Consortium Program Manager

CONTRACT LENGTH: 12 months initially (with the possibility of extension).

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:  

Level 2: the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

Project Background

The Agri-skills for Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Economies – Green Resilience and Employment Enhancement Network (ARISE-GREEN) is a 48-month, European Union-funded Agri-Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) initiative under the Skills for South Sudan’s Youth in the Agri-Value Chain Sector Action. The project is implemented by a Save the Children (SCI)-led consortium, Hope Africa South Sudan (HASS), and the Christian Agency for Peace and Development (CAPaD) as Co-Applicants. ARISE-GREEN aims to reform and strengthen inclusive, accredited, and climate-responsive Agri-TVET systems in South Sudan. Operating across 7 counties in Eastern Equatoria (Magwi, Torit, Kapoeta South), Central Equatoria (Juba, Terekeka), and Lakes State (Rumbek Central, Yirol East), the project targets 12 public TVET institutions, upgrading 3 into specialized Centres of Excellence. The project will directly support 5,538 vulnerable youth (including IDPs, returnees, refugees, women, persons with disabilities, and UNMISS-referred high-risk individuals) by shifting agricultural training from theoretical instruction to practical, market-led Competency-Based Training (CBT) anchored across green agri-value chain nodes. 

Role Purpose

Based in Juba, the Consortium Project Manager will provide overall strategic leadership, technical oversight, and operational management for the successful implementation of the 48-month ARISE-GREEN project. The role is responsible for ensuring high-quality, fully compliant delivery across the entire consortium structure, leading coordination between lead and co-applicants (HASS and CAPaD), and managing critical geographic and strategic interfaces with the parallel NRC-led consortium. The incumbent will serve as the primary focal point for the European Union contracting authority, national ministries (MoGEI, MoL, MAFS), UNMISS, and private sector stakeholders. They will ensure that provider-level improvements effectively feed into sub-national and national system reforms. 

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

Reports to:  Head of Programme Implementation

Staff reporting to this post: Agric TVET Coordinators, Consortium MEAL Coordinator, Consortium Finance Coordinator, Agric TVET Officers

Roles & Responsibilities

1. Consortium Leadership & Strategic Management

• Provide overall guidance, leadership, and vision to the consortium partners (HASS and CAPaD) to ensure unified, qualitative, and timely project delivery. 
• Manage sub-grant agreements and ensure all consortium members adhere to Save the Children policies, European Union regulations, and national standards. 
• Lead the inception phase planning, including the execution of joint TVET  centers Assessment and Labour Market Assessments,  value chain skills gap analyses, and priority Agri-TVET vocations for curricula and modules development. 
• Finalize and sign Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with an estimated 49 private sector companies and value-chain actors to host apprenticeships and work-based learning (WBL). 

2. Technical & Program Operational Delivery

• Oversee the transition from theoretical instruction to practical Competency-Based Training (CBT) across 12 designated public TVET centers and 3 Centres of Excellence. 
• Direct institutional strengthening efforts, including the roll-out of Institutional Development Plans, Quality Assurance (QA) systems, and facility/workshop upgrades. 
• Supervise the capacity building and professional development of 240 TVET instructors in inclusive, practical, and climate-smart teaching methodologies. 
• Coordinate the design and distribution of specialized self-employment Start-up Productivity Kits and business incubation services for graduates, ensuring alignment and avoiding duplication with parallel GRE inputs. 

3. Partner Coordination & Systems Alignment

• Maintain a highly functional, complementary relationship with the NRC-led consortium, utilizing a shared area-by-area matrix to ensure geographic deconfliction and harmonized beneficiary targeting. 
• Operationalize and lead sub-national multi-stakeholder dialogue platforms and 3 state-level TVET Ad-hoc Committees to bridge the institutional divide between the agricultural and skills sectors. 
• Manage high-level coordination with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI), Ministry of Labour (MoL), and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) to validate national Agri-TVET strategies.
• Establish referral frameworks and vetting pathways with UNMISS and the National DDR Commission to safely integrate 315 high-risk youth and ex-combatants into technical skilling tracks. 

