Programme Director

About Us 
GOAL has responded to the world’s major humanitarian crises since its founding in 1977, working with vulnerable communities in 14 countries across the globe with a dedicated team of personnel. While GOAL continues to be an agile first-responder to humanitarian crises, it is also committed to working with vulnerable communities to help them survive crises and support them on the road to recovery.

About Our Programme
GOAL has been working in Sudan since 1985. Despite the ongoing civil war, GOAL continues to be a leading health and nutrition, WASH and FSL INGO in Sudan, working in South Kordofan and North Darfur where insecurity, displacement and access constraints are persistent. GOAL maintains essential services in locations where few actors are present, bridging emergency response with local system recovery so that services can endure beyond acute shocks.

Job Purpose 
The Programme Director (PD) provides leadership for our programme portfolio in Sudan. Based in Port Sudan, you’ll be responsible for the delivery of high-quality, accountable and compliant programmes in a complex, conflict-affected and access-constrained environment. The PD leads programme strategy, oversight and risk management across health, nutrition, protection, WASH, food security and livelihoods, and emergency response.

The role balances immediate humanitarian delivery with resilience building, locally led system strengthening, particularly in primary health care. Working closely with the Country Director, SMT and partners to ensure programmes remain operational, responsive and safe, while positioning GOAL as a credible and trusted partner to donors, authorities and coordination structures

 

Key Responsibilities

Programme Leadership and Oversight 

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight of GOAL Sudan’s programme portfolio,
• Ensure the continuity and quality of essential services across health, nutrition, protection, WASH and livelihoods
• Lead the integration of protection, gender, disability inclusion, accountability to affected populations and environmental considerations across all programmes.

Grant Management, Compliance and Internal Controls

• Oversee the full grant cycle, ensuring strong performance against donor agreements, compliance with contractual obligations
• Ensure consistency across proposals, budgets, indicators, procurement plans and reports,

MEAL, Evidence and Learning 

• Provide leadership oversight to MEAL systems,
• Promote a culture of accountability, learning and reflection, including the use of evaluations, reviews and lessons learned to strengthen programme quality.

Strategy, Programme Development and Positioning (10%)

• Lead the development and refinement of GOAL Sudan’s programme strategy
• Contribute to programme design and proposal development, with a focus on integrated, multi-sector responses
• Support strategic positioning and relationship management with donors, coordination platforms and peer agencies, in close collaboration with the Country Director.
  Representation, Coordination and SMT Leadership

• Represent GOAL in relevant humanitarian coordination forums, technical working groups and donor engagements.
• Deputise for the Country Director as required and contribute actively to SMT decision-making
• Maintain constructive working relationships with local authorities, partners and communities

People Management and Development

• Manage the program team (currently 8 staff) to deliver programs, providing leadership and guidance in accordance with HR policies and procedures
• Support on performance management as needed

Risk, Access and Remote Management (5%)

• Lead programme-level risk analysis and mitigation, working closely with the SMT to manage operational, security, fiduciary and reputational risks.
• Support access strategies and remote management arrangements where direct presence is constrained, ensuring programme integrity, oversight and accountability.
• Contribute to security and duty of care planning from a programme perspective, ensuring programme decisions are grounded in realistic assessments of risk and capacity.

Knowledge, Experience and other requirements -

• Significant senior-level experience (+7 years) managing humanitarian programmes in conflict-affected and fragile contexts.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing large, multi-donor grant portfolios
• Proven ability to lead programmes in insecure and access-constrained environments, including through remote management when needed.
• Experience in integrated programming across health, nutrition, protection WASH and/or livelihoods
• Strong strategic and analytical skills, with the ability to navigate complexity and make sound decisions under pressure.
• Excellent programme oversight and grant management skills, with a high level of attention to detail and consistency.
• Leadership style that supports, challenges and develops teams.
• Strong communication and representation skills (Fluent verbal and written English is essential) ,.

Desirable

• Prior experience in Sudan or comparable conflict-affected contexts.
• Arabic language skills.

We strongly encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every single requirement listed.  At GOAL we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please just contact our Recruitment Team at recruitment.hq@goal.ie  

 

GOAL commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
GOAL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive environment for all employees. We foster an inclusive culture where all voices are heard and valued, we are particularly eager to receive applications from women (and other underrepresented groups). We know that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling GOAL’s commitment to equal employment opportunity and equal treatment. GOAL does not discriminate against any employee or volunteer; or any applicant for employment or volunteering on the basis of age, gender identity, ancestry, political opinion, civil status, medical condition, ethnic background, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

 

Accountability within GOAL

A commitment to GOAL values and GOAL’s integrity framework is critical to working with GOAL. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability: 1) Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols; 2) Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area; 3) Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a GOAL staff or partner.

 

Safeguarding

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with GOAL as a result of our activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

 

General Terms and Conditions

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document.