Project Director for Climate Smart Agriculture and WASH - AfDB Project

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries.

We won’t stop until we are all equal.

Role Purpose

The Project Director for Climate Smart Agriculture and WASH will provide managerial and technical guidance and support to Plan International South Sudan and Plan International Ethiopia teams implementing the Climate Smart Agriculture and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Unity State in South Sudan and Gambelia Region in Ethiopia. The post holder will develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate tools to climate-smart FSL and WASH project activities. The Project Director for Climate Smart Agriculture and WASH is required to have in-depth knowledge of food security and livelihood systems and WASH development and management, economic inclusion, application of value chain analysis and development, agribusiness and market development or implementation of investment operations, as well as global evidence and best practices regarding economic empowerment and have the ability to apply them in the context of South Sudan and Ethiopia.

The post holder will be responsible for facilitating the assessment, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the climate-resilient agriculture and water sanitation and hygiene integration to peacebuilding for community cohesion, living in harmony, and resolving conflicts at an early stage through mutual respect to ensure resilience and sustainability of the project. The post holder will ensure that all project activities engage youth and have a strong gender focus with 60% female participation. Ensure project intervention activities are linked to longer-term resilient programming in order to guarantee maximum impact for sustainability in line with Plan International’s Global Strategy. In addition, the post holder will play an integral role in coordination with stakeholders and other service providers, plus resource mobilization and building capacity of local staff and partners through providing training, coaching, and mentorship. On a wider scale, the Climate Smart Agriculture and WASH Team leader will play a key role in supporting the Country offices of South Sudan and Ethiopia to build capacity in using best practices, case studies, and documenting learning and evidence in line with PI global policy and advocacy objectives.

The post holder will provide leadership and strategic direction for the project, linking it with PI projects in South Sudan and Ethiopia. He/she will provide and facilitate timely updates for PI management, the AfDB, and other stakeholders.

Accountabilities

Programme Development and programme operation

• Develop a detailed and integrated FSL and WASH project implementation plan, ensuring alignment with project objectives, donor requirements, technical standards, budgets, and implementation timelines
• Facilitate the development of a project procurement plan
• Develop project start-up, monitoring, reporting, and project closeout plan
• Periodic review of the project’s FSL & WASH interventions achievements in South Sudan and Ethiopia, plus adjusting implementation plans accordingly with
• Design templates for weekly update and monthly updates and share updates regularly with the Supervisor
• Develop high-quality quarterly, biannual, and annual donor report
• Development of training modules and material and conducting TOTs on various aspects of agriculture production, plant production, livestock production, VSLA, WASH activities, and protection.
• Develop guidance for agricultural demonstration plots and establishment guidelines for Famer Community Centres and farmer field school standards.
• Ensure high-quality project delivery by project teams that have a direct positive impact on children, girls, youth, especially young women and their families
• Support the development of quality FSL & WASH proposals that attract funding from donors and national offices.
• Lead the implementation of the project by using project staff and other project resources
• Monitors and supports the works of sub-grantees of this project
• Manage project staff

Technical support and capacity building

• Provide technical support to the project teams in the field, focusing on the job mentoring and coaching the field teams during technical supervision.
• Capacity building of Plan staff and volunteers on FSL and WASH technical areas such as VSLA, life skills, Market System Development, Value Chain Development, financial inclusion, and Climate Smart Agriculture
• Development of training packages and delivery of training, development, and monitoring of individual capacity-building plans,
• Develop and ensure the use of standardized FSL and WASH tools and promote the use of standard resources (such as the Core Humanitarian Standards) to ensure quality.
• Establish and train sustainable businesses (cooperatives, VSLAs) and job placements/employment.
• Provide capacity-building/training on market-oriented crop and vegetable production best agronomic practices for household cash & livelihoods

Monitoring and evaluation

• In coordination with the country's M&E teams and the project’s MEAL team, updating current household surveys and economic assessments and leading FSL and WASH needs assessments as appropriate in project locations.
• Knowledge management and documentation of lessons learned related to FSL and WASH programming in the project
• Ensure WASH assessments cover water access, water quality, sanitation, hygiene practices, infrastructure functionality, O&M, and climate risks.
• Ensure functioning feedback and complaints mechanisms in the project
• Ensure proper use of project monitoring and evaluation tools like IPTT, BVA, DIP, etc.

Representation

• Represent Plan International South Sudan and Plan International Ethiopia in the national/subnational FSL and WASH clusters and relevant coordination groups as appropriate.
• Ensure Plan International South Sudan visibility at the field level in coordination with PIAMs
• Ensure monthly reporting to the FSL and WASH sub-clusters as appropriate

Finance and budget management

• Monitor budget and ensure adequate burn rate of the project’s budget as per the quarterly budget plans in close coordination with the project teams and relevant departments
• Ensure timely review of the BVA monthly and develop an action plan on corrective measures to be taken
• Ensure compliance in finance utilization
• Do timely budget forecasts and budget request 

Reporting

• Ensure timely and quality preparation, review, and submission of donor or Nos reports in relation to the project, both narrative and financial reports, in close collaboration with the project staff, thematic leads, finance team, and Business Development Department
• Ensures that Plan International's global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International's Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge required

Essential

• Master's degree in agriculture, water resources engineering, agricultural engineering, rural development, disaster risk management, water resources management, environmental sciences, hydraulics, water supply and environmental engineering, economics, or a related field
• Having project management professional certificate from international recognized institute like project management institute or international accredited center 
• A minimum of 8-10 years of experience in FSL/WASH work with Development banks, UN agencies, private sector, and humanitarian organizations.
• Knowledge of climate-smart agriculture, food systems, Climate resilience WASH, water systems management, and nutrition themes, including VSLA, agribusiness, value chain development, market linkages, and financial inclusion.
• Experience in providing technical support, capacity building, designing and delivering training, and coaching staff and volunteers
• Good understanding of FSL and WASH issues in South Sudan and Ethiopia.
• Fluent in English (both oral and written). Knowledge of local Arabic and/or other languages will be an added advantage.
• Good Understanding of donor interest and key competitors in the FSL and WASH sectors
• Experience managing large-scale food security and livelihood, as well as WASH and related development and emergency projects.
• Capacity in the development of training manuals in FSL and WASH
• Experience writing project proposals, doing assessments, and evaluating tools.
• Experience in coordinating and managing diverse team members

Skills

• Proposal Development Skills
• Representation and leadership skills.
• Excellent analytical, negotiation, conceptual, and strategic thinking skills.
• Excellent writing skills for both research and communication purposes.
• Good interpersonal skills

Location: Juba, South Sudan. With 40% travel in project field areas.  

Type of Role: 13 Month Fixed term contract 

Reports to: Direct reporting line to the Plan International South Sudan Head of Programmes, with a matrix reporting line to the Plan International Ethiopia Head of Programme Delivery.

Closing Date:  Tuesday 15 September 2026 at 21:59 pm UK time

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.