4.Consortium Management Unit (CMU) Leadership

• Lead and manage the CMU, directly coordinating with the CMU Finance Focal Point and MEAL Focal Point to ensure efficient delivery of the Action across all partners. 
• Provide comprehensive secretariat support to the individual Steering Committee, including preparing meeting agendas, recording documentation, and tracking action points. 
• Coordinate the overall implementation of the project in strict compliance with the Funding Agreement, supervising planning, monitoring, and standard reporting processes. 
• Facilitate joint planning and decision-making processes among consortium partners, developing shared targets, combined workplans, and strategic roadmaps. 
• Promote consensus-building, mediate disputes, and actively lead conflict resolution among consortium members to maintain a culture of transparency and partnership. 
• Support Project Cycle Management (PCM) standards, ensuring institutional continuity, systematic onboarding of new staff, and timely execution of project milestones like start-up meetings and periodic reviews. 

5. Technical Working Group Coordination

• Chair the monthly Technical and Operations Working Group (TOWG) to ensure harmonized, quality implementation of activities in line with the approved workplan. 
• Drive alignment and coherence of technical approaches across consortium partners, standardizing common tools for project delivery, monitoring, and evaluation. 
• Monitor progress against project outputs, outcomes, and indicators, initiating corrective actions whenever implementation gaps or delays are flagged. 
• Establish ad hoc technical working groups as required to develop specific operational guidance, technical methodologies, and tools. 
• Support the Grant Holder in the engagement, contracting, capacity building, and oversight of local implementing partners and teams. 

6. Cross-Consortium Joint Governance & Collaboration

• Participate actively in the quarterly Joint Steering Committee to ensure alignment on shared strategic priorities, joint results frameworks, and high-level risk resolution between the SCI and NRC consortia. 
• Operationalize and co-lead the bi-monthly Joint Coordination Secretariat, facilitating day-to-day collaboration, structured information flow, and alignment of schedules between both consortia. 
• Actively track progress against joint deliverables, consolidate combined reporting inputs, and maintain a shared central repository of key programmatic decisions. 
• Identify cross-consortium risks, bottlenecks, or overlapping field activities, proposing timely mitigation measures and escalating unresolved issues to the respective Steering Committees. 

7. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

• Support the operationalization of the Joint Results and Learning Platform to coordinate, harmonise, and align MEAL frameworks and tools across both consortia. 
• Ensure the consolidation, analysis, and strategic utilization of output and indicator data to drive adaptive management and continuous program improvement. 
• Facilitate cross-consortium learning reviews and reflection sessions to extract and document best practices, case studies, and institutional knowledge. 
• Safeguard the integration of essential cross-cutting priorities—including gender equity, protection, conflict sensitivity, and accountability to affected populations—into everyday program delivery. 

8. Financial Planning, Compliance, & Visibility

• Coordinate financial planning, budgeting, and financial oversight processes in tight collaboration with the Finance Focal Point, ensuring full alignment with EU financial regulations and agreed internal consortium procedures. 
• Review, consolidate, and finalize high-quality technical and narrative reports in complete compliance with European Union guidelines prior to donor submission. 
• Facilitate structured external communication, representation, and stakeholder engagement in line with Steering Committee guidance and the specific EU Communication and Visibility Plan.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

• Strategic Leadership and Project Management
• Stakeholder Engagement and Community Mobilization Oversight
• Technical Oversight of Programme Components
• Coordination, Representation, and Partnerships
• Monitoring, Reporting, and Quality Assurance
• Team Leadership and Capacity Strengthening

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.

• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance, and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

   

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development, and encourages their team to do the same.
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others

• Future-oriented, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

   

   

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, Members, and external partners and supporters.
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

   

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.

• Willing to take disciplined risks.

   

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates the highest levels of integrity.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential :

• Master’s degree in international development, Vocational Education (TVET), Agricultural Economics, Project Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7–10 years of progressive professional experience managing large-scale, multi-million dollar international development projects, with a preferred focus on TVET, youth livelihoods, climate-smart agriculture, or market systems development (MSD).
• Proven track record of leading multi-partner consortia in fragile or post-conflict settings (direct experience in South Sudan or East Africa is highly desirable).
• In-depth knowledge of European Union (EU/NDICI) rules, procedures, and reporting compliance regulations. 
• Technical understanding of Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET/CBT) frameworks, curriculum development, and national qualification systems. 
• Experience implementing conflict-sensitive programming, social cohesion initiatives, and working with high-risk groups (e.g., gang-affiliated youth, ex-combatants, and displaced populations). 
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Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive, and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within the reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities 

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.