Fund Director (Sudan Regional Response Pooled Fund)

The Sudan Regional Response Pooled Fund (SRRPF) is a multi-donor funded initiative by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) designed to address the acute deprivation caused by Sudan’s complex, regional, and cyclical crises. Set to be launched on January 1, 2025, the SRRPF combines immediate relief with long-term resilience-building, addressing the full spectrum of community needs in Sudan and neighboring countries. The fund will prioritise locally-led and conflict-sensitive approaches, ensuring that the most capable actors deliver impactful responses to the region’s evolving humanitarian challenges. The following position is contingent on funding.

Overall purpose of the role:

The Fund Director will be responsible for overseeing and achieving the overall objectives of the Sudan Regional Response Pooled Fund (SRRPF) and leading the Fund team and partners to deliver results, ensuring adherence to donor, governance, stakeholder, and counterpart requirements, as well as DRC’s best practices.

They will manage all SRRPF workstreams, undertake regular assessments of the broader political environment and context within which the Fund operates, and ensure that the Fund maintains the highest level of integrity and continues to uphold its values. The Fund Director will also play a critical role in attracting new donors, including both traditional donors and non-traditional donors such as foundations, to diversify and expand the Fund’s financial base.

The Fund Director will be accountable to DRC and the Fund Governance Board.

Responsibilities :

The Fund Director will

• Provide overall Fund leadership and management in the design and implementation of the SRRPF’s strategic objectives and activities, ensuring alignment to Fund policy, the highest standards of delivery and risk management, and ensuring the fund has the highest possiblie integrity.
• Provide leadership of senior management team, technical and operational staff, and Fund partners.
• Serve as the primary liaison with SRRPF’s donors (in close partnership with DRC’s Project Director).
• Oversee SRRPF work planning, financial management, performance management, risk management, and evidence and learning generation.
• Build and maintain relationships with SRRPF stakeholders.
• Facilitate cross-pollination of evidence, research and lessons learnt to feed knowledge management mechanisms and systems across Fund locations and ensure conflict sensitivity is core to the Fund’s way of working.
• Address issues and mitigate risks related to Fund’s performance and delivery in a timely manner and appropriately adjust strategies as required.
• Attract new donors to fund SRRPF, including both traditional donors and non-traditional donors.

About you

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’s five core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with our vision and values.

Experience and Technical competencies (included year of experience)

• A higher education degree in a relevant field is required
• Minimum 10 years’ relevant work experience in emergency contexts for a humanitarian agency or similar
• Minimum 8 years’ experience as people manager
• High-level strategic vision and project leadership capability, preferably with experience in managing complex activities involving coordination with multiple stakeholders and partner institutions.
• Deep knowledge and nuanced understanding of the political and humanitarian contexts in Sudan and neighbouring countries.
• Track record of senior professional experience within the humanitarian and/or development sector, with substantial experience in at least one of (i) conflict sensitivity, (ii) market system and (iii) humanitarian action.
• Proven leadership in the design, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of donor-funded programmes.
• Experience in financial management and oversight of budgets, grants and procurement activities.
• Demonstrated ability in managing large and dispersed teams in-person and remotely.
• Prior experience as either a Team Leader, Chief of Party, Country Director or similar.
• Demonstrated experience in fundraising, including successfully pitching projects to secure additional funding and expand financial support.
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity.
• Fluent in English, Arabic an advantage.

What we offer

Contract: 2 Year Contract with the possibility of extension, subject to funding and performance.

Management Band/ D.

Nationality: Expatriate or national

Availability: 1st January 2024.

Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya or Addis, Ethiopia

Reporting Line: Project Director

Providing equal opportunities We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive work environment based on mutual respect for all employees. All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, age, ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other factor. At DRC we celebrate diversity and appreciate our employees for the people they are and their unique skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. We encourage all interested candidates to apply.

DRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff within its programs. As such, we strongly encourage national and diaspora candidates to apply for this position.

Promoting high standards : DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.