Sudan: Natural Resource Management Specialist

Apr 3, 2018 | Catholic Relief Services
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Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Sudan Program is finalizing a proposal for United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) grant for resilience programming in Darfur, with CRS as a lead of a large six INGO consortium implementing in all five Darfur States. The proposed project is as a follow up to a successful resilience project titled "Taadoud: Transition to Development", funded by DFID under DFID's Sudan Humanitarian and Resilience Programme (SHARP), that seeks to build the resilience of local communities and households to cope with shocks and stresses. Leveraging learning and evidence from this extensive experience in Darfur, Taadoud IIfocuses on improving natural resource management (NRM) and governance, reducing chronic malnutrition, and increasing the resilience of livelihoods of returnee and conflict-affected vulnerable populations within all the five states of Darfur, Sudan. The development-focused approach targets the whole population that contains these vulnerable groups, with a necessary focus on returnees. The proposed project runs for a total of 4.5 years, from October 2017 through to March 2022. Under the proposed project, CRS in partnership with the five other INGOs will be reaching over 280 communities in 18 localities across all five Darfur States, directly targeting more than 170,000 households (HHs) with the proposed interventions. Key components of the proposed project include Learning, ICT4D, equity "leave no one behind", participatory community monitoring and evaluation for community based natural resources management, gender and Operational Research. 

Job Summary:

Job Responsibilities:

• Support the development and contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools and best practices in NRM/IWRM that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide technical solutions to Taadoud consortium teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
• Lead and manage quarterly technical review of implementation plans for the NRM Technical Working Group (TWG) as well as coordinate with all the sectoral TWGs and ensure appropriate actions are taken to meet implementation timelines and commitments. Collaborate with all Consortium Technical Leads in coordinating, planning, and implementing technical activities to achieve sectoral and program targets.
• Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals. Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS' approach.
• Support capacity strengthening initiatives in resilience building, NRM/IWRM and peace building programming for staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
• Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the NRM/IWRM, peace building and resilience learning agenda.
• Lead collaboration and learning from similar interventions in Darfur/Sudan as well as regional/global experiences/projects through coordination meetings, exchange visits, sharing best practices and lessons learned.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions, participate in forums in the area of NRM/IWRM, peace building and resilience to collect and share best practices and promote CRS' work.
• Work closely with the Deputy Project Director to provide strategic leadership to the Consortium Technical Leads of agriculture and livestock, peace building and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) setting yearly objectives, training agenda and overall coordination to ensure integration of program activities.
• In collaboration with the Project Management Team (PMT), TWGs, Communication and Learning Manager and MEAL Coordinator, provide guidance and technical oversight to ensure that best practices and lessons learned are documented and disseminated and ensure the integration of program innovation and learning.

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

• Master's Degree in Environment Management, NRM/IWRM or field(s) related to NRM/IWRM and water required.
• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in managing and implementing natural resources management projects.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in NRM/IWRM. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.
• Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Good technical writing skills
• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Key Working Relationships:

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

• Trusting Relationships
• Professional Growth
• Partnership
• Accountability