East Darfur: Senior Health and Nutrition Coordinator

Nov 26, 2018 | American Refugee Committee International
View Original

The American Refugee Committee is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries over the last 30 years.

The Sr. Health and Nutrition Coordinator is responsible for developing and supervising ARC’s health and nutrition portfolio in Sudan. S/He provides leadership, direct management, and technical guidance to the health and nutrition team and is accountable for the development and implementation of high quality services through an integrated program in East Darfur that is of high-quality and meets national and international standards. This position is based in East Darfur with required quarterly monitoring and supervision visits to all ARC health and nutrition service points in the state.

This position requires extensive internal and external collaboration. The Sr. Health and Nutrition Coordinator will represent ARC at donor meetings, cluster meetings, and other inter-agency meetings and will collaborate with national counterparts and other key stakeholders (Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, WFP, HAC). Within ARC, the Sr. Health and Technical Coordinator will coordinate closely with her/his counterpart based in South Darfur to ensure standardization of programming across the two states.

This position will work under the supervision of the Country Program Manager and in collaboration with State Program Managers, Finance Director and Country Director.

Our Team in Sudan

The American Refugee Committee (ARC) Sudan Program started in 2004 in response to the emergency needs of some 500,000 war-affected IDPs and host populations in the Tulus and Gereida corridors in South Darfur. In 2014, ARC expanded services into underserved villages in the East Darfur. The overall aim of the program is to improve the well-being of the target populations by addressing their immediate humanitarian needs and contributing to long-term community stabilization.

In conjunction with the Head Office in Khartoum, the field offices in Nyala, South Darfur and Ed Daein,& Adilla East Darfur support the delivery of primary health care services at 25 rehabilitated community clinics, one reproductive health unit and one BEmOC facility. Water and sanitation services, including the construction/rehabilitation of boreholes, water yards, household and institutional latrines and hygiene promotion messages, are also delivered in over 70 conflict-affected communities. A small agriculture component assists resettling IDPs and host populations with seeds, tools and extension services to grow their own food. ARC programs enable resiliency in rural communities in both regions in the face of recurring conflicts and natural disasters such as drought, flooding and environmental degradation. The goal is to aid transition to early recovery in Darfur, in an equitable and environmentally sustainable manner.

With an annual budget of between $9-12m, the Sudan Program has 8 expatriates and over 600 national staff some of who are seconded from the line Ministries of the Sudan government.

Your Responsibilities

Technical Guidance and Leadership  40%

  • Lead implementation of health and nutrition services in the project areas as guided by project objectives and goals, Sudan Health Policy, international standards, and ARC Global Health Strategy.
  • Provide technical oversight to ensure integration of health and nutrition activities with other sectors, including WASH and food security.
  • Contribute to development and implementation of ARC Sudan’s Country Strategy and Annual Plan.
  • Collaborate with the Country Program Manager and Country Director to identify and develop new program opportunities and consider program expansion into new localities.
  • Take lead in drafting health and nutrition proposals and budgets; facilitate coordination of all proposal development for health and nutrition. 
  • Provide technical input in drafting grants management tools
  • In conjunction with the MEAL Coordinator, develop/adapt tools for data collection, analysis and reporting; take lead in analyzing and interpreting collected data in health
  • Develop quantitative and qualitative reports of health and nutrition activities for different stakeholders (donors, ARC Board of Directors, HAC and Ministry of Health) in accordance with appropriate reporting guidelines.
  • Mentor health and nutrition team members (including clinical staff) to build capacity and enable them to take on leadership roles.
  • In coordination with health and nutrition program staff, facilitate trainings on clinical management, service provision, staff management, data collection and reporting.
  • Guide staff in development of annual performance plans and ensure that all health and nutrition staff have completed appraisals at the end of the fiscal year. Conduct performance appraisals of direct reports.
  • Travel quarterly to ARC supported sites for supervisory visits.
  • Provide input on the preparation of Technical Agreements and respond to audit and program evaluation findings, as necessary.

Program Design, Development, and Implementation 40%

  • Plan and coordinate (in conjunction with health and nutrition program staff) implementation of all health and nutrition activities; ensure progress towards established indicators
  • Ensure that all services and case management are based on MoH standards, donor requirements, and WHO guidelines and protocols.
  • Proactively monitor program implementation, promptly reporting unexpected delays, costs or quality issues to Country Program Manager and Country Director; propose solutions and undertake appropriate corrective action.
  • Monitor budget verses actuals on a monthly and adjust activity plans. Ensure proper budget spend down of health and nutrition programs in accordance with Donor and ARC requirements.
  • Work with health and nutrition team to ensure supply chain management for all health and nutrition supplies.
  • Contribute to the preparation of program summaries, information leaflets and brochures/IEC materials.   
  • Ensure timely submission of health and nutrition staff program timesheets in collaboration with Finance department.
  • Plan and follow up on health and nutrition program staff leave requests, absentees etc. in collaboration with HR department.
  • Participate in recruitment of all health and nutrition program and facility staff, including identifying gaps, drafting ToRs, and participating in recruitment, as necessary.

Representation and Coordination  20%

  • Maintain ongoing relations with health and nutrition sector actors (donors, bilateral and multilateral coordination bodies, research organizations and academics, and relevant government institutions) in Sudan.
  • Represent ARC and liaise with donors, local authorities, Ministry of Health, UN, and international and national NGOs and nutrition sector cluster forums to promote ARC programs, facilitate successful coordination of activities, and ensure transparency in the community.
  • Liaison with SMoH, UNICEF, WFP to ensure availability of supplies and vaccines in the health facilities.
  • Collaborate regularly with other sectors, especially WASH to monitor, prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks.
  • Collaborate with the HQ Global Health Advisors to provide updates on the program, discuss emerging challenges, and collaborate on the design of new programs or changes to existing programs.

EDUCATION, TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED

  • Master’s degree in MPH, or related experience.
  • 5-7 years of experience in managing health programs in emergency settings.
  • International experience required.
  • Experience in analyzing and interpreting health and/or nutrition data and writing reports to a high technical standard.
  • Experience in managing and working with a multicultural staff.
  • Strong participatory leadership and interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to motivate and counsel staff working in a complex emergency environment.
  • USAID/OFDA/UNHCR background preferred.
  • Experience and/or knowledge of Sudan (history, politics, culture, etc.) and sensitive to issues involved in working in Sudan preferable.
  • Strong verbal and written communication experience.
  • Strong computer literacy; strong skills in Microsoft Office.
  • High level of computer literacy including functional experience with statistical packages such as ENA, Epi Info or SPSS.
  • Must be fluent in English, knowledge of Arabic a plus. 

KEY BEHAVIORS & ABILITIES

  • Highly motivated self-starter who takes direction well, but also works independently.
  • Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines, effectively managing multiple priorities.
  • Extremely flexible with the ability to cope with stressful situations
  • Ability to adapt well in competitive, dynamic, multicultural and security sensitive contexts with basic living conditions.
  • Cultural sensitivity essential.