Deputy Representative Operations

Deputy Representative Operations

Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment

Duty Station: Port Sudan

Level: D-1

Location: Sudan

Categories: Senior Leadership Vacancies

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfil their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up.

For every child, dedication!

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does, in Programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life, in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions, her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens, addressing inequity, not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital.

It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

Sudan is currently operating in a large-scale L3 emergency context following the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, which has triggered widespread displacement and a sharp escalation in grave violations against children. The operating environment remains highly volatile, particularly across Darfur and Kordofan, requiring a response that simultaneously delivers life-saving humanitarian assistance while sustaining systems across the humanitarian–development–peace nexus. UNICEF’s response is centered on critical child protection priorities, including mental health and psychosocial support, gender-based violence prevention and response, support to unaccompanied and separated children, and explosive ordnance risk education, underpinned by the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on grave violations.

Within this context, the Deputy Representative Operations plays a critical leadership role in enabling the effective delivery of programme results through strong operational systems, risk informed decision-making, and efficient resource management. The role ensures that finance, supply and logistics, ICT, administration, and other enabling functions are strategically aligned, agile, and optimized to support programme delivery at scale in a highly constrained and rapidly evolving emergency context.

As a member of the senior management team, the Deputy Representative Operations contributes to strategic leadership of the office, ensuring that operational strategies and structures are fit for purpose, compliant, and capable of supporting scale. This includes strengthening internal controls, enhancing risk management, driving Value for Money, and ensuring business continuity under complex emergency conditions. The role also leads on streamlining systems and processes to improve efficiency and accountability, while maintaining strong oversight of partnerships, financial management, and fiduciary risk.

The Deputy Representative Operations supports the Representative in ensuring that UNICEF’s humanitarian response is delivered in a timely, principled, and accountable manner, in line with global policies and frameworks. This includes enabling effective inter-agency coordination on operational matters, supporting duty of care for staff, and ensuring that operational platforms are in place to sustain delivery across multiple locations and modalities in a fragile and high-risk environment.

Strategic Operations will accomplish this by:

• Leading by example and supporting the Representative on managing the office. Acting as Officer in Charge in the absence of the Representative.
• Managing services in the functional areas of Operations: budget, financial management and reporting, facilities management, administration, supply and logistics management, information and communications technology and convening the other functions to arrive at a unified vision.
• Implementing and monitoring strategies, policies, and procedures to support the implementation of child, environment and social safeguards (ESS) across all UNICEF Sudan programmes.
• Ensuring processes are in place to identify, promote and empower the potential in staff through career development, opportunities for stretch assignments and succession planning.
• Acting as member of the Country and Senior Management Teams, representing the organizational risk, governance systems and policies perspective in management discussions, and promoting results-based management.
• Understand business needs for the Country Programme, anticipate challenges, and propose viable, innovative solutions using a solution-focused and value-for-money lens,underpinned by strong quality assurance.
• Providing key contribution to CPD, CPMP, AMP and support to Results Based Management and implementation using Value for Money criteria. Leveraging technology for results and programme accountabilities, making effective adoption of tools and promoting the fundamentals of ICT management, information security and controls.
• Supporting the country office during external and internal audit reviews and responding to audit observations and monitoring implementation of recommendations.
• Guiding Supply and Logistics strategies and interventions to meet programmatic needs while ensuring Value for Money (VfM), including procurement of fit for purpose products and services, and providing advisory support to governments, national systems and partners on supply chain management.
• Leveraging governance, systems, and tools to provide regular feedback on risks and achievements of operations functions in the country. Overseeing business transactions processed by GSSC from a perspective of Efficiency, Performance, Risk Management and Fraud prevention. Supporting the management of PSFR operations and promoting efficiency across systems and processes, where applicable.
• Lead and support relocation and movement of staff within Sudan and in/out of the country in line with the emergency response and the broader programme implementation.
• Ensure efficient, effective, sound risk informed support to the emergency response in the areas of Finance/Accounting, Human Resources, Administration, Supply/Logistics, ICT and Implementing Partners/HACT. Specifically, ensure that the supply operations are effective and efficient and the supply flow in the country is well managed from planning to distribution, and monitoring.
• Lead and provide support in streamlining workflow/business processes for accelerated emergency response and broader programme implementation, and implementation of the emergency procedures as necessary.
• Lead the UNICEF contribution to the interagency coordination on operational matters and duty of care (including specific measures to support national staff).
• Lead and support the management of the Cash on Hand (COHA) and Money Service Providers, as well as the operational support to the humanitarian cash transfer activities.
• Lead and strengthen the implementation and monitoring of the Business Continuity Plan.
• Lead identification of more banking options, payments options to the staff, and availability of cash for programme implementation and operational needs.
• Lead and/or support the establishment of operational hubs as necessary inside Sudan and in neighborhood countries, including identifying and proposing appropriate office premises and accommodation for staff.
• Lead arrangements with the official or de-facto authorities for all operational facilities and relevant agreements (e.g., customs, visas, protocol, security, accommodations, privileges and immunities).
• Undertake visits to zone offices and/or