About RI:

Relief International is an international non-profit organization committed to partnering with communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and disasters. Our core mission is to save lives, strengthen resilience, and promote sustained health and well-being in affected regions. Our team, comprising over 7,000 staff and local volunteers, operates in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. We focus on providing comprehensive Health and Nutrition, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), Education, and Livelihoods programs, all aimed at fostering community resilience. Our strategy centres on collaborating with local partners to develop programs that are safe, inclusive, and precisely tailored to local needs. These programs are designed to be evidence-based, sensitive to conflicts, and adaptable to changing climates, thereby effectively addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations.

Summary of Position:

The Area Manager oversees RI’s Area office management of programme implementation, finance, Operations and Human resources management; the coordination of work between teams and people and with partners, and coherence among field staff in the geographical area and the counterparts in designated state. Major responsibilities include performance management, capacity development, communication and information sharing both internally and externally; representation and liaising with local authorities, partners and donors; the development of new and innovative program initiatives; and emergency planning and preparedness.

The Area Manager also supports the Country Director with the cultivation of potential donors, strategic partnerships and business opportunities. The Area Manager represents RI at field-level coordination forums and with local stakeholders including government authorities, local business leaders, media and civil society leaders. As an extended member of the Sudan senior management team, the Area Manager is also a key contributor to RIs program strategy and organizational decisions

Programme management and Quality

• Overall responsibility for managing the RI staff in area office, including ensuring positive and collaborative working relationships in line with RI's Code of Conduct, leading performance planning and evaluation process 
• In collaboration with DCD Program, DCD Support and Program Director and Sectoral Technical Coordinators, provide oversight and sign off on program plans and projects that are implemented in the assigned geography.
• Managing Area Office, including efficient and effective financial operations and budgeting, administration, human resources, logistics, procurement and security in compliance with RI and donor regulations.
• Ensure coherence of program initiatives in the assigned geography and create synergy between the sectors.
• Ensure program implementation plans are in accordance with RI Sudan's strategic priorities and are being implemented accordingly to programming principles.

Representation, Liaising and Communication

• Maintain RI’s visibility/presence, and reputation maximizing the benefits of a sustained relationship with partners and other stakeholders.
• Map out, establish and maintain strong relationships with Authorities officials, community representatives, counterpart organizations, the NGO community in general and RI partners in particular in the defined geographical area and other areas as appropriate.
• Represent RI at state-level coordination forums and with local stakeholders including government authorities, local business leaders, media and civil society leaders.
• Take a lead role in planning and supporting any donor mission, Joint mission within the state in collaboration with the Country Office.
• Provide updates to CD on any major development within area office that might impact RI programs.
• Take a lead role in field-level bilateral engagement/negotiation with the UN and the donors and share feedback with CD and SMT.
• Works closely with State Ministries /Departments and other government agencies to obtain the necessary support required by RI at State level.

Accountability and System compliance

• Assure adherence to RI specifically to finance, logistics, IT, security, HR and Procurement following policies and procedures that comply with the RI handbook and funding source policies.
• Ensure that RI procurement and related policies and procedures are up-to-date and disseminated in a timely manner and that all appropriate staff are trained and competent.
• Ensure RI’s safety and security procedures are implemented in the Area and & field offices working in close cooperation with the Safety and Security team.
• Ensure field-level donor-funded projects are managed in compliance with RI and donor policies and procedures
• Ensure donor reports for assets are timely completed and submitted to the finance/program and other departments as appropriate.
• Safeguard RI’s assets in the Area Office and field offices by ensuring finance and administration policies and procedures are fully implemented, documented and filed; propose amendments and changes when necessary, and make sure that the office operates efficiently and effectively.

Budget Management

• Work with Program Managers and TCs to conduct/facilitate filed level BVA review and share inputs with the country office for consideration.
• Oversee all field-level budget expenditures in collaboration with the Finance Manager and area finance team and ensure they are compliant with RI and donor regulations.
• Implement and maintain verifiable internal financial controls in line with the policies and procedures.
• In collaboration with technical coordinators, monitor budget spending in line with the spending plans and develop remedial plans where necessary to ensure budgets are optimally utilized.
• Inform senior management of changing budget needs, and participate in budget development and revision processes
• Maintain a site-level budget overview and collaborate regularly with the finance team to monitor spending and ensure the timely utilization of all grants.
• Review and/or approve (checking for accuracy & compliance) all high-level procurements, framework agreements, leases and other large-value, high-risk financial commitments.

Human Resources

• Practice excellent human resource management, supporting the development, promotion and retention of a motivated team of qualified and experienced staff. 
• Ensure staff are well versed with RI's Code of Conduct, accountability, respectful dialogue with the displaced, refugees and host communities, and prevention of sexual exploitation, and abuse.
• Promote professional development by identifying training and capacity-building opportunities and ensure staff performance plans and evaluations are conducted regularly.

Operations Support

• Coordinate, manage and monitor the workings of the Logistic and Procurement Sub-Departments at area office.
• Work with in-country operations teams to roll out and improve operational systems and ensure standard operation policies and procedures are adhered to
• Support and ensure the operation team works effectively with other units to improve planning such as procurement and movement planning and rational resource utilization.
• Review key operation performance indicators and take appropriate action to support in achieving the set objectives.
• Support in the ongoing creation and upkeep of field office asset registers; ensuring that all program and operations assets are logged, issued with unique RI asset numbers and logged.

Safety and Security

• Ensures that security management and preparedness plans are in place and regularly updated and being followed at the area level.
• Responsible for promoting RI’s acceptance and security and safety awareness for all staff in the area.
• Make decisions and assist the safety focal point to manage security incidents at the local level, in consultation with the area security officer, Security Manager and DCD Operations.
• Responsible for promoting RI’s acceptance and security and safety awareness for all staff in the area. Also ensures that RI is operating in a conflict-sensitive manner.

• Degree or professional certification in Political/Social Sciences, International Rural Development or Public/Business Administration or related field
• Proven experience in area management with a bias towards field operations and security management. Experience working in fragile contexts
• Experience with BHA, EU/ECHO, SIDA, FCDO, WFP, UNICEF and SHF donor rules and regulations will be an added advantage.
• Experience in rolling out systems in a field office and in supporting programmes
• Excellent interpersonal skills, cross-cultural communication and ease in managing a multi-ethnic team
• Excellent interpersonal, communication skills and liaison experience, dealing with local authorities, donors, partners, program participants and communities.
• Ability to identify and communicate potential problems and propose solutions to the level of management and then effect change

Fluency in English, both written and spoken

RI Values

RI upholds the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities. RI values:

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and Accountability
• Agility and Innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability