Senior Program Officer
Locations:
- Port Sudan
- Nyala, Sudan
- Ed Daein, Sudan
- Damazine, Sudan
Organization: World Vision International
Deadline: October 13, 2025
Job Description
Employee Contract Type:
International Assignment (WVI – Paid via GCLA) Fixed Term (Fixed Term)
World Vision’s Sudan SCRAMMER Response works to assist those affected in Sudan, Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. WV implements programs and projects covering a wide range of sectors in this complex and changing context.
The position will be required to provide technical and managerial oversight for the planning, funding, implementation, evaluation and reporting of the respective World Vision grant programmes along with field operations to ensure that they are efficient and effective, and meet the goals and objectives of donors, WVI and community.
The Sudan Response is funded by grants and private funding (PNS). The role will be based in the Grant Acquisition and Management team, who are responsible for assuring that high-quality proposals are developed and submitted to a wide variety of donors and that once acquired, they are managed at the highest level of professionalism.
The Senior Program Officer specialist will provide expertise and leadership in acquiring grant and private funding, build relationships with external donors (including UNOCHA, UNICEF, GFFO, BMZ, etc.); key stakeholders, Support Offices and other partner organizations; and build the capacity of technical staff in the areas of grant acquisition and proposal writing. The SPO will work with a team of professionals pursuing the acquisition of high-quality grants and private funding to increase the resources for required by the response to meet its strategic objectives. The day to day work of the SPO will include proactive donor engagement activities to ensure the identification of funding sources and the development of strong relationships that will enable new donor support and repeat awards from existing donors.
The SPO will be coordinating and developing high-quality funding proposals and other documents and will be involved in sharing information with the technical team and other relevant departments within the office. The SPO will also help build the capacity of other members in the Grant Acquisition and Management Team in both proposal writing/coordination and grant management. The SPO will report directly to the Grant Acquisition and Management Manager and will be expected to mentor and develop capacity of other members of the team.
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Proposal Design
- Responsible for the development, design and writing of high-quality proposals for grant and private funding.
- Support the Grant Risk Assessment and Go No-Go
World Vision’s Sudan SCRAMMER Response works to assist those affected in Sudan, Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. WV implements programs and projects covering a wide range of sectors in this complex and changing context.
- Lead/support pre-positioning process with donors/key stakeholders/partners for upcoming opportunities for funding
- Coordinate with external stakeholders and partners in the development of consortia
- Lead/Support donor engagement process with new and repeat donors,
- Coordinate among internal stakeholders to ensure quality project design in alignment with organizational priorities and community needs.
- Support the grants acquisition team to collaborate with WV Support Offices and manage complex grant designs, facilitate startup workshops with aim to ensure the quality of handover to operations for project start-up and implementation
- Ensure best practices are applied and high-quality systems and processes for grant acquisition are maintained, as well as systems for Acquisition Knowledge Management to meet organizational needs and standards
Capacity Building
- Facilitate or provide training (donor and grants development specifics) to the grants acquisition team as well as to technical sector experts. Learn of and utilize World Visions Grant Acquisition training tools such as ProposalPro3
- Provide coaching and training to junior program support staff in regards to proposal writing and grant management
- Collaborate the with the Regional Office GAM team on capacity building strategies and facilitation
Strategic Grant Acquisition Development
- Participate in the development of WV Sudan’s grant acquisition business plan, especially updating the annual donor and partnership mapping, and annual grant acquisition target setting
- Support the GAM Manager in the roll out of the grants acquisition business plan
- Support Sector Specialists to develop evidence based technical capacity statements that have specific donor focus and are aligned to the respective Sudan Response Cluster strategies
- Monitor and report on grants acquisition to ensure the Sudan Response is meeting its funding targets
- Collaborate with the Advocacy and External Engagement team
- Collaborate and negotiate with Support Offices and Global Disaster Management on match needs and other resources
KNOWLEDGE/QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE
Required Professional Experience
- Must have 5 years’ experience working in the humanitarian sector
- Knowledge of proposal and budget requirements and regulations of major donors including the USAID, ECHO, EU, FCDO, UN agencies and other government relief and development institutions
- Must have experience in successful grant writing (6UN, FCDO, OCHA, ECHO etc)
- Familiarity with humanitarian codes, minimum standards, principles and practice
- Experience leading a team of professionals
- Ability to work with a reasonably level of comfort in high tension and high security risk situations.
- Ability to maintain performance expectations in diverse cultural contexts and psychologically stressful environments
- Prior experience in World Vision in a fragile context is preferred
- At least 5 years of valuable experience working in fragile and complex contexts
- Good knowledge and understanding of the humanitarian and response work.
Required Education, training, license, registration, and certification
- Must have a degree or equivalent in relevant fields of study such as International Development, Political Relations, Economics, Sociology, or other related field.
Preferred Knowledge and Qualifications
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
- Ability to work as part of a team and demonstrate flexibility, motivation, and maturity
- Good knowledge of quality standards and quality controls related to medical practice
- Knowledge of IASC MPHSS guidelines, mHGAP, PM+ and other MPHSS approaches specific to low-middle income contexts
- Familiar with core principles of Children’s Rights, Child Protection, Participation, and ‘Do No Harm.
- Excellent planning skills
- Excellent English communication skills (both oral and written). Additional Arabic would be preferred
- Experience of delivering trainings
- Experience working with IDPs and conflict affected persons.
- Knowledge and experience in PSS/PFA
- Organized and able to independently manage multiple tasks under strict deadlines
- Team player and motivator
Travel and/or Work Environment Requirement
- The positions will be based in Port Sudan or Darfur States Depending on Visa issuance and or where support will be needed at a particular moment
Language Requirements
- Effective written and verbal communication in English. Other UN languages, such as French, Arabic, Spanish, and Portuguese, are preferred.
Applicant Types Accepted:
Local and International Applicants (IA’s) Accepted.
