About Practical Action
We are an international development organisation putting ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world.
We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Challenges made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality. We work with communities to develop ingenious, lasting and locally owned solutions for agriculture, water and waste management, climate resilience and clean energy. And we share what works with others, so answers that start small can grow big.
We’re a global change-making group. The group consists of a UK registered charity with community projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, an independent development publishing company and a technical consulting service. We combine these specialisms to multiply our impact and help shape a world that works better for everyone.
OUR AIMS
We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems, made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality. Our aims are to:
- Make agriculture work better for smallholder farmers, many of them women, so they can adapt to climate change and achieve a good standard of living
- Help more people harness the transformational effects of clean affordable energy and reduce avoidable deaths caused by smoke from indoor stoves and fires.
- Make cities in poorer countries cleaner, healthier places to live and work.
- Build disaster resilience into the lives of people threatened by hazards – reducing the risk of hazards and minimizing their impact on lives and livelihoods.
HOW WE WORK
We work on holistic solutions that change systems and have a framework to help us achieve our aims:
- Analyze the root causes of a poverty and vulnerability
- Define the change at scale we need to make
- Develop activities along three complementary paths: Demonstrate, Learn and Inspire.
- Demonstrate that our solutions are sustainable in the real world
- Learn by capturing evidence and adapting our approach
- Inspire wider support to multiply our impact.
OUR ORGANISATION
Practical Action is an unconventional, multi-disciplinary change making organisation
A highly innovative community development charity operating in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Practical Action community projects use ingenious ideas to design, test, refine and prove new ways to overcome poverty and disadvantage and then ‘open-source’ knowledge of what works so that it can be implemented at a greater scale by others.
A world-class consulting operation that helps socially responsible business, government policy makers and other development organizations. This draws on learnings from our own development work as well as the combined brainpower of a roster of over 2,000 expert consultants. Practical Action Consulting helps to extend the reach of our influence by providing the best advice to others, whose work can make a bigger difference.
A well respected specialist development publisher. Practical Action Publishing brings together development practitioners, researchers and thought leaders to create publications that stimulate discussion, strengthen peoples’ capabilities and inspire sustainable change.
Our Vision
Practical Action’s vision is of a world that works better for everyone.
Job Details
| Seniority Level | Head of Rural Development |
|---|---|
| Industry | Management |
| Employment Type | Full Time |
| Job Functions | 0 |
| Salary Range | US$ 2.250 |
| Closing date | 24/12/2020 |
About the Role
The Head of Rural Development (Sudan) role sits within the Country Senior Management Team in Sudan, directly managed by the Country Director, whilst being responsible for the Knowledge & Communication section.
The post-holder will be responsible for maintaining the strategic focus, sustainable impact and influence of Practical Action’s work in rural Sudan.
One of the key aspects of this position is to shape the direction and support the successful delivery of Practical Action’s Rural Development Programme in Sudan by identifying opportunities to achieve impact and overcome barriers based on analysing the systems that affect the lives of farmers.
Importantly, she/he will be focusing on the following vital areas:
- Strategic thinking & planning.
- Impact capturing & learning.
- Policy analysis & advocacy.
- Knowledge development and sharing.
- Technical advisory on rural development.
- Gender mainstreaming.
- Systems mapping & opportunities identification.
- Building & developing effective partnerships.
Scope
| Title | Head of Rural Development (Sudan) |
| Directorate | Country Directorate |
| Reporting to | Country Director |
| Direct reports | Knowledge and Communication Manager |
| Groups | Change Ambition Hubs, markets & system thinking, and gender global groups. |
| Location | Khartoum – with frequent visits to fields location |
| Duration | One year (renewable) |
| Grade | Gross salary Grade A2/1 step4 (US$ 2.250) |
| Travel | Occasional international travel may be required |
Accountabilities
The Head of Rural Development will be accountable to deliver the following tasks in contribution to the country office senior management main objectives;
Strategic focus
Development and dissemination of knowledge regarding laws, customs, policies, market linkages and other related factors that affects rural development in Sudan, with the aim of guiding Practical Action strategic direction toward the global approaches.
Leading on the development process of Sudan Country Office strategic business plan (SBP), ensuring that the change objectives are developed to achieve change in the lives of people that we work with.
Embedding the Framework for Change and global KPIs into our ways of working in Sudan. This involves provision of effective support to ensure systems thinking, gender and inclusion and practices are at the heart of all our work.
Fundraising and Program Development
Development of strategic partnerships with donors, government departments, and partner organizations that represent our vision to support Practical Action in delivering our objectives.
Technical shaping of proposals on agriculture, resilience and rural water services, to align them with our strategic vision in Sudan.
Coaching the Communications team to share our impact and learning internally and externally in a compelling way that contributes to income generation targets.
Compliance
Supporting the development of donor reports, ensuring compliance with donors’ technical requirements.
Learning & Development
Representing the Country Office in the global Agriculture & Resilience change hubs as well as markets, system thinking and gender global group to contribute and ensure the exchange of learning, evidence and influencing across the global groups.
Conduct periodic high-level assessment of our impact & learning, and concluding recommendations on ways to maximize the effectiveness.
Inspiring for positive relationships across the organization, working collaboratively and creating buy-in through influence and persuasion.
Preparation & updating knowledge packages for targeted audiences with the assistance of the Knowledge and Information Manager for awareness raising and influence against the Country influencing priorities.
Other
Any other duties commensurate with the level and grade of the role which may from time to time, reasonably be requested by the line manager.
Internal and External Relationships
The post-holder will report directly to the Country Director. There will also be close collaboration with the rest of the Country Office teams (business development, program delivery, finance and others). She/he will also work with UK team and technical groups. Liaison will be required with the different stakeholders at national level including government technical departments, UN agencies and sectors leads, sister INGOs, implementing partners, current and potential donors, and others.
Person Profile:
To be successful in the role, the ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate:
| Qualifications, Knowledge & Experience: | Strong academic background in rural development studies or any relevant academic field (a Bachelor’s degree is acceptable, while Master degree will be an advantage).Minimum of seven years of experience with INGOs in strategic management within sustainable development.Experience in designing and managing rural development or related programme.Experience in leading and managing teams, (face to face and distance teams), including the related financial management. Experienced of project appraisal, assessment, monitoring and evaluation methodologies, preparing funding proposals and reports for a range of donors. |
| Skills, Abilities and Competencies: | Proven senior management and line management skills.Trends and developments within thematic area of work.Outstanding communication and reporting skills, across the organization and with donors and stakeholders at the highest level. Partner and stakeholder engagement and relationship management |
| Additional Requirements for the Role: | Proactive with a high team spirit and ability to work with colleagues at different levels.Expertise with project/programs management frameworks, and monitoring.Outcome focused.Gender & culture sensitive. |
How to Apply:
Interested candidates should submit their application letters clearly indicating Job title and work station, C.V. and copies of educational and experience certificates to:
Practical Action office Address: Khartoum, AL-MA’MORA , Phone: +249 15 566 2474
Please DO NOT submits original certificates. Applications and attached documents are not returnable.
Only short listed candidates will be called for interview.
“We treat all applications for employment on their merits and do not take into consideration any factors that are not relevant to the job such as gender, race, religion, ethnic or national origin, caste, tribe, belief, age, marital status, pregnancy, caring responsibilities, sexual orientation, or disability”.
“Practical Action is committed to safeguarding and protecting children and vulnerable adults and as such candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks including criminal checks and terrorist financing”.
Closing date Thursday, December 24th 2020.
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