Country Director, South Sudan

We believe in a world in which every human life is valued, and health and human dignity are shared by all. 

We believe that access to quality healthcare is a basic human right. For more than 100 years, we have worked with global partners to deliver locally sustainable, quality healthcare solutions to women, children, and their communities - learn more about our values in action here, and see our work here.

We believe in people. 

We strive to live out our core values of collaboration, love, excellence, accountability, and respect every day. We provide our employees with a competitive salary and a meaningful benefits package, with opportunities to learn and grow. We especially encourage all people of diverse backgrounds to apply.  

Organizational Overview

CMMB is a leading faith-based international NGO focused exclusively on global health care by building healthy, sustainable communities through community engagement and partnerships. Now entering its second century, CMMB is committed to integrating and focusing its programming around saving the lives of children and mothers by concentrating on leading causes of mortality in targeted communities.

Building around its CHAMPS (CHildren And Mother PartnershipS) program model, CMMB works at both the community and clinical facilities levels in targeted communities to improve health services and address the leading causes of maternal and child death. In addition, CMMB is expanding its volunteer program to strengthen health systems and rural healthcare delivery. It is also engaging with the pharmaceutical industry to help meet the needs of CHAMPS communities and in other areas of need.

CMMB is committed to learning and evolving in order to successfully achieve impact in its strategy, and will have strong vertical and horizontal team structures in alignment to the global strategy in order to encourage accountability, communication, and effective project management.

Job Summary

CMMB has been working in South Sudan for over a decade to improve the health and well-being of the most vulnerable populations, especially mothers and children. CMMB’s current portfolio includes: maternal healthcare services; nutrition screening and rehabilitation for children; HIV testing and treatment; hospital-based medical services; child protection; and refugee support services.

The Country Director (CD) South Sudan, is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the CMMB South Sudan country portfolio. The most important duties of the CD are to:

• Set a clear vision, mission and strategic priorities aligned with CMMB’s mission;

• Build high performing teams to execute strategies and achieve mission;

• Ensure excellence in the execution of and reporting on CMMB’s current portfolio to maintain donor confidence and funding; and

• Expand the country program’s funding base through active, personal networking and engagement with all relevant senior government officials, donor representatives, and INGO partners.

The Country Director must be an innovative thinker; able to effectively communicate with, equip and empower staff to achieve CMMB global strategic goals; and leading change initiatives and committed to excellence in all operations to ensure that CMMB achieves its mission. The Country Director will direct the implementation of all aspects of CMMB South Sudan’s programs, in partnership with the headquarter staff of CMMB, ensuring the highest quality and maximum impact of its health program in South Sudan. The Country Director must be an effective people manager and well-versed in program operations and financial management.  

This position reports directly to the President and CEO. As CMMB’s representative in-country, the Country Director has overall responsibility and accountability for all CMMB’s programs, finances, people, assets and legal standing in South Sudan.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

Leadership, Representation and Networking

• Lead and model the central tenets of CMMB’s mission and its values (collaboration, love, excellence, accountability and respect) in all aspects of institutional operation, from staff interactions to program implementation, and from partner collaborations to the treatment of beneficiaries.

• Exhibit personal and professional integrity and work ethics focused on results that reflect CMMB’s mission.

• Set a clear vision and strategic priorities for the country team, lead the senior management team in the implementation of strategic initiatives, and mentor staff through organizational change.

• Diversify the country program’s funding base through active, personal networking and engagement with all relevant senior government officials and donor representatives.

• Establish, maintain and improve active and regular relationships with line ministries, donors and partners to position CMMB as a major health programming partner in-country.

• Foster the development of a country-level organizational culture, focusing on teamwork, strategy execution, high impact programming, transparency and accountability, as well as innovation, continuous learning and improvement.

• Cultivate a culture of innovation, excellence, strong communication and collaboration between staff, offices and units, and continual learning toward institutional improvement.

• Develop partnership relationships and ensure the organization has good business intelligence related to funding opportunities and security management.

• Maintain CMMB’s membership and participation in formal/informal development and humanitarian assistance forums within the international donor and NGO community.

Programmatic and Technical Management

• Provide leadership and direction to the long, medium, and short-term planning processes and ensure that the country office’s strategic plan is in alignment with CMMB’s mission.

• Ensure excellence in the execution of and reporting on CMMB’s current portfolio to maintain donor confidence and funding.

• Ensure that CMMB-managed health programs have the appropriate technical staff to lead programmatic activities, overseeing program staff and providing technical and program management input, as appropriate.

• Coordinate with partners and manage CMMB in-country staff to ensure programs meet their project goals, objectives and performance targets.

• Ensure high quality data collection, program monitoring including personally conducting regular visits to project sites, and high quality, timely reporting, all of which should reflect achievement of planned project and program outcomes.

• Oversee volunteer placements, programmatic grants implementation, as well as any pharmaceutical donations placements.

• Lead the overall CHAMPS implementation, project management, and monitoring and evaluation processes in South Sudan. Ensure success stories are shared with CMMB USA for global communications purposes.

• Serve as Principal Investigator (PI) in projects when requested.

Resource Mobilization

• Leads an aggressive approach to develop new program and funding opportunities for CMMB at the country level and/or regionally in conjunction with CMMB Business Development Department.

• Guide development of CMMB South Sudan multi-year program strategy and business development plans.

• Ensures that the technical aspects of all programs are of the highest quality, calling upon technical resource available locally and at headquarters.

• Ensure programmatic successes are documented for individual and institutional donor fundraising purposes as well as linkage to CMMB global strategy.

Human Resources Management

• Ensure CMMB South Sudan operates in compliance with local labor laws and requirements.

• Establish and effectively lead a senior management team, with regular meetings, and ensure clarity of roles for all units and key positions.

• Support, encourage and help build up the capacity of the coordinators and managers to effectively execute CMMB South Sudan’s program strategies.

• Design and implement a coherent organizational structure that is consistent with CMMB’s practices and appropriate to program needs.

Financial Management

• Ensure the prudent use of donor resources, ensuring all expenditures comply with rules and regulations.

• With the assistance of the Finance Team, ensure all budgets are tracked consistently and financial reports are accurate and timely, consistent with donor requirements and that burn rates match annual implementation plans.

• Identify cost-savings, where feasible, and plan strategically for financial resource use.

• Ensures that systems are in place for the control of all assets, funds, equipment, property, and facilities.

• Ensure that local independent audit requirements are fulfilled and that CMMB US audit questions are fully answered.

Safety & Security

• Stay current on the general security challenges in-country and daily security status of our staff, programs and the operational areas.

• Maintains a proactive position in coordinating closely with the appropriate local security network and ensuring security and safety protocols are maintained in the country office.

• Coordinates closely on security related needs and issues and keeps the Senior Director of Operations and Compliance well informed.

Qualifications & Requirements

Competencies and skills

• A minimum of a Masters degree in relevant international development field is required. A health-focused qualification is strongly preferred..

• A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated experience managing large complex international programs with budgets of over $10,000,000 yr-1, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles (equivalent to a Country Director)..

• Demonstrated success managing multi-year, multi donor funded programs.

• Demonstrated success in external representation, networking and resource mobilization.

• Proven track record of building and sustaining high performing teams in multiple locales to achieve organizational mission.

• Excellent leadership and management skills and the commitment to develop other leaders.

• Proven success in partnership development and demonstrated results in actual fundraising.

• Superior knowledge across technical sectors including; humanitarian response, emergency relief, HIV/AIDS, health systems strengthening, maternal and child health, nutrition, and WASH in a range of contexts.

• Ability to use initiative, prioritization, and multi-tasking well while under pressure to meet deadlines.

• Clear and systematic thinking, excellent analytical skills, and discipline in documentation that demonstrates good judgment, expert problem solving, and creativity.

• Ability to work effectively both as a leader of and as part of a multicultural team.

• Managerial experience in a conflict zone required, prior managerial experience in South Sudan is highly desirable.

• Must be comfortable working for a faith-based organization.