Senior Resident Country Director: Sudan
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks a Resident Senior Country Director with extensive experience leading high-level program support and technical assistance in transitional environments and emerging democracies. The Resident Senior Country Director will provide overall leadership for NDI programs, office operations, and staff in Sudan. They will coordinate support to pro-democracy civic and youth organizations, support an emerging coalition of groups conducting citizen-led political process and election observation, and provide technical assistance to the transitional government should one emerge.
Responsibilities include overall management, financial and human resource oversight, donor and partner relations, and strategic development of the program. Additionally, the Resident Senior Country Director is charged with conducting regular political analysis, supervising overall security management and operations, managing multiple program budgets, and maintaining relationships with Sudanese partners and other organizations, including senior U.S. government officials, non-governmental entities, the diplomatic community, and donor agencies. The Resident Senior Country Director will closely coordinate with Washington, D.C.-based staff and the Resident Deputy Country Director to manage the programmatic, administrative, financial, and logistical aspects of NDI’s operations. The Resident Senior Country Director will be based in Khartoum, Sudan, and reports to NDI’s Regional Director for Southern and East Africa.
This is a key personnel position and is subject to approval by the donor.
- Direct the implementation of NDI’s Sudan programs.
- Serve as a technical advisor to program partners, including civil society actors, citizen-led election observation networks, youth groups, and transitional government actors to inform program implementation needs and requests;
- Anticipate trends or events in political, social, and economic developments to gauge the impact on and opportunities for active and future programs;
- Provide high-level leadership of all country programs and coordinate day-to-day activity implementation and operations;
- Monitor programs to determine that programmatic goals are achieved and operational and reporting requirements are adhered to;
- Adjust programmatic activities based on changing political circumstances and in response to needs articulated by local partners and program stakeholders, and in consultation with donors;
- Ensure programmatic goals are achieved and adhere to operational and reporting requirements, including written reports to Washington DC that monitor and measure program results and political developments in Sudan;
- Present NDI analysis to donors, international organizations, the diplomatic community, and policymakers;
- Ability to motivate and inspire a diverse group of professionals in a challenging environment, instilling a strong sense of mission and teamwork to program implementation;
- Work with international organizations on the implementation of complementary programming and participate in donor coordination meetings;
- Represent NDI and its program at public events and functions;
- Serve as the principal liaison between NDI and program donors, regional government officials, legislators and staff, political party leaders, local nongovernmental organizations, and the media;
- Establish and maintain working relationships with pro-democracy political actors, civil society organizations, election monitoring groups, women’s groups, ethnic minority and other vulnerable population organizations and leaders, and other program partners;
- Assist in identifying and securing additional funding for NDI programs;
- Build the capacity of NDI staff to play a substantive role in program development and implementation; and
- Keep NDI leadership informed of relevant and significant political developments and programmatic issues.
- Undergraduate degree, preferably in international development, political science, or management;
- Minimum of 20 years of relevant work experience in political and electoral processes, democracy and governance programming, particularly closed society, conflict environment programming, and civil society development;
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with and build relationships with senior political and civic leaders, U.S. and foreign government personnel and policymakers, and members of donor organizations;
- Substantial work experience in multiple disciplines of democracy development, including technical assistance to high-level political leaders (required), civic engagement in closed/closing spaces, and civil society development, preferably in Africa;
- Senior-level program management experience, including the development of proposals and workplans, strategic planning, office operations, and the management of fiscal and human resources;
- Knowledge of program design, monitoring, and evaluation tools and best practices;
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with senior political and civil society leaders and members of the donor and diplomatic community;
- Exceptional interpersonal and managerial skills and cultural sensitivity to effectively interact with all levels of staff, U.S. and foreign government personnel, members of donor organizations, funders, and policy-makers;
- Proven capacity to meet program goals while managing financial, administrative, and security responsibilities;
- Prior management and implementation of large international development programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Department of State, and other donor governments;
- Sound political and negotiation skills and extensive experience in working on complex programs and political issues;
- Experience living and working in a country other than home of record;
- Exceptional analytical skills for interpreting complex program and political issues;
- Ability to adjust programmatic activities based on changing political circumstances and in response to needs articulated by local partners and program stakeholders;
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English required to effectively present information, respond to questions and negotiate outcomes; Arabic language skills highly desirable; and
- Experience working in low-income countries and an ability to work in a highly challenging and stressful environment.
NDI is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). As such, NDI makes employment decisions and provides equal employment opportunity without regard to an applicant’s or employee’s race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state and local laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation in the application or hiring process, please notify NDI’s Human Resources department.
PI197732752