Resident Deputy Country Director- Sudan

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks a resident deputy country director for its Sudan country office. This is a senior-level position and will assume leadership responsibilities related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of the NDI’s multi-donor funded democracy assistance program, including activities focused on elections and citizen election observation. The position will be based in Khartoum, Sudan and reports to the senior resident senior country director.

This position requires strong leadership and management skills, significant experience in democracy and governance program areas, such as civil society capacity-strengthening, elections, and the political participation of women and youth. The person in this role must possess effective communication skills and experience as a trainer and/or technical advisor. Strong familiarity with or experience in the Horn of Africa preferred. Written and spoken English is required; working knowledge of Arabic is a plus but not required.

The ideal candidate should possess at least 10 years professional experience.

Responsibilities:

• In coordination with the senior resident country director, contribute to the design and oversee implementation of NDI’s citizen participation and elections programming, including providing capacity strengthening to civil society and resistance committees and building a coalition of civil society organizations to conduct political process monitoring and citizen election observation
• Manage relationships with civil society groups as they form a nation-wide coalition. Provide guidance and share international best practices related to coalition formation and network building
• Remain apprised of electoral reform efforts and transitional political process and advise on how implementation of NDI’s elections programming should adapt to the evolving legal framework
• In coordination with the senior resident country director, develop and maintain collaborative relationships with intergovernmental organizations, international and national NGOs and democratic development agencies, including on the implementation of complementary programming
• Assist civil society partners to develop communications and outreach strategies.
• Measure progress against programmatic benchmarks for the inclusion of women and other marginalized groups in elections and other programming and advise on needed adjustments to programming to better achieve goals of inclusivity as-needed
• Supervise, guide and mentor local program staff working on the above-mentioned initiatives
• Identify and assist to fill program staffing needs (i.e., help identify potential applicants for positions as well as short-term international and regional experts or advisors)
• Manage the development, review and timely submission of program-related materials, including regular reports that measure and evaluate program results
• Ensure programmatic goals are achieved and operations and reporting requirements are adhered to
• Consult regularly with Washington-based staff on program progress, including reporting on political/electoral developments in Sudan that affect program outcomes
• Supports resident director with day-to-day internal operations of the Sudan field office

Skills and Abilities:

• Work independently with initiative, and as a member of a team, to manage high-volume workflow. Structures work of team or project members.
• Apply professional judgment to execute duties and responsibilities.
• Multitask and work within a management matrix and changing business environment and manage and set priorities for a team.
• Apply management best practices such as leveraging deadlines and work plans to effectively coordinate and manage across geographic and multidisciplinary teams.
• Management and leadership skills in order to lead, inspire and motivate staff
• Apply resources by using technology and research skills in areas of purview, and relationship building among organizational teams, professional organizations, and significant local contacts.
• Alignment with and application of NDI best practices and standards.
• Interact with diplomacy and tact using interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity to effectively interact with all levels of staff, government personnel, members of donor organizations, funders, and policy makers
• Verbal communications skills to effectively present information, respond to questions and negotiate
• Writing skills, clear and persuasive, and experienced enough to edit all types of team documents
• Ability to articulate NDI interests in an informed and persuasive manner to external constituency and colleagues
• Analytical skills for interpreting complex programs and political issues to think innovatively and introduce new concepts
• Financial management skills and familiarity with grant funding, budget, and accounting procedures
• Logistics and Operations skills and proven abilities.
• Knowledge of the assigned geographical area’s political environment and people

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations or related subject, graduate degree preferred
• Minimum of 10 years experience working in international development including overseas experience in developing democracy.
• Experience in results-oriented design, implementation, and program evaluation
• Prior experience in successfully implementing USG-funded programs is strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to motivate and communicate skills and techniques to others as a manager, trainer, advisor or consultant.
• Demonstrated track record of supervising staff
• Proven capacity to meet program goals while managing financial, administrative, and security responsibilities.
• Experience providing capacity strengthening to civil society organizations; experience working on elections programs and with citizen election observation groups preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel to regional locations that may be remote and difficult to reach.
• Experience with Google Apps (Gmail, Calendar, Google Drive, G+, etc.) is a must, as well as familiarity with protocols for the secure storage and sharing of information (cyber hygiene).
• Working proficiency in written and spoken English required; working knowledge of Arabic is a plus but not required.

NDI is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). As such, NDI makes employment decisions and provides equal employment opportunity without regard to an applicant’s or employee’s race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state and local laws. If you need reasonable accommodation in the application or hiring process, please notify NDI’s Human Resources department