based in Juba, South Sudan.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Oversight of all REACH South Sudan research cycles (projects) and team management

• Line manage all focal points of research units and teams (Research Managers and/or Senior Assessment staff);
• Ensure that focal points of research units and teams are provided the program management training, support, and resources required to effectively and independently manage their research cycles. This includes:
  • regular follow-up and check-ins to project plan and identify any challenges or bottlenecks;
  • supporting in building and maintaining external relationships as relevant;
  • supporting project focal points as line-managers in developing strong and healthy teams;
• Oversee that research cycles and associated datasets are conducted in a timely manner, to IMPACT quality standards, within sensitivity standards, and disseminated to relevant stakeholders, in line with the REACH South Sudan country strategy and information needs of humanitarian actors;
• Review REACH South Sudan information products in coordination, to ensure that products are of high quality, user-friendly, mitigating risk for the organization, and effectively inform target audiences, before being sent to IMPACT HQ for validation;
• Together with the Country Coordinator, ensure that all team members and hubs are kept up-to-date on key activities, plans, and achievements;
• Together with the rest of the SMT, ensuring a good work environment and taking active steps to ensure staff welfare. This will include building strong professional relationship, having good visibility of issues in teams through regular check-ins, as well as maintaining a professional and supportive tone in the office.

2. Grants development and management

• Under the supervision of the Country Coordinator and with support from project focal points, support in the development of proposals;
• Lead on donor reporting as part of coordination, including tracking of deadlines, delegation, and follow-up of tasks to project focal points, review, and writing of reports;
• Maintain REACH South Sudan relationships with its existing donors through regular meetings to brief on project progress, key developments in the South Sudan context and coordination structure, findings from assessments, concerns with regards to information gaps, as well as development of new grants as needed;
• Under the supervision of the Country Coordinator, support with the creation of a fundraising strategy through strengthened engagement with new donors and partners.

3. Human Resource Management (recruitment and staff welfare)

• Together with the Country Coordinator, identify needs for staff recruitment;
• Drafting of ToRs together with the SMT, liaison with HR at IMPACT Headquarters, conducting interviews, or supporting focal points to conduct strong interviews;
• Together with the Country Coordinator, ensure that appraisals, contract renewals, and recruitments is done in timely manner to minimize gaps on the team;
• Conduct regular check-ins with focal points of research units and teams, as well as with those managed by project focal points, to identify skills and interests on the team, as well as issues influencing team welfare;
• Together with the Country Coordinator, maintain team morale, a strong team spirit, and monitor staff welfare.

4. External engagement (donor engagement, external representation, advocacy, partnership development and maintenance)

• Under the supervision of the Country Coordinator, ensure that REACH South Sudan maintains its strong relationships and position as a key information actor in the South Sudan response through regular engagement with representatives within the South Sudan coordination structure, key NGO forums, and other IM actors;
• Together with the Country Coordinator and project focal points when relevant, identify, develop and maintain partnerships with relevant actors, such as other donors, OCHA, and representatives of relevant NGO forums;
• Support the Country Coordinator in REACH South Sudan advocacy work; largely revolving around raising awareness of key findings with regards to the humanitarian situation in South Sudan and situating these within wider conversations in the South Sudan response, in order to ensure that key findings are heard and used to inform response strategies and implementation, and that the response is based on reliable information;
• Represent REACH and present findings at relevant key platforms/meetings.

6. Support in the development and implementation of the REACH South Sudan Strategy

• Closely follow the social, economic, and political situation in South Sudan as well as humanitarian coordination developments and key issues in the South Sudan humanitarian response;
• Together with the rest of the SMT, regularly review REACH information products for relevance, user-friendliness, effectiveness, timeliness and to ensure that they sufficiently inform the target audience;
• Together with the Country Coordinator, lead on strategy development and implementation across research units, through conversations with external actors, context monitoring, and conversations with focal points;
• Ensure that focal points of research units/teams are trained and able to situate their projects within the wider South Sudan context and support them in thinking strategically about their project.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The REACH DCC will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes. He/she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during his/her assignment with IMPACT.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO COMMUNITIES AND BENEFICIARIES

The staff member is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the communities we work with are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about REACH program objectives, activities, methodologies and research findings (where relevant). This is the responsibility of every REACH staff member.

REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent academic qualifications, including a Master degree in relevant discipline;
• At least 5 years of relevant working experience in humanitarian, development or related settings, including at least 2 years in a program management role and at least 3 years in research;
• Excellent analytical skills, with demonstrable experience in qualitative and quantitative research;
• In-depth understanding of processes involved in conducting assessments;
• Excellent team management, coordination, organizational and planning skills, including ability to manage large workloads, oversee multiple teams and effectively meet deadlines, through an excellent ability to multi-task and prioritize;
• Experience with external engagement (donors, partners and other key stakeholders);
• Familiarity with the humanitarian coordination system;
• Ability to handle sensitive topics with confidentiality and professionalism;
• Excellent communication and drafting skills required for effective reporting;
• Demonstrable ability to work under pressure and meet competing deadlines;
• Solution-oriented, flexible, and open-minded, including ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment;
• Good understanding of the South Sudanese context – past experience in the region is desirable;
• Fluency in English;
• A sense of curiosity, the drive to improve the humanitarian sector, and ability to see the big picture;
• A good sense of humour about bugs and bucket showers.

CONDITIONS

• Salary defined by the IMPACT salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
• Additional monthly living allowance
• Free lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment)
• Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket and luggage allowance
• Provision of medical and repatriation insurance