Plan International is a rights-based development and humanitarian organisation working for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We are independent of government and have no political or religious affiliation.We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

The position exists to lead on providing technical guidance, tools, and support on programme design and delivery in primary and sexual reproductive health (SRH) within Plan International’s portfolio of work.  SRHprogramming must be in line with the global position paper on SRHR.  The post holder will ensure all work is developed and implemented in ways that improve gender equality and empower girls and women. Promoting youth engagement and active community participation will be key components.

Dimensions of the Role

The postholder has no financial authority and may supervise specialist positions under Early Child Development (ECD) and WASH.  They will ensure strong linkages with Plan International’s safeguarding, influencing and strategic partnerships, and technical leads for education, youth employment and entrepreneurship, child protection, and disaster risk management. The incumbent has functional relationship with Project Managers, MERL and the Business Development Unit.

Accountabilities

Programme and Project Design& Implementation

• Lead the identification of critical factors, gaps and actions necessary for the promotion, protection and respect for primary and reproductive health rights in development and humanitarian contexts
• Design a quality programme as part of the country strategy (CS) which aligns with the Global Strategy and national plans and priorities
• Develop a detailed inclusive gender and age friendly strategy, especially for adolescents, that unpacks the CS programme
• Lead programme area staff in designing high quality projects and funding proposals
• Provide technical guidance during implementation ofprojects to achieve the programme objective in ways that challenge gender norms and harmful practices
• Support the development of age and gender appropriate tools and guidance both for development and public health emergencies
• Strengthen awareness of public health and SRH approaches by Plan International
• Ensure a robust understanding of Plan International Sudan’s sponsorship vision, Plan commitments, and support the realisation of strategic alignment with programme priorities

Portfolio Management& Monitoring

• Monitor CS programme objective achievements and project implementation milestones
• Track budget utilisation monthly across the portfolio against annual plans and analyse outputs, achievements, and issues
• Monitor national and global developments and trends on primary health and SRH (including updates from WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA) to ensure alignment with priorities and plans
• Contribute to movement building with other civil society actors to identify areas for influencing to address issues of girls and adolescents
• Prepare corporate global plans and reports such as quarterly and annual reports showcasing progressive achievements across all programme areas
• Provide technical reviews of all donor project reports under the programme

Capacity Building

• Ensure common understanding of the programme by all staff
• Identify areas of continuous improvement to strengthen the programme
• Upskillstaff, partners and key stakeholdersin approaches for quality primary and SR health interventions
• Facilitate cross & peer learning among health staff and lead in compiling and sharing best practices
• Lead on the development of lessons learned and supporting cross-organisational learning on successful approaches and interventions
• Maintain the end-to-end knowledge management, from knowledge creation or gathering, to knowledge utilisation or application

Representation and Networking

• Engage in relevant Plan International working groups at regional and global level
• Represent Plan International in relevant external fora and interagency working groups, particularly the health sector meetings
• Position Plan Sudan as active member of global SRHR Network
• Build strategic relationships with government ministries, UN agencies, and the private sector
• Enhance collaboration with local CSO’s and Youth-led organisations

Safeguarding, Risk Management, and Gender Equality & Inclusion

• Ensure gender equality is core to all health activities, positioning Plan International as the go-to agency for gender responsive programming with specific attention on adolescent girls
• Ensure integration of safeguarding and PSEA into all public health and SRH work
• Ensure that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant implementation standards and guidelines as applicable to area of responsibility. Including, but not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC); relevance to area of work, and concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures
• Identify key programme risks and project specific risks and put in place appropriate control measures to manage them

Key relationships

Internally: Works closely with

• Technical leads and gender specialist
• Safeguarding and Internal Auditor
• Programme Area Managers
• Influencing and Strategic Partnerships
• Business Development Team

Externally:

• Interagency working groups and coordination fora
• Plan International partners including youth groups
• Ministry of Health officials

Technical Expertise

• A degree in public health, particularly maternal and new-born health, and sexual and reproductive health
• A Master’s Degree or higher in medical sciences or project management is added advantage
• At least 7 years working experience in project and programme implementation
• Demonstrable experience of integrating gender and child friendly approaches
• Demonstrable experience of humanitarian standards (Sphere, CHS etc)
• Experience of developing guidance notes and tools
• Experience with an international organisation
• Proven experience in networking and external representation
• Experience of developing and conducting capacity building programmes

Knowledge and Skills

• Strong knowledge of project management within large grant contexts
• Knowledge of rights-based programming, including adolescent, ECD, WASH,and nutrition programming
• Extensive knowledge of the health system in Sudan considered an asset
• Broad knowledge of the humanitarian sector
• Must be fluent in English and Arabic
• Experience in implementing PSEA activities and training
• Creative approach to problem solving is central to the job
• Flexibility to adapt plans to a changing environment
• Skills in developing and maintaining collaborative relationships; managing self in a pressured and changing environment; motivating and influencing others
• Strong networking, communication, and negotiation skills
• Minimum to intermediate level of expertise in using Microsoft packages