About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

About CRS Sudan and Program Background

CRS Sudan is as dynamic and diverse as the needs of the people we serve. Since 1978, CRS Sudan has been assisting the people of Sudan across the emergency, recovery, and development spectrum. Key sectoral areas for CRS Sudan include food security, livelihoods, nutrition, health, peacebuilding, and natural resource management. CRS Sudan has an expanding portfolio of programs crossing the emergency response and resiliency spectrum. Currently, CRS Sudan oversees programming across five Darfur states and the Red Sea.

CRS Sudan will implement a three-year resiliency project in West and North Darfur, Ma’an Aqwa (Stronger Together), funded by the European Commission and focused on conflict mitigation and climate change mitigation and adaptation. This project is implemented in partnership with the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and two national partners. This project will utilize innovative approaches related to governance and capacity building, peacebuilding, livelihood development, natural resource management, and early warning systems to build individual and community resiliency.

Job Summary:

You will manage, coordinate, and monitor project activities and relationships with partners and other project stakeholders to assist the achievement of Ma’an Aqwa resiliency project objectives advancing Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work serving the poor and vulnerable. Your project management skills and knowledge of the program area will ensure that the CP delivers high-quality programming and continuously works towards improving the impact of this project. This role will lead project implementation in West Darfur state.

·         You will lead technical, budget management, monitoring and reporting activities for Ma’an Aqwa (Stronger Together) project in West Darfur State through the project cycle - start-up, implementation and close-out - in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.

·         Effectively manage talent and supervise. Manage West Darfur team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, contribute to the recruitment process of project staff, and complete performance management for direct reports.

·         Ensure learning properly accompanies project activities throughout the project cycle. Support accountability through coordinating project evaluation activities following MEAL Policy. Proactively identify issues, report them to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules.

·         Engage and strengthen partnerships relevant to the project, especially in West Darfur state, applying appropriate application of partnership concepts, tools and approaches.

·         Represent the organization in West Darfur state with INGO working groups, UN, relevant local partners and relevant local government and community actors.

·         Coordinate activities required for ensuring the financial, material and human resources for the quality implementation of the project in West Darfur state. Conduct periodic budget reviews and follow-up with partners on timely submission of financial reports to facilitate proper tracking of resource use.

·         Identify staff capacity needs and technical assistance needs of partner organizations and contribute to capacity strengthening and required interventions to support quality project implementation.

Assist with preparation of trends analysis reports and disseminate results. Review project documentation to ensure project file is complete with all required documentation and is filed per agency and donor requirements.

·         Bachelor's Degree required. Master’s Degree in International Relations or in a related technical field would be a plus.

·         Minimum of 5 years of work experience in project management, ideally for an NGO and in the area of resiliency or related technical fields (climate change mitigation and adaptation, natural resource management, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, or governance and capacity building). Experience with EU or European Commission a plus.

Required Languages – English and Arabic language are required.

Travel - This position is based in El Genina, West Darfur. There is expected 70% travel within Sudan to field offices and project sites.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

·         Critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills with ability to make sound judgment.

·         Strong relationship management skills and the ability to work effectively with local stakeholders. Representation abilities.

·         Ability to contribute to written reports

·         Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented

·         Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities

Preferred Qualifications

·         Relevant grant management experience, especially for USG, EU or other public donors, a plus .

·         Relevant experience in related technical areas (natural resource management, peacebuilding, or governance and capacity building).

·         Staff supervision experience.

·         Experience working with stakeholders at various levels and strengthening community partnerships.

·         Ability to contribute to the development of technical proposals, a plus.

·         Experience analyzing data and contributing to evaluation reports.

·         Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

Supervisory Responsibilities: Senior Project Officer and two Project Officers

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Resiliency Program Manager II, Head of Programming, Deputy Head of Programming, Finance Manager, Regional Technical Advisors, HQ Advisors, Project Staff and Consultants

External: CRS international and national partners, donor representatives, government officials, UN cluster leads and agencies, peer humanitarian agencies, third party monitors