ROLE PURPOSE: 

Under the stewardship of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)-funded Sudan System Transformation Grant (STG), UNICEF and Save the Children co-designed a program, Building Resilience to Improve Development and Growth in Education in Sudan (BRIDGES). BRIDGES aims to strengthen safe, inclusive, and resilient learning environments for Sudanese children and adolescents (ages 6–14), particularly those affected by conflict and crisis. BRIDGES follows a two-pronged approach: (1) restoring service delivery to ensure safe learning continuity for the most affected children and adolescents, and (2) strengthening the education system at both the federal and state levels to enable improved humanitarian-development coherence and enhance sustainability. BRIDGES works in alignment with the Transitional Education Plan, enhancing education access, learning, and systems outcomes. The role is required to provide strategic and operational leadership to the BRIDGES program, acting as a key accountable person within the organization.

Strategic Leadership:
As the BRIDGES program is a key anchor for leveraging much-needed aid for Sudan’s education sector, the incumbent is required to deliver robust and effective coordination at multiple levels, including but not limited to: the Local Education Group (LEG); the Sudan Education Sector Cluster; forums established in collaboration with UNICEF to drive strategic partnerships; Federal and State Ministries of Education; UNESCO, on intersectionality, coherence, and convergence with the Transitional Education Plan (TEP); education sector donors including GPE; Save the Children senior leadership; and implementing partners. Under the coordination component, the incumbent will be required to actively participate in and lead various forums throughout the program’s life cycle and to provide effectively crafted information packs to be disseminated to a wide range of recipients. The incumbent will also lead consultations and collaborations at various levels to ensure the development of sector-wide, robust solutions to effectively manage service delivery within the volatile context of Sudan. This component of the role will require close business partnership with the UNICEF BRIDGES program lead to ensure effective co-coordination.

Operational Leadership:
The incumbent will act as the primary focal point for all operational purposes, including budget and contract management. They will work with Save the Children field offices, teams in a matrix structure, and implementing partners. The incumbent is expected to lead the development, communication, and monitoring of all operational plans through consultations with all stakeholders, in line with Save the Children systems, donor requirements, and directives stemming from coordination forums.

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Coordination & Representation:

• Lead and represent Save the Children in key coordination platforms, including the Local Education Group (LEG), Sudan Education Sector Cluster, and BRIDGES joint coordination forums with UNICEF.
• Facilitate alignment and coherence with the Transitional Education Plan (TEP) through engagement with the Federal and State Ministries of Education, UNESCO, and sector partners.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with education donors, including GPE, ensuring strategic positioning of Save the Children within the education sector.
• Coordinate with Save the Children senior leadership and field offices to ensure unified program implementation and communication across states.
• Prepare and disseminate high-quality information, briefing, and coordination materials for internal and external audiences.
• Convene and lead consultations and technical discussions to develop sector-wide, evidence-based solutions for service delivery in conflict-affected areas of Sudan.

Program Management:

• Provide overall operational oversight for the BRIDGES program, ensuring full compliance with donor and organizational requirements, including financial, contractual, and procurement processes across all implementation levels.
• Serve as the primary operational focal point for coordination between Save the Children’s field offices, UNICEF, and implementing partners, ensuring consistency in planning, budgeting, and reporting.
• Lead the development, consolidation, and monitoring of annual and quarterly implementation plans and budgets, ensuring these remain aligned with the approved program design, donor commitments, and evolving field realities.
• Oversee the flow of funds and resources to implementing partners, ensuring timely disbursement, effective utilization, and adherence to Save the Children and GPE financial standards.
• Identify and address operational bottlenecks related to supply chain, partner performance, or field-level implementation, ensuring timely corrective action in coordination with relevant departments.
• Ensure that all operational processes including procurement, recruitment, and partner management adhere to Save the Children’s internal controls and GPE donor compliance frameworks.
• Support field teams and partners to develop mitigation plans for access constraints, delays, or risk exposure, ensuring continuity of learning interventions within Sudan’s volatile operational context.
• Establish and maintain structured communication channels between field teams, the Country Office, and UNICEF to ensure synchronized implementation, problem-solving, and information flow.
• Monitor budget performance, burn rate, and contract deliverables across the consortium, producing concise operational analyses and briefs for decision-making by senior management and donors.
• Lead regular operational review meetings with field offices and partners to ensure accountability, identify capacity gaps, and guide adaptive management throughout the project cycle.

