The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 50 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The IRC opened the country program in South Sudan in 1989. Our programs range from humanitarian relief to early recovery and development activities. The IRC works in Central Equatoria, Lakes, Unity, Upper Nile, and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states across 12 field offices throughout South Sudan, among which are some of the most volatile and remote areas, and employs over 800 regular staff and 1700 staff incentive workers, volunteers and interns.

South Sudan’s humanitarian situation is one of the most severe globally, compounded by years of conflict, political instability, and recurrent natural disasters like floods and droughts. The crisis has resulted in widespread displacement, severe food insecurity, and a breakdown of essential services, impacting millions of people. The recent crisis in neighboring Sudan has further exacerbated the situation, leading to an influx of refugees and increased tension along the border, straining already limited resources and worsening humanitarian needs. Despite ongoing efforts by humanitarian organizations to provide aid and support, the challenges remain immense, with vulnerable populations, especially women and children, bearing the brunt of the impact.

Scope of Work

The Country Director is responsible for the overall leadership and supervisory management of IRC staff, programming, operations, and relationships in South Sudan, including program quality and accountability, acquisition and stewardship of resources, staff well-being, safety and security, performance management, and external representation. The Country Director is IRC’s principal representative for the South Sudan program to government authorities, donors, international organizations, civil society, other NGOs, and the media. The Country Director is expected to resource and manage a portfolio of responsive and effective humanitarian, recovery, and development programs implemented directly and with partner organizations. The Country Director will lead country program staff in pursuing the outcomes identified in IRC’s strategy for South Sudan, bringing them together to deliver high-quality, cost-effective programming results with high levels of accountability.

Major Responsibilities

Leadership and Representation

• Develop a vision and carry out strategies that result in contextualized and high-quality programs that meet the identified needs of clients.

• Participate in and represent IRC in global forums and activities organized by various development partners at the country level and take the lead in IRC-organized events in the country.

• Lead the country program by maintaining open and professional relations with colleagues, promoting a strong team spirit, and providing guidance, oversight, and resources to enable staff to perform happily and successfully.

• Initiate and sustain strong, mutually beneficial, authentic partnerships with local organizations.

• Ensure that IRC remains a partner of choice for major international (institutional and non-institutional) donors.

• Seek out and pursue opportunities to raise the profile of the work of IRC and its partners, as well as the lives and the needs of the people IRC seeks to serve.

• Play a leadership role in improving humanitarian coordination in the South Sudan program.

• Ensure IRC is appropriately represented and is an active and strong member of the relevant in-country humanitarian coordination forums and platforms.

• Develop and sustain strong working relationships and support from the government authorities towards IRC’s operations, including timely registration renewal and obtaining necessary permissions for uninterrupted delivery of programs, services, and operations.

• In consultation with the Regional Vice President (RVP), appropriately represent IRC to an external local, regional, and global audience, including media and press.

Strategic Direction, Program Quality and Growth

• Working closely with the RVP and senior regional team, execute the program’s strategic vision and direction to develop the highest-quality programming and delivery that is adapted to the South Sudan context and completely aligned with IRC’s Strategy 100.

• Grow the country program’s portfolio to reach an increasing number of clients at scale with impactful programs.

• Ensure that the quality of the program is consistent throughout the country.

• Actively seek opportunities to expand humanitarian programming in South Sudan to reach under-served and hard-to-reach areas.

• Ensure that systems comply with IRC standards, support program delivery, and promote management coordination and efficiency throughout the country program.

• Establish strong communication and working relationships with key internal stakeholders at the regional and HQ levels to support country program operations and delivery.

• Actively pursue and promote IRC’s Gender Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (GEDI) agenda through innovative approaches and initiatives aligned with global ambitions and commitments to foster an inclusive organizational culture and environment.

Fundraising, Donor & Partner Relations

• Remain current on national, regional, and international issues impacting the program and partners, and develop responsive strategies to ensure the IRC’s mission can be carried out appropriately in rapidly changing contexts.

• Seek out and pursue opportunities to raise the profile of the IRC’s work and its partners in South Sudan, as well as the lives and needs of the people the IRC seeks to serve.

• Ensure submission of appropriate, timely, high-quality proposals and lead required donor negotiations.

• Assure diversified funding.

• Develop and maintain a high understanding of donor priorities, country plans and planned funding initiatives.

• Maintain and expand participation with key donors, host government, local stakeholders and relevant policy and coordinating bodies.

Stewardship and Operational Management

• Lead with commitment, integrity, and accountability to the “IRC Way” – Global Standards for Professional Conduct.

• Drive operational excellence to achieve optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness in all functions and operations of the country program.

• Oversee the operation and utilization of IRC’s Global policies, including financial and operational policies, procedures, and systems, to ensure compliance with IRC and donor requirements.

• Ensure responsiveness and appropriate in-person and remote support levels to all offices, especially in people and culture, finance, and supply chain.

Budget Management

• Provide timely and effective oversight of the country program’s financial position, including identifying and implementing required changes to match funding levels.

• Monitor and identify appropriate sources to match fund requirements and cover funding gaps.

• Maintain effective and coordinated budget monitoring processes for grant and discretionary funds.

Organizational Risk Management Oversight:

Lead the development and implementation of comprehensive risk management strategies to safeguard the organization’s assets, personnel, and reputation in South Sudan.

• Risk Identification: Proactively identify potential risks related to security, compliance, financial management, and operational effectiveness within the volatile and complex country context.

• Risk Assessment Frameworks: Develop and maintain robust risk assessment frameworks, ensuring alignment with local laws, international standards, and organizational policies.

• Contingency Planning: Ensure that contingency plans are regularly updated for emergencies, including natural disasters, conflict escalation, and other critical incidents.

• Compliance Assurance: Oversee compliance with all relevant legal, regulatory, and donor requirements, mitigating risks associated with non-compliance.

• Risk Awareness Culture: Foster a culture of risk awareness and proactive risk mitigation among staff, integrating risk management into daily decision-making processes.

• Crisis Management: Lead the organization’s response to crises, ensuring swift and effective action to protect staff and beneficiaries while maintaining program continuity.

• Regular Reporting: Provide regular updates and reports on risk management activities to the organization’s senior leadership and relevant stakeholders.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Engage with external stakeholders, including donors, local authorities, and partners, to ensure comprehensive risk mitigation strategies are in place.

Safety, Security, and Access Management

• Take primary responsibility for the overall management of safety and security for the country program, including appropriate response to emergencies and crises.

• Maintain a culture of safety and security throughout the country program.

• Keep security, evacuation, and contingency plans current and accessible to country program staff.

• Maintain close coordination and communication with the Regional Safety and Security Director on safety, security, access concerns, and evolving issues that could adversely affect IRC staff or operations.

• Ensure access to vulnerable clients and geographies for timely and quality service delivery.

People & Culture: Human Resource Management, Staff Well-being, Development & Retention

• Develop a positive work environment for all staff supported by a professional-level human resource management function.

• Support and hold management staff accountable for providing development opportunities and planning.

• Work with regional/HQ P&C staff to identify and implement talent, retention, and succession strategies.

• Provide leadership support for successfully implementing and adhering to People & Culture practices.

• As part of the succession and talent identification process, identify, train, and develop the capability and capacity of staff to successfully transition to senior roles within the country and create opportunities for more senior roles in the organization.

• Promote and monitor staff care and well-being. Model healthy work-life balance practices.

• Supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback, and leading documented semi-annual performance reviews.

Communications

• Model and encourage active practice of the “IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct” principles throughout the South Sudan country program.

• Maintain a healthy and empowering office environment that encourages open, honest, and productive communication among IRC staff and with partner organizations. Giving and receiving constructive feedback is part of the team’s role-model behavior.

• Maintain open communication with regional management staff, technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.

Advocacy

• Actively contribute to global, regional, and national advocacy efforts to highlight and promote sustainable solutions for our clients.

• Identify potential advocacy opportunities and initiate contextualized efforts to protect the rights of the clients and promote their needs for high-quality and impactful services and support.

• Ensure that the IRC has a strong voice and contribution to national, regional, and global policy and advocacy efforts to improve the lives and livelihoods of the clients that the IRC serves in South Sudan.

Key working relationships:

• Position Reports to Regional Vice President – East Africa

• Position directly Supervises: A senior management team responsible for Programs, Operations, Finance, People & Culture, and Humanitarian Access Safety Security.

Key Internal Contacts:

• Country Program: All staff

• Region: East Regional Team

• HQ: Crisis Response and Recovery Department (CRRD), Ethics & Compliance, Safeguarding, GEDI, External Relations, Policy and Advocacy, Operations and Strategy, Finance, Global Philanthropy & Partnerships, Technical Excellence and General Counsel

Key External Contacts:

• Partner organizations

• Host country government officials

• Public and private donor agencies

• International and national NGOs

• UN agencies

• Foreign governments

Requirements:

• Significant international work experience covering emergency, post-conflict and development programming.

• Extensive program/business development and fundraising experience with an entrepreneurial ability to spot and seize strategic opportunities.

• Proven experience with U.S., European, U.N., multi-lateral, corporate and other international donors.

• A strategic risk-taker who will explore innovative and compelling responses to difficult developmental and humanitarian issues.

• A passion for humanitarian aid and development work and the ability to motivate others to similar levels of enthusiasm.

• Skilled at building and managing trusting effective relationships with government officials, donor representatives, staff, NGO partners, community leaders and clients.

• A keen understanding of the political, social, ethnic and economic complexities of South Sudan.

• Ability to work, live and thrive in a complex environment.

• Proven aptitude to inspire creative growth, innovation and learning.

• Experience in vigorously advocating to stakeholders for resources, responses and recognition of complex humanitarian and development problems.

• Strong people management skills, including capacity building and mentoring.

• Experience supervising and managing a multi-disciplinary team in a cross-cultural setting.

• Previous budget and fiscal oversight responsibilities.

• Demonstrated successful leadership and management experience with a multi-disciplinary team in cross-cultural settings, including active mentoring and coaching.

• Demonstrated experience in creating diverse and inclusive team climates.

• Effective in developing high-potential staff to achieve career growth and maximum contribution.

• Proven experience in managing high-quality programming that meets the needs of clients.

• Proven experience delivering appropriate levels of oversight of a portfolio comprising various complex, high-value donor-funded projects.

• Experience building personal networks at a senior level, securing new opportunities for the organization.

• Opportunity-awareness. A successful innovative approach to unpredictable programming, operational, and funding contexts.

• Ability to objectively represent program context, constraints, and successes to media, government, and other senior audiences.

Languages Required/Preferred:

• Professional fluency in written and spoken English.

• Arabic and local language skills are an advantage.

Computer/Other Tech Requirements:

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

• Working knowledge of file sharing protocols such as Dropbox, SharePoint, etc., an advantage.

• Working knowledge of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems is an advantage

Ability to Travel:

approximately 25% within and outside the region for workshops, meetings, representation, and conferences.

**Standard of Professional Conduct:**The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.