Sudan Nngo Forum Director

Location: Preferred Base of Port Sudan, Sudan; Significant travel to Nairobi and multiple locations in Sudan, including Darfur

Position Status: Full-time, Regular

Salary Level: Level 7

Risk Level: X Level 3 ☐Level 2 ☐Level 1

(Level 3: Frequent contact with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability.

Level 2: Some contact with participants; unplanned non-direct contact with children.

Level 1: Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data)

About INGO Forum

Sudan is facing one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally, marked by widespread displacement, disease outbreaks, and confirmations of famine in several ‘hunger hotspots.’ In an effort to coordinate INGO efforts and establish a common voice for INGOs operating in Sudan, the INGO Forum was established in 2009 as a key representation platform. To date, the Forum, hosted by Mercy Corps, is made up of 78 members and observer members operating across the country.

The Program / Department / Team

The INGO Forum is a permanent member of the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG). It co-leads the Humanitarian Access Working Group (HAWG), alongside OCHA and spearheads collective engagement with the Government, other authorities, and donors. The Forum leads collective advocacy through its Advocacy Working Group (AWG) and in close coordination with the regional Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) and Member liaison offices in key donor/diplomatic capitals.

Since 2023, the situation in Sudan has dramatically shifted as state and non-state actors engage in conflict. Humanitarian access is severely restricted and the uneven presence of the United Nations (UN) exacerbates challenges to the delivery of efficient and wide-reaching humanitarian response. There is an urgent need for enhanced coordination amongst INGOs, and between INGOs and the UN, international aid community, and national/local responders. To this end, the core tenets of the INGO Forum’s work include:

• Coordinated aid delivery: Enhancing operational alignment across organizations to maximize humanitarian impact.

• Ensuring information flows: Between Forum members and external counterparts, including UN, national and local counterparts, and regional and global stakeholders.

• Common service provision: Offering essential support, analysis, and shared resources to facilitate NGO operations.

• Providing support and guidance: On access-related matters including engagement with external actors on access barriers and bureaucratic and administrative impediments; documenting and analyzing trends, lessons learned and best practices; and providing recommendations for collective positioning.

• Stakeholder coordination and representation: Engaging with donors, UN agencies, authorities, and the broader humanitarian system to advocate for improved response conditions.

• Convening and facilitation role: Ensuring Members are informed of matters discussed at external tables and can weigh in, and that matters concerning the collective are discussed and escalated to external stakeholders.

The Position

Reporting to the INGO Forum Steering Committee (SC) through the SC Chair, the Director provides overall strategic leadership to the Forum, overseeing coordination, representation, and stakeholder engagement efforts. This role is pivotal in ensuring the Forum remains responsive, inclusive, and impactful in an increasingly complex humanitarian context.

The Director is responsible for materializing the Forum’s vision, ensuring its Secretariat sufficiently serves its vision, representing the Forum to key external stakeholders, and ensuring alignment across the Forum’s advocacy, access, and area coordination workstreams. The Director ensures that Sudan-based realities are reflected in regional and global platforms and supports member organizations to navigate political, access, and coordination challenges. The positions of the INGO Forum are hosted by Mercy Corps.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP

• Lead the overall strategic direction of the Forum based on extensive consultations with INGO-F members, and ensure alignment with evolving humanitarian and political contexts.

• Provide vision, oversight, and coordination for all Forum workstreams, including access, advocacy, coordination, and representation.

• Ensure the Forum’s engagement is grounded in field realities and serves the collective priorities of members.

• Oversee annual work plans, reporting, and Forum-wide strategy development in consultation with the Steering Committee and members.

• Ensure external representation based on extensive consultations.

• Serve as the primary representative of the Forum in high-level coordination and diplomatic spaces, including the HCT, ICCG, and regional inter-agency platforms.

• Lead engagement with donors, UN leadership, national and de facto authorities, and other external actors to advocate for improved humanitarian access and space.

• Represent INGO collective positions in humanitarian briefings, diplomatic meetings, and global fora.

COORDINATION MANAGEMENT

• Supervise and provide strategic direction to Forum team throughout Sudan and in regional and international contexts to ensure coherence across locations.

• Facilitate coordination across diverse contexts with varying levels of humanitarian presence and governance.

• Ensure strong internal information sharing, regular member consultations, and clear communication channels across all Forum teams.

• [Re]establish relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including authorities.

• Ensure that the Forum secretariat is staffed in a manner that ensures sufficient presence across the country.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

• Foster strong relationships with member organizations and ensure effective two-way communication between the Secretariat and the membership.

• Liaise with national and regional coordination platforms, regional INGO networks, and other strategic partners.

• Guide the development of joint positions, public statements, and advocacy materials.

• Manage a lean and adaptive Secretariat team, including recruitment, performance management, and capacity building.

• Ensure effective collaboration across the Forum’s functions and promote a collaborative team culture.

• Lead fundraising efforts for the Forum and oversee donor reporting and engagement, in coordination with host agencies.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.

• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.

• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

The Sudan INGO Forum Director will formally supervise INGO Forum Secretariat members, including up to 4 direct reports. S/He may delegate supervisory responsibilities for certain roles to senior secretariat staff members at his/her discretion, upon approval by the Steering Committee

Accountability

Reports Directly To: INGO Forum SC through the SC Chair

Works Directly With: INGO Forum Secretariat, INGO Forum SC, external stakeholders, including UN counterparts

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

Essential requirements:

• A graduate degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience

• 10+ yrs of humanitarian sector experience, including at least 5 yrs in senior leadership or coordination roles.

• Strong understanding of humanitarian coordination, access negotiations, and interagency mechanisms

• Proven experience leading teams in complex humanitarian environments

• Exceptional representation and diplomacy skills with experience engaging with UN agencies, donors, and host governments.

• Ability to operate independently and with significant strategic autonomy.

• Fluency in English ( written and spoken).

Desirable requirements:

• Prior experience working in Sudan or similar conflict- affected contexts (eg South Sudan, Syria, Yemen).

• Knowledge of Sudanese political and humanitarian dynamics.

• Working knowledge of Arabic in an asset.

• Familiarity with donor trends and international policy forums related to humanitarian response.

Success Factors

Success will depend on strong strategic leadership, diplomatic acumen, and the ability to navigate complex political and humanitarian dynamics. The ideal candidate will foster inclusive coordination among diverse INGOs, represent the collective voice in high-level forums, and drive responsive, field-informed advocacy and access efforts. A collaborative leadership style, deep contextual understanding, and proven ability to operate effectively across remote and insecure environments will be critical to achieving impact and maintaining the Forum’s credibility and relevance.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The preferred base location is Port Sudan, Sudan, with the strong possibility of moving to Khartoum given the current movement of ministries, UN, INGOs and other actors in a phased approach during 2026. Significant travel is expected of up to 60% throughout Sudan, including in Darfur, as well as to Nairobi. Travel is expected in insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities, health care, power and water infrastructure and living conditions are limited. Housing for this role is in guesthouses with differing levels of conditions depending on the field location.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Team Engagement and Effectiveness

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).