Reporting:

• Provide technical leadership and guidance to Save the Children and consortium partners to ensure full understanding and adherence to GPE reporting formats, requirements, and compliance standards.
• Coordinate with the Awards, Finance, and Program Management teams to organize regular workshops and coaching sessions on donor reporting, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and consistency across all submissions.
• Review and quality-assure reports from consortium partners for coherence, evidence-based analysis, and alignment with program objectives; provide structured feedback to enhance reporting standards.
• Consolidate inputs from Save the Children and partners into a single, donor-ready reporting package, ensuring consistency across narrative and financial sections before submission through the Member to GPE.KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Coordination & Representation:

• Lead and represent Save the Children in key coordination platforms, including the Local Education Group (LEG), Sudan Education Sector Cluster, and BRIDGES joint coordination forums with UNICEF.
• Facilitate alignment and coherence with the Transitional Education Plan (TEP) through engagement with the Federal and State Ministries of Education, UNESCO, and sector partners.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with education donors, including GPE, ensuring strategic positioning of Save the Children within the education sector.
• Coordinate with Save the Children senior leadership and field offices to ensure unified program implementation and communication across states.
• Prepare and disseminate high-quality information, briefing, and coordination materials for internal and external audiences.
• Convene and lead consultations and technical discussions to develop sector-wide, evidence-based solutions for service delivery in conflict-affected areas of Sudan.

Program Management:

• Provide overall operational oversight for the BRIDGES program, ensuring full compliance with donor and organizational requirements, including financial, contractual, and procurement processes across all implementation levels.
• Serve as the primary operational focal point for coordination between Save the Children’s field offices, UNICEF, and implementing partners, ensuring consistency in planning, budgeting, and reporting.
• Lead the development, consolidation, and monitoring of annual and quarterly implementation plans and budgets, ensuring these remain aligned with the approved program design, donor commitments, and evolving field realities.
• Oversee the flow of funds and resources to implementing partners, ensuring timely disbursement, effective utilization, and adherence to Save the Children and GPE financial standards.
• Identify and address operational bottlenecks related to supply chain, partner performance, or field-level implementation, ensuring timely corrective action in coordination with relevant departments.
• Ensure that all operational processes including procurement, recruitment, and partner management adhere to Save the Children’s internal controls and GPE donor compliance frameworks.
• Support field teams and partners to develop mitigation plans for access constraints, delays, or risk exposure, ensuring continuity of learning interventions within Sudan’s volatile operational context.
• Establish and maintain structured communication channels between field teams, the Country Office, and UNICEF to ensure synchronized implementation, problem-solving, and information flow.
• Monitor budget performance, burn rate, and contract deliverables across the consortium, producing concise operational analyses and briefs for decision-making by senior management and donors.
• Lead regular operational review meetings with field offices and partners to ensure accountability, identify capacity gaps, and guide adaptive management throughout the project cycle.

Reporting:

• Provide technical leadership and guidance to Save the Children and consortium partners to ensure full understanding and adherence to GPE reporting formats, requirements, and compliance standards.
• Coordinate with the Awards, Finance, and Program Management teams to organize regular workshops and coaching sessions on donor reporting, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and consistency across all submissions.
• Review and quality-assure reports from consortium partners for coherence, evidence-based analysis, and alignment with program objectives; provide structured feedback to enhance reporting standards.
• Consolidate inputs from Save the Children and partners into a single, donor-ready reporting package, ensuring consistency across narrative and financial sections before submission through the Member to GPE.
• Institutionalize a harmonized reporting framework across consortium partners by developing standardized tools, templates, and guidance notes, and by integrating feedback from Awards and donor reviews.
• Ensure the timely production and submission of evidence-based, high-quality narrative and financial reports that meet both donor and internal accountability requirements.
• Proactively inform the Member, UNICEF, and relevant stakeholders of any implementation challenges, risks, or irregularities that could affect program performance or compliance.
• Oversee adherence to donor visibility, branding, and procurement regulations across all consortium activities, ensuring compliance and consistency with GPE and Save the Children standards.
• Facilitate regular coordination and review meetings, synthesize program progress, challenges, and strategic issues for decision-making by the Steering Committee.
• Work with field teams and partners to maintain cross-cutting priorities, including protection, gender equality, disability inclusion, and child rights governance within all reporting and performance monitoring processes.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) – BRIDGES Program:

• Lead the development and implementation of a coherent MEAL framework for the BRIDGES program that aligns with GPE and Save the Children standards and supports results-based management.
• Ensure that program indicators, targets, and milestones are clearly defined, measurable, and systematically tracked across all consortium partners and intervention states.
• Coordinate with UNICEF and consortium partners to harmonize monitoring tools, data collection methodologies, and reporting templates to promote consistency and comparability of results.
• Provide technical oversight and guidance to field teams and partners on data collection, validation, and analysis to ensure accuracy, timeliness, and reliability of program evidence.
• Ensure regular monitoring of progress against the results framework, analyze trends, and facilitate reflection sessions to support adaptive management and evidence-based decision-making.
• Lead the consolidation of MEAL data from all partners into program-wide progress reports and dashboards that inform management reviews, donor reporting, and strategic planning.
• Oversee mechanisms for accountability to affected populations, including feedback, complaints, and response systems, ensuring that community perspectives inform program improvements.
• Support documentation and dissemination of lessons learned, best practices, and success stories across partners and coordination forums to strengthen learning and replication.
• Ensure that gender, inclusion, and child safeguarding are systematically integrated into all MEAL processes, indicators, and reporting.
• Coordinate external evaluations and reviews with UNICEF, consortium partners, and third-party evaluators to assess program outcomes and impact.

Risk Management:

• Where challenges or risks cannot be managed in the field and require high-level, national attention, escalate risks to the Senior Management. 

Identify any risk of, or suspected incident of child safeguarding, sexual exploitation, abuse, fraud, etc., and report.

QUALIFICATIONS 

Master’s degree or Higher in planning, management or related social sciences with additional training in project planning and concern technique, certifications in education sector especially EIE, teacher professional development are highly desirable.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Knowledge of current global and regional debates on quality and employment-oriented education, School Meals, Child Protection, and Child Rights Governance policies and models
• Strong leadership, management, and coordination skills, including experience leading an extensive program and team 
• Recommended a minimum of 5 years of relevant  experience, including at the senior level 
• Proven experience in developing and managing big grants and high-quality, innovative, and cost-effective technical education projects in complex environments, preferably in Sudan and with International NGOs
• Proven experience and skills in research and advocacy influencing institutional, private, and corporate donors and writing up high-quality donor reports
• Experience working with local/national governments and capacity building of systems, partners, and staff
• Ability to extensively travel for project monitoring and provide on-site technical support to field teams 
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, including influencing, negotiation, steering, and coaching
• Experience in management of finance budget monitoring and risk management. 
• Experience in solving complex issues through analysis, the definition of a clear way forward, and ensuring buy-in
• Highly numerically articulate with a track record of data manipulation and reporting systems.
• Highly diplomatic with strong oral and written communication skills (English)
• Commitment to Save the Children values.
• Previous GPE grants experience 

Desirable

• Substantial experience working in the Horn of Africa, ESA, and MENA regions
• Cluster coordination training and experience 
• Demonstrable understanding of EUD guidelines and other donors' agendas. 

Ability to coach and mentor partners.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates othersfuture orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity