Program Officer

Pact is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries building solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve. Founded in 1971, Pact works with partners to build resilience, improve accountability, and strengthen knowledge and skills for sustainable social impact.

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Position Overview

Pact seeks a Program Officer for the USAID-funded Strengthening Youth and Women’s Civic Participation Project. The Project aims to increase collaboration, sustainability, and resilience of civil society and independent media to advance the inclusion, participation and leadership of youth and women in Sudan. The activity will apply locally led, problem-driven, adaptive approaches. This program will be starting Y2 of an anticipated five-year activity, with a dramatic shift in the operating context since the program startup in Khartoum in October 2o22. This position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya with occasional travel throughout the East Africa region.

The Program Officer will support the program’s subaward portfolio through supporting the full Subaward lifecycle (from subaward making, to subaward monitoring and subaward closeout). The Program Officer will be responsible for supporting sub award adherence to targets, timelines, budget management and achievement of objectives. The Officer will be expected to utilize inclusive, participatory approaches that are consistent with project objectives to support partners and achieve results. As the program’s subaward portfolio grows the Officer’s geographic and technical portfolio within Sudan will become more defined.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of sub-award project workplans, budgets, and reports.
• Support high-quality technical programming through advancing participatory methodologies, co-creation, and contextualization, as per Pact’s capacity development overarching principles, approaches, and tools.
• Support sub-awards to implement activities within budget and on time. Provide timely feedback to sub-awards partners on project approaches and emerging issues to allow for adaptive management.
• Conduct ongoing monitoring and performance assessments of partners/subgrantees. Regularly collect, analyze, and report on data and support the development of Institutional Strengthening Plans for partner/subgrantees.
• Track and review sub-award deliverables and manage focused reviews of project implementation progress.
• Support the development, implementation and monitoring of Institutional Strengthening Plans for local partners to enhance achievement of expected outcomes.
• As feasible, conduct regular field visits to provide technical support, mentorship, or coaching to subawards.
• Foster strong collaboration and coordination with the grants management team.
• Provide regular written/oral program progress updates as requested.
• Employee complies with all company policies and procedures, including completing all compliance training topics by the deadline to satisfy each and receiving the corresponding acknowledgment statement that the training has been completed.
• All other duties as assigned.

  Basic Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in international development, Political Science, Public Policy, or a relevant discipline. Master’s degree or advanced certificate is preferred.
  • A minimum of five years of professional experience in a related field. Experience designing collaborative working sessions that engage stakeholders at different levels of civil society is preferred.
  • Previous experience with subaward management and/or sustained partner support through project lifecycle.
  • Strong understanding of international development projects and their operational context.
  • Demonstrated experience in synthesizing and analyzing various data sources for learning and recommendations for programming adaptations.
  • Knowledge of and experience with key democracy, human rights, governance programming in Sudan is a strong advantage, as in experience building the capacity of civil society organizations.
  • Collaborative spirit in working with teammates and partners; commitment to engaging with stakeholders in accordance to Do No Harm (DNH) principles and practices.
  • Demonstrated ability to partner successfully with team, partner/subgrantee organizations, and other stakeholders.
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, i.e., Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc., as well as other relevant software.
  • Professional fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.

  • Preferred Qualifications

    • Knowledge of the political, social, and economic context of Sudan.
    • Sudanese nationals strongly encouraged to apply.
    • Strong networks of formal and informal Sudanese civic actors, substantiated by years of experience working in and on Sudan.
    • Knowledge of, and experience with, USAID’s collaborating, adapting, and learning (CLA) approaches.