Senior Program Officer December 2023
About Conflict Dynamics International Conflict Dynamics International (CDI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization which works to prevent and resolve violent conflict, and to alleviate human suffering resulting from conflicts and other crises around the world. CDI was founded in 2004 and strives to fulfill its mission through conflict resolution activities and humanitarian policy development. CDI’s activities span two intersecting program areas: (I) Peace Action, and (II) Humanitarian Action. The organization has a proven track record in the provision of mediation support to peace processes
and in researching and working on political accommodation in post-conflict societies. CDI’s work in the realm of peacebuilding focuses tightly on provision of substantive and processrelated inputs to ongoing political processes. These substantive inputs focus primarily on governance-related aspects of peacemaking and peacebuilding, including but not limited to: constitutional design, electoral system engineering, public participation in political processes and consociational arrangements.
The Role Role: Senior Program Officer Location: Khartoum, Sudan, when the security situation allows; Until then, CDI’s Sudan staff will work from one of CDI’s other offices: Nairobi, Kenya or Cambridge, USA.
Hybrid Policy: Maximum of 40% of working hours can be performed remotely/from home. Salary: Competitive.
CDI cannot sponsor visas to the USA; candidates whose preferred location is Cambridge, Massachusetts must have authorisation to work in the USA.
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Job Summary Conflict Dynamics International is seeking to engage an exceptional and highly motivated Senior Program Officer to support its work in Sudan. Currently, CDI’s Sudan Program focuses on supporting Sudanese approaches to peace and political accommodation, including through provision of support to design and implementation of political dialogue processes and governance arrangements. The Senior Program Officer will work as an integral member of the Sudan Team to conduct high quality research and analyses, to lead on design and drafting of written and other products. This work will provide the analytical foundation for the organization’s work in supporting political dialogue processes, equipping parties with skills and resources to participate meaningfully in the discourses on the transition process, anticipating and responding to new and emerging context issues, and framing peacebuilding and political transition issues.
The Senior Program Officer will undertake research and data analysis related to conflict situation and drivers, key civilian stakeholders including their interests and motivations, ongoing and anticipated/emerging ceasefire and political dialogue initiatives as well as political-economy analysis of Sudan. Additionally, the Senior Program Officer is expected to lead in preparation of papers, briefs, presentations and other research and analysis outputs as well as coordinate the dissemination of these outputs including presentation to key stakeholders. The Senior Program Officer is expected to support in reviewing various initiatives proposed across CDI and provide a critical lens, quality assurance and analysis to ensure relevance, consistency and alignment across CDI’s broader strategic direction.
Scope of Work The Senior Program Officer will work as an integral member of CDI’s Sudan team. They will lead in design and implementation of research and analysis activities to inform the political dialogue
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processes and provision of technical assistance to facilitators and participants (including Sudanese civilian stakeholders) in these processes. This is a full-time position.
Responsibilities The Senior Program Officer duties and responsibilities will include: Applied research: • Conceptualizing, designing and provide leadership in conducting research activities in areas related to CDI’s core areas of work in Sudan including peacebuilding, political dialogue processes facilitation, technical assistance to Sudanese stakeholders participating in the dialogue processes (as facilitators/mediators and/or participants), political accommodation etc. • Conducting quantitative and quantitative analysis of data provided by the Sudan country thematic teams. • Identifying case studies with features of governance arrangements or political dialogue processes that are similar or applicable to Sudan context and propose further research into these and production of comparative analysis. • Developing practical and implementable actions from the research and analysis for direct use by CDI’s audiences and stakeholders (i.e., application of the research) • Identifying opportunities to evolve and apply Conflict Dynamics’ Political Accommodation Methodology such that it can be used by political parties, civil society constituencies and others to analyze, design and implement arrangement for governance
and political dialogue that can achieve effective conciliation of political interests. • Identifying new research and analysis methods and tools, including distributed social network analysis tools, systems thinking tools etc. • Contributing to development of an online knowledge base of resources to be used by Sudanese participating in or seeking to participate in political dialogue processes. Writing and editing: • Lead in drafting and coordinate the production of a variety of resources/ products relevant to CDI’s work in Sudan to guide political process facilitators/mediators and other participants. Anticipated resources/products include, among others, discussion notes, briefing papers, comparative analysis and concept notes. • Editing and proof-reading documents for internal use or external publication, to ensure that they conform to house style and to tailor them to different audiences. • Revise/update and disseminating CDI’s in-house’ document production and writing guide; this may include building capacity of staff/personnel and partners in writing. • Coordinating translations of publications.
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Responsibilities Research and product development: • Coordinating, including through serving as focal point, the production and review of comparative case studies, including those focusing on political dialogue processes and governance arrangements. This includes: - Identifying case studies that are relevant and applicable to Sudan context, conduct preliminary analysis and recommend those case studies to progress to full research. - Support the subject matter experts carrying out the comparative analysis including briefing on preliminary research and where necessary assisting in data collection and analysis. - Preparing the case studies for publication through the online knowledge base/platform Research methodology: • Developing guidance and policies on CDI’s research methodologies, ensuring that they conform to rigorous social science research methods. This will include leading in developing organizational research code of ethics.
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• Building capacity of CDI staