Deputy Director, Programs

Position description

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 40 countries and 29 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 has been operating in South Sudan since 1989 and is registered as an international NGO. IRC currently delivers multi-sectoral programming on Health, WASH, Nutrition, Economic Recovery and Development, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Education, General Protection, Child Protection, Women Protection and Empowerment, directly and through partners across seven states and two administrative areas. These include Northern Bahr el Ghazal, covering Aweil East, Aweil West, and Aweil South counties, Unity State, covering Rubkona, Koch, and Panyijiar counties, Upper Nile State, covering Maban, Renk, Panyikang, Nasir, Ulang, and Panylgang counties, Lakes State, covering Rumbek Centre, Rumbek East, and Yirol West counties, Central Equatoria, covering Juba, Yei, and Kajokeji counties, Eastern Equatoria, covering Kapoeta East, Jonglei, covering Ayod, Twic East, Uror, Akobo counties, as well as Abyei Administrative Area and Ruweng Administrative Area, including Pariang County and Ajoung Thok and Pamir refugee camps.

The Purpose of the Role

The role provides strategic leadership and oversight of IRC Sudan’s program portfolio, ensuring high-quality, integrated, and compliant programming that delivers measurable impact for crisis-affected populations. The position leads program strategy, design, fundraising, grants management, external representation, and team development, while strengthening partnerships, localisation, and evidence-based decision-making in alignment with IRC global standards and donor expectations. The role leads quick start off and management of IRC emergency response in South Sudan.

Scope and Authority

Authority: Acts as a senior member of the Senior Management Team with delegated authority to:
• Lead program strategy, design, and portfolio prioritisation.
• Approve programmatic approaches, proposal concepts, and donor submissions.
• Represent IRC Sudan with donors, partners, and government counterparts on programmatic matters.
• Direct and supervise technical Program Coordinators , MEAL, emergency response and the Grants function.

Responsibility for Resources: Oversight of the full IRC Sudan program portfolio, including:
• Multi-donor grants (public and private).
• Program budgets, in collaboration with Finance.
• Human resources within the Programs and Grants teams
• Information, data, and knowledge related to program performance and learning.

Key Working Relationships

Internal
• Country Director and Senior Management Team
• Program Coordinators, MEAL Coordinator, emergency preparedness and esponse, Grants & Partnership Coordinator and Program Staff
• Finance, Operations, MEAL, and People & Culture teams
• Regional and HQ-based Technical Units

External
• Donors (US, European, FCDO, UN, World Bank, foundations, private donors)
• Government counterparts
• Coordination, National and international NGO partners
• Local partners under partnership and localisation frameworks

Key Accountabilities

Accountability 1: Program Strategy, Design and Fundraising (30%)
• Lead the operationalisation of the IRC Sudan response strategy and actively contribute to longer-term strategic planning.
• Ensure project design reflects IRC program quality standards, technical best practices, and operational feasibility.
• Proactively design and implement fundraising strategies to support sustainable program growth, with an emphasis on longer-term and diversified funding.
• Provide leadership and technical oversight to develop competitive, evidence-based, and cost-effective funding proposals.
• Ensure program choices are grounded in robust needs assessments, community input, contextual analysis, and sound operational planning.
• Formulate integrated programming approaches that promote cross-sectoral collaboration, protection mainstreaming, and gender-responsive design.
• Lead the development and implementation of a localisation strategy that strengthens local capacities and systems.
• Promote and institutionalise the Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) across the program portfolio.

Accountability 2: Grants and Financial Management (25%)
• Provide strategic direction for funding strategies, donor diversification, and overall grants management quality.
• Ensure full compliance with donor, IRC, and partner requirements throughout the grant lifecycle.
• Oversee the preparation, review, and timely submission of high-quality donor reports.
• Ensure regular field monitoring visits are conducted to verify donor compliance and program quality.
• Coordinate closely with Programs, Grants, and Finance teams to ensure sound budget management, cost control, and timely contractual documentation.
• Support and oversee Grant Opening and Grant Closing Meetings, ensuring staff are adequately trained in grant and budget management.
• Ensure regular Budget vs. Actual reviews and effective monthly grant review meetings.
• Proactively identify and mitigate financial and compliance risks in collaboration with Finance.

Accountability 3: Program Implementation, emergency response, Monitoring and Learning (20%)
• Provide overall leadership and management of the IRC Sudan program portfolio, ensuring strategic coherence, quality implementation, and compliance.
• Ensure the development and regular adjustment of realistic and feasible project implementation plans.
• Support program teams to develop and implement robust Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) frameworks.
• Review M&E and accountability data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Promote systematic documentation, dissemination, and application of lessons learned and best practices across programs.
• Coordinate with SMT members to strengthen systems for knowledge management, risk management, and performance monitoring.

Accountability 4: External Representation and Advocacy (15%)
• Represent IRC Sudan professionally with donors, partners, and government stakeholders.
• Support the Country Director and Regional leadership in donor engagement and strategic advocacy initiatives.
• Coordinate and support donor visits, ensuring strong preparation and follow-up.
• Serve as the focal point for program-related communication between country, regional, and global offices.
• Oversee and support programmatic inputs to advocacy efforts at the country, regional, and global levels.

Accountability 5: Staff Management and Development (10%)
• Provide leadership, supervision, and performance management for Program Coordinators, Program Staff, and the Grants Coordinator.
• Set clear objectives, provide regular feedback, and ensure timely implementation of the performance management system.
• Foster an inclusive, high-performing team culture grounded in trust, accountability, learning, and mutual respect.
• Build staff capacity in project management, grants management, and leadership through coaching, mentoring, and on-the-job learning.
• Lead recruitment, development, and succession planning for high-performing national staff.
• Ensure adherence to IRC Global People and Culture policies and procedures.
• Promote staff well-being, duty of care, and healthy work-life practices, role-modelling these consistently.

Person Specification

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:
• Master’s degree in Development Studies, International Relations, Social Sciences, or a related field.
• Strong knowledge of humanitarian and development programming standards and best practices.
• Demonstrated expertise in program design, fundraising, grants management, and donor compliance.
• Strong leadership, team management,communication, negotiation, and analytical skills.
• Ability to manage complexity, competing priorities, and high-pressure environments.

Experience:
• Minimum of five years’ senior management experience in humanitarian or development contexts.
• Proven experience managing multi-sector programs, with health and protection programming strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success in developing winning proposals to public and private donors.
• Experience working with US and European donors.
• Prior management of grants funded by the World Bank, FCDO, EU, UN agencies, foundations, and private donors.
• Proven ability to deliver projects on time, within budget, and with measurable results.

Application instructions

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