Area Manager

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is a Christian-motivated international organization working in humanitarian relief, development cooperation and human rights. The organization was founded and is headquartered in Germany. SoH thematic focus areas include Health and Nutrition, WASH, Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods, Access to Basic Education, Human Rights, Emergency Relief and Resilience Building through directly implemented and partner-implemented projects and programmes. SoH provides emergency relief worldwide and regionally while linking relief, rehabilitation and development measures. The organization’s East Africa Branch (EAB) office is located in Nairobi, Kenya, with country offices across the East Africa Region. In South Sudan, SoH supports humanitarian, development and human rights programming through direct engagement and partnerships with local actors, with the Country Office based in Rumbek, Lakes State. Job Title: Area Manager Reports to: Country Representative - South Sudan Job Location: Unity State, South Sudan, with frequent travel to Rumbek, Lakes State, and other project locations. On request, the postholder may also be required to travel to neighbouring areas of Sudan, subject to security clearance, applicable permissions and SoH travel procedures. Start Date: 19th October 2026 Contract: 11 months & 2 weeks (renewable subject to satisfactory performance and available project funding) Summary of the job title The Area Manager will support the Country Representative - South Sudan in strengthening programme and project oversight across SoH-supported humanitarian, development and human rights programming in South Sudan, including resilience, recovery and nexus interventions where applicable. Based primarily in Unity State, the position will provide hands-on support to project implementation, project cycle and grant management, partner capacity assessment and strengthening, partner coordination and management, stakeholder engagement, monitoring, reporting, documentation, learning and compliance. The Area Manager will work closely with SoH partner organizations, Country Office colleagues, the East Africa Branch, Headquarters and relevant government, community, humanitarian, development and human rights stakeholders. The role requires a highly organized, self-driven and adaptable professional who can work with minimal supervision, exercise sound judgement and manage multiple priorities in remote and complex operating environments. In addition to programme oversight, the Area Manager will support SoH visibility, communications and fundraising by identifying compelling and ethically documented programme results, human-interest stories, case studies and potential fundraising opportunities, and by developing high-quality content that demonstrates the impact of SoH-supported interventions. The position may support any SoH-funded or SoH-supported humanitarian, development or human rights project in South Sudan, depending on programme needs and priorities. Core duties Programme, Project Cycle and Grant Oversight Support day-to-day oversight of SoH-supported humanitarian, development and human rights projects in South Sudan, ensuring implementation remains aligned with approved proposals, workplans, budgets, donor requirements and SoH policies and procedures. Maintain regular follow-up with implementing partners and project teams on activity progress, deliverables, implementation challenges, agreed actions and reporting deadlines, and support preparation and updating of implementation plans, milestone trackers, risk registers and other project management tools. Undertake regular field monitoring visits to assess implementation progress, quality, relevance, accountability and emerging operational issues; identify bottlenecks and risks early and support timely corrective action in consultation with the Country Representative and relevant colleagues. Apply sound project cycle management across assessment, design, planning, implementation, monitoring, adaptation, reporting, evaluation and project closure, and support concept note and proposal development, project reviews and evaluations as requested. Support compliance with institutional donor requirements and SoH internal procedures, including review of partner deliverables, supporting documentation, project files and grant management records. Work closely with Finance and partners to monitor budget utilization and budget-versus-actual performance, identify significant variances, and contribute to project and partner budgets, procurement plans, forecasts and budget revisions where required. Support preparation of timely, high-quality donor reports and inputs for grant reviews, audits, monitoring visits and donor or management requests for information, while maintaining complete and audit-ready project documentation. Support humanitarian needs assessments, preparedness, emergency response coordination and monitoring when required, and provide practical programme support during evolving crises. 2. Partner Capacity, Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement Undertake and coordinate organizational and project-specific capacity assessments of current and prospective local implementing partners using SoH tools and agreed due-diligence processes. Support development and follow-up of partner capacity-strengthening plans covering programme and grant management, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, safeguarding, accountability, human rights and protection-sensitive programming, documentation and reporting. Maintain structured communication with partners, facilitate coordination and review meetings, document agreed actions, follow up commitments and support partner performance monitoring against contractual obligations, workplans, budgets and quality standards. Support the Country Representative in maintaining effective relationships with government authorities, local administrations, communities, civil society and human rights actors, humanitarian and development coordination structures, UN agencies, NGOs/INGOs, donors and other relevant stakeholders. Participate in and, when delegated, represent SoH in coordination meetings, technical forums, project reviews, partner meetings and stakeholder engagements, ensuring relevant information and agreed actions are communicated and followed up internally. Support stakeholder mapping and maintain an up-to-date understanding of key actors, coordination platforms, programme and funding opportunities, operational constraints and emerging needs relevant to SoH programming. Promote respectful, transparent and mutually accountable partnerships consistent with SoH’s localization approach and facilitate effective information flow between field locations, partners, the South Sudan Country Office, the East Africa Branch and Headquarters. 3. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Learning and Reporting Support establishment and use of practical project monitoring systems and tools, including indicator tracking, activity and output monitoring, partner reporting schedules and field monitoring plans. Review partner narrative and monitoring reports for completeness, accuracy and consistency with agreed indicators, targets, workplans and project results, and support data quality verification where required. Ensure monitoring findings, community feedback, implementation evidence and lessons learned are documented and used to improve programme quality, decision-making and adaptive management. Prepare, consolidate and contribute to clear, analytical and high-quality internal, donor and management reports, briefing notes, field visit reports, presentations, case studies and other programme documentation. Facilitate documentation and sharing of lessons learned, good practices, challenges and innovations across projects, partners and relevant SoH teams. 4 . Human Rights, Humanitarian Quality and Accountability Support implementation and monitoring of SoH-supported human rights projects and the application of rights-based approaches where relevant, including participation, inclusion, non-discrimination and accountability. Promote adherence to humanitarian principles, accountability to affected populations, safeguarding, protection mainstreaming, conflict sensitivity and do-no-harm approaches across programme implementation. Ensure sensitive human rights, protection and community information is handled with appropriate confidentiality, informed consent, dignity, data protection and referral considerations in line with SoH procedures. Identify significant programme, protection, human rights, partner or operational concerns requiring escalation or technical support and communicate them promptly to the Country Representative. 5. Visibility, Communications and Fundraising Support Proactively identify strong programme results, human-interest stories, case studies and community perspectives that demonstrate the relevance and impact of SoH-supported humanitarian, development and human rights interventions. Identify potential fundraising stories, cases, programme needs and funding opportunities that can be developed further for institutional, private or public fundraising, and communicate these promptly to the Country Representative and relevant SoH fundraising or communications colleagues. Develop high-quality written content including success stories, case studies, project updates, field briefs, captions, quotations and other materials for donor engagement, fundraising, reporting, organizational learning and external communication. Support collection and management of appropriate photographs, video clips, testimonials and other communication materials in accordance with informed consent, safeguarding, dignity, confidentiality, security and data protection requirements, with particular care in human rights and protection-related contexts. Support compliance with donor visibility and branding requirements, maintain an organized bank of approved communication materials, and contribute to donor, partner, media or stakeholder visits, presentations and visibility activities when requested. The duties and responsibilities set out above are not exhaustive. The Area Manager may be required to undertake other reasonable assignments consistent with their skills and experience and with SoH programme priorities in South Sudan. Candidates’ profile A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in International Development, Project Management, Humanitarian Action, Development Studies, Human Rights, Law, Disaster Risk Management, Social Sciences, Public Health, Agriculture, Natural Resources Management or another relevant field. A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in project or programme implementation, coordination or management, preferably in humanitarian, development and/or human rights programming in fragile or crisis-affected contexts. Demonstrated practical experience in humanitarian programming, including emergency response, recovery, resilience or humanitarian-development nexus programming. Experience with human rights or rights-based programming is an added advantage. Strong practical knowledge of the project management cycle, including assessment, design, planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, reporting, evaluation and project closure. Demonstrated experience working with institutional donor grants. Experience with German institutional donors, particularly BMZ and GFFO, is strongly preferred; relevant experience with other institutional donors will also be considered. Proven experience in partner coordination and management, including partner capacity assessment, accompaniment, performance follow-up and capacity strengthening, together with strong stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills. Good understanding of grant compliance, budget monitoring, results-based monitoring and evaluation, data quality, financial follow-up and use of evidence to improve programme implementation. Excellent written and verbal communication and report-writing skills, with demonstrated ability to produce clear, analytical and high-quality donor and management reports and to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders. Strong organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills, with demonstrated ability to work with minimal supervision, exercise sound judgement, manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in demanding environments. Experience supporting organizational visibility, communications or development of human-interest stories and case studies is desirable. Previous involvement in identifying fundraising-ready stories, cases or programme opportunities is an added advantage. Knowledge of humanitarian principles, accountability to affected populations, safeguarding, protection mainstreaming, conflict sensitivity and rights-based approaches. Advanced working knowledge of MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint, including effective use of spreadsheets for project tracking, budget follow-up and reporting. Excellent spoken and written English. Knowledge of relevant local languages is an advantage. Willingness and ability to travel frequently to remote project locations in South Sudan and, when formally requested and authorized, to neighbouring areas of Sudan, and to work effectively in multicultural, insecure and resource-constrained environments. Conditions: Duration of contract: 11 months & 2 weeks (renewable subject to satisfactory performance and available project funding) Salary according to qualification and experience