Country Manager, South Sudan Full Time NEW

Overview of Amref Health Africa in South Sudan

Amref Health Africa has had a presence in South Sudan since the early 1970s, beginning with a Primary Health Care Project (PHCP) focused on expanding access to healthcare for rural communities, recognizing that, until then, most health interventions were concentrated in urban areas. Building on this foundation, Amref implemented the Rural Health Support Project (RHSP) between 1982 and 1990, further strengthening health service delivery in underserved regions. Over the years, Amref has continued to drive health system improvements in South Sudan, including significant investments in health infrastructure and the development of a skilled health workforce.

Job Purpose

The Country Manager will provide visionary leadership and strategic direction for Amref Health Africa’s operations in South Sudan. The incumbent is responsible for driving country programme performance and growth. This includes positioning Amref for business development opportunities, and overseeing an operating and staffing model that is fit-for-purpose. The incumbent must ensure adherence to monitoring, evaluation, and accountability mechanisms which uphold program quality and impact. This is a senior leadership role and a key member of Amref Health Africa’s Senior Leadership Forum (SLF), reporting directly to the Director of Field Offices, with a pivotal role in advancing the organization’s mission and strategic objectives.

Operating in a complex and fragile socio-political environment, the Country Manager will play a critical role in leading the design and implementation of contextually responsive programmes. This role requires a leader with proven experience working in fragile settings, delivering health initiatives amid uncertainty or conflict, and providing humanitarian assistance in collaboration with governments and key stakeholders. The Country Manager must demonstrate agility in adapting to rapidly evolving circumstances while ensuring programmatic relevance. The ability to navigate political sensitivities, maintain operational continuity, and drive results in high-risk contexts is essential to successfully steering the country office toward impact.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Programme Oversight

• Direct and lead Amref South Sudan to effectively deliver its strategy objectives in line with Amref Health Africa’s global corporate strategy, and in collaboration with communities, government, funders and other key stakeholders.
• Provide strategic direction to guide the country Senior Management Team (SMT) and support teams to effectively implement high-quality projects that are relevant and demonstrate impact.
• Lead adaptive programming and risk-informed approaches in response to South Sudan’s fragile and conflict-affected setting.
• Champion collaboration and knowledge-sharing with other Country Programmes, Programme Leaders, and units across the organization; fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous learning.
• Provide timely information for the Country Board of Management (BoM) to make informed decisions and enabling the BoM to optimize their support to the Country programme.
• Participate as a member of Amref Health Africa’s Senior Leadership Forum (SLF) with responsibility to represent the country programme at the SLF and to relay SLF decisions back to country staff.
• Foster a culture of self-leadership by inspiring and guiding staff to take ownership of their roles, drive results, and grow professionally. This includes supporting performance management, career development, and overall staff motivation to enhance individual and team effectiveness.

Operations and Risk Management

• Ensure sound financial, human resource, operational and administrative management of the country programme. This includes preparation of country programme yearly work plans, budgets and prudent management of the organization’s resources within budget guidelines.
• Promote the establishment of operating standards for teams to ensure the execution of high-quality programs and operations within support functions.
• Lead the process of organizational strengthening within the country programme. This includes guiding staffing plans as recommended by the organizational design.
• Ensure timely narrative and financial reporting to donors in accordance with grant agreements.
• Oversee full compliance of Amref’s policies, donor requirements and government policies – lead and enforce compliance and ethical standards across the organization following Amref Health Africa’s policies, procedures, and guidelines, taking necessary actions when violations occur.
• Guide operational teams and other cross-functional departments in maximizing internal cost recoveries from the products and services they deliver, labour hours dedicated to various requests.
• Analyze existing systems and processes to identify potential risks in compliance, statutory obligations, and grant audits, and propose plans to mitigate these risks.
• Work closely with the Amref Global Security Manager to lead the development and monitoring of risk mitigation plans, ensuring staff and asset safety. This includes analysing, mitigating and managing risks within the country’s programme portfolio.

Partnerships and Resource Mobilization

• Maintain and expand strategic partnerships with key actors in South Sudan (government, donors including UN agencies, other NGOs, private sector, etc.).
• Lead development and execution of Country-specific resource mobilization approaches to include cultivating new donor partnerships and diversification of funding mechanisms.
• Drive proposal development and identification of new opportunities through market intelligence and analysis of the health/humanitarian context.

Country Programme Visibility and Advocacy

• Serve as the primary representative and spokesperson for Amref in South Sudan. This includes representation in national forums, technical working groups, donor meetings, coalitions, national dialogues and coordination platforms.
• Promote Amref Health Africa’s mission, vision, core values and identity to the public, government, development partners, corporates, CSOs, funding agencies and other stakeholders.
• Manage relationship challenges as they emerge or when anticipated while protecting Amref Health Africa’s image to the best ability.
• Identify and drive advocacy issues as aligned to the strategy.
• Ensure that appropriate knowledge products from the country programme are generated and disseminated.
• Ensure that the knowledge gained from the country programme is documented and shared internally and externally.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Epidemiology or related field from a recognized university is required, supported by an undergraduate background in Human Medicine, Public Health or related field.
• Over fifteen (15) years of relevant experience, including at least six (6) years working in a fragile or conflict-affected setting.
• Eight (8) years in management, including two (2) years at a senior management level within a similar organization.
• Significant experience managing diverse teams, and building organizational capacity in resource-constrained environments.
• An excellent understanding of the development sector with proven experience leading programmes in complex fragile environments, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Strong grasp of security risk management, compliance frameworks, and safeguarding policies in high-risk settings.
• Member of a relevant professional body.

Knowledge, Skills and Competencies

Required:

• Strategic and innovative, with the ability to communicate and promote the organization’s vision effectively.
• Possesses strong leadership skills, an executive demeanour and a high level of integrity.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey information clearly and respectfully across diverse audiences.
• Demonstrates respect, adaptability, and inclusiveness when working across different cultures and contexts.
• Capable of developing long-term, integrated, and cross-functional operational plans.
• Ability to anticipate changes in context and proactively adapt programme priorities to remain responsive and effective.

Preferred:

• Knowledgeable about the South Sudan government’s national health policies, the South Sudan healthcare system, and the health-related programs of other donors.
• Has a broad understanding of the Amref Health Africa programs and strategic focus.

Tagged as: Amref Health Africa, South Sudan