Reporting into the Chief Programmes Officer, the main purpose of the Country Director South Sudan role is to provide overall leadership to the CA South Sudan office, providing strategic direction, ensuring business growth and providing effective oversight to the CA South Sudan company and project teams.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF JOB
Strategy and Business winning
- Develop and maintain overall strategic direction for CA South Sudan in line with Crown Agents’ overall global corporate growth strategy
- Support the existing project office to transition to an International Office and to integrate more broadly with CA as a global company.
- Feed into overall corporate strategy on an on-going basis as an active member of CA’s Global Leadership Group (GLG).
- Identify and secure new growth opportunities to build a stronger and more sustainable portfolio of contracts and programmes for CA in South Sudan meeting top line and gross margin targets for South Sudan and contributing to CA’s growth more broadly.
- Develop a funding strategy for the IO and seek new and develop appropriate partners and consortia to further strengthen CA South Sudan’s market offering.
- Contribute and lead, where appropriate, on the writing of technical and commercial proposals in conjunction with relevant practice teams.
- Provide sound interpretation of local market information and be fully aware of local and regional political and economic contexts in determining opportunities and priorities.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Maintain excellent, responsive and collaborative relations with clients and donors and act as a point of escalation for individual projects.
- Develop and maintain close working relationships with senior government counterparts, playing a representational role where required.
- Understand and develop access and trust with important and influential client contacts. Nurture and grow your network of key decision-makers.
- Ensure that CA staff and partners demonstrate professional and respectful partnership qualities with stakeholders.
- Develop strategic relationships with other CA programmes and IOs; ensuring collaboration on analysis, development of strategic and joint opportunities and solutions.
Staff Management
- Responsible for line management of operations and finance teams and co-line management (with Project Directors) of Team Leaders and Project Leads for projects in South Sudan.
- Manage, mentor and support CA South Sudan staff; providing inspirational leadership to the country team, and ensuring clarity regarding CA and donors’ values and priorities.
- Encourage and ensure effective communication within the South Sudan office, and with the global business (with London and the rest of CA’s global network).
- Oversee the maintenance of all CA South Sudan resources including IT systems to facilitate effective operations, programme delivery and business development
Programme Delivery & Technical oversight
- Support and demand high quality and delivery standards to ensure positive, sustainable commercial and reputation effect for CA South Sudan that can be leveraged to provide new leads or programme ‘build outs’
- Where appropriate and required provide sound technical guidance to project teams, given local context, for innovations, changes or additional activities that will further project objectives.
- Work in close partnership with programme delivery and technical practice teams, including practice directors, relevant programme directors and those in the Programme Management Office (PMO), Finance, HR etc.
Governance
- Manage the affairs of the company in accordance with and adherence to the prevailing in country laws as well as policy delegations of CA South Sudan
- Ensure technical, financial, contractual, and political integrity are maintained to safeguard CA reputation
About you
Requirements
- Masters OR equivalent professional experience in health systems strengthening or subject related to one of CA’s technical practice areas
- Typically, we require a minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in a senior manager role. Previous experience as a Country Director is desirable.
- Strong interpersonal and soft skills such as delegation, communication, trustworthiness, empathy, leadership, listening and coaching.
- Being able to demonstrate emotional intelligence in leadership and management.
- Experience in winning and successfully executing in an area of technical focus for CA projects in South Sudan
- Being inclusive and collaborative in a team environment
- A strong track record of securing business growth and establishing new and effect partnerships with clients
- Previous experience in managing a diverse team in a resource limited setting.
- Attention to detail and ability to effectively perform multiple tasks and balance competing priorities often within a defined timeline
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with senior-level stakeholders, particularly interacting productively, proactively, and comfortably with government directly and govt agencies, NGOs, private sector groups, FCDO and donor organizations.
- Demonstrated strategic agility, diplomacy, conflict management, team building, written and oral communication, and negotiation skills.
- Excellent communication skills
- Considerable experience in working with host country governments, NGOs and private sector to move the programme forward and leverage resources
- Prior experience and success directing similar or larger international donor- funded projects.
- Technical capability and a strong professional understanding of procurement services and/or value for money auditing services preferred
- Familiarity with public procurement, tendering for public contracts and contract management
- Demonstrated strategic planning skills.
- Ability to travel as required to support the progress of programme activities.
- Demonstrated experience and knowledge of working for international organisations.