South Sudan (Republic of): Peacebuilding Technical Advisor/Manager

Peacebuilding Technical Advisor/Manager

City Juba

Description Pact South Sudan is looking for an innovative peacebuilding practitioner to drive forward its peacebuilding programming. You will lead our peace building team to implement quality peacebuilding projects, oversee development of the Country Office peacebuilding strategy, and integrate peacebuilding and gender sensitivity across all programs.

Background: South Sudan attained its independence on 9th July 2011 marking a culmination to a six-year fragile peace (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) and decades of brutal conflict with Sudan (1955-1972 and 1983-2005). Since 2005 South Sudan has made important strides in establishing a functioning system of government, establishing a firm foundation for the respect for human rights, tackling political instability and conflict, and expanding development to rural localities. In addition to this in March 2013 Sudan and South Sudan signed the Matrix Cooperation Agreement and began the implementation of key post-secession arrangements bringing to a tentative close over a year of political and economic stalemate between long-time foes.

Nonetheless massive political, governance, economic and social challenges continue to rack South Sudan. It currently stands as one of the poorest countries in the world, featuring in the bottom 5% of global poverty indices. Internal violence and conflict continues to devastate lives, livelihoods and dignity of communities as a result of persistent acute intra and inter communal fighting that is deeply rooted in notions of marginalization, inequality and lack of security. As a result of the war that re-ignited in South Kordofan and Blue Nile in 2011 between SPLM-N and Khartoum, Unity and Upper Nile States are hosts to over 170,000 refugees with expectations that this will rise in the middle of this year.

Pact’s Work in South Sudan: Pact has been working in Sudan since the late 1990’s supporting peace-building, governance, capacity development, and water and sanitation activities across South Sudan and up until recently in the former ‘Three Areas’ of Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei. The South Sudan Country Program currently implements the following programs: access to justice, peacebuilding (with a focus on conflict mitigation), water and sanitation provision, civic engagement and civil society strengthening, and community driven development. Underpinning this Pact seeks to integrate conflict and gender sensitive, and rights based considerations into all of its interventions. Pact is presently working in eight states out of the ten of South Sudan and has a dedicated focus on working in conflict affected areas of the country.

Role and Purpose: The main purpose of the Peacebuilding Technical Advisor/Manager’s role is to strategically guide and lead Pact’s peacebuilding portfolio and related policy engagement in country with relevant actors engaged in similar work.

The Advisor/Manager shall ensure that programmatic decision making and interventions are grounded in solid conflict and political analysis, a strong understanding of peacebuilding processes and fragile state transition. With overriding management of the Peace Team the Advisor/Manager will be responsible for mentoring and capacity development of staff and partners to enable them to plan, design, implement, monitor, and evaluate peacebuilding interventions across Pact areas of operation. As a member of the Leadership Team, the Peacebuilding Technical Advisor/Manager shall also be the focal point for advising decision makers at Pact on broader developments in peace practice, good governance, stabilization and conflict prevention that impact South Sudan whilst ensuring that these considerations are factored into development of the country program.

Reporting Line: The Peacebuilding Technical Advisor/Manager will be line managed by the Deputy Country Director.

Management/Supervision: The Peacebuilding Technical Advisor/Manager will manage Peace Project Managers (currently two) as well as the Peacebuilding portfolio. It is expected that a strong and functioning relationship be built across programs, in particular with the Access to Justice Technical Adviser, MERL Manager, Capacity Development Technical Manager, Partnerships and Development Officer, and other Project/Program Managers and staff.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities: Program Development, Implementation and Quality  Lead the development of a coherent, innovative and context-relevant peacebuilding strategy and engagement portfolio.  Oversee all peacebuilding programs and components to ensure the effective and efficient delivery and implementation of projects are in line with Pact's and donors’ standards for program quality.  Ensure all Pact’s programs integrate conflict and gender sensitivity into project management cycles and new peace interventions are premised on evidence and solid analysis and monitored accordingly.  Oversee implementation of key peacebuilding research activities in support of the Pact Country Program.  Proactively seek new business development in the area of peacebuilding, including cultivating relationships with donors, proposal writing, etc.  Work in close collaboration with the Results and Measurement team to ensure that proper program monitoring and evaluation systems are in place.  Promote a learning environment within the program team that facilitates two-way learning with various stakeholders.  Participate in Country Office and Pact worldwide strategic planning processes.  Document and disseminate methodologies and results that can inform the wider Pact community (such as evaluation documents, project briefings, consultant reports, workshop reports, etc.).  Produce guidance on how to integrate gender, conflict sensitivity and right based thinking into interventions.  Frequently visit field sites and work with field staff and partners on identifying appropriate interventions and support conflict analysis and other assessments as required.  Oversee the development and review of Peacebuilding Program annual budget and project budgets, oversight of financial expenditures and reports,  Maintain up to date understanding and adherence to Pact’s policies and procedures amongst all program staff.  Support training of staff and partners on peacebuilding practice and other relevant thematic issues.

Capacity Building and People Management  Identify training and mentoring support opportunities to strengthen the capacities of Pact staff and partners to implement conflict sensitivity, policy making, peace building and other areas as required.  Provide proper supervision and management for all direct reports and oversee the establishment and functioning of strong and effective project delivery teams.  Ensure the proper implementation of Pact’s performance management system for direct reports. In collaboration with the Line Manager, proactively address performance issues through regular, constructive and honest feedback and coaching and identifying necessary staff development opportunities for direct reports.  Oversee the recruitment and orientation of new peace project staff.

Policy Engagement  Develop strong networks with international (INGO, UN, Donors) and national actors (Government, Think Tanks, Civil Society) around key peace and conflict issues central to the Pact South Sudan Program. This includes developing mutually beneficial partnerships to support joint messaging and influencing strategies with international and national actors.  Contribute strategically in relevant, existing peacebuilding forums that contribute to the dialogue and can influence policy.

D. Other Duties  Perform other duties as directed by the Line Manager.

Profile of Candidate Professional Background and Essential Skills  At least 6 years of experience of working in conflict and post-conflict environments. Experience of Sudan, South Sudan, or Horn of Africa is highly desirable.  Master’s degree, or higher, in International Relations, Social Sciences, International Development, Conflict and Peace Studies or any other relevant discipline.  Experience of leading peacebuilding initiatives in either advisory or management roles.  Strong understanding of peacebuilding, governance, rule of law, humanitarian and development programming and policies in fragile states.  Experience in use of conflict sensitive methodologies and risk analysis.  Exceptional drafting, representation and communication skills in English.  Demonstrated ability and experience to represent organizations in high-level forums.  Strong research skills.  Experience of managing projects and budgets (preferred).  People management skills.  Knowledge of Arabic or any other major South Sudan language(s) desirable.

Qualities  Self-driven individual with ability to work independently and under pressure.  Strong teamwork and ability to work across different cultures and viewpoints.  Flexible and adaptable.  Willingness to endure harsh conditions when in the field.

Duty Station and Conditions South Sudan is a non-family duty station. The position will be based in the capital Juba, Central Equatoria State. 30% of time is earmarked for travel to the field. Conditions can be extremely basic.

Disclaimer: This job description summarizes the responsibilities assigned to the position; however it does not contain an all-inclusive list of responsibilities. Periodically, employee(s) will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisor. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise. Employment at Pact is a voluntary “at will” relationship.

To apply for this position, please visit our website at www.pactworld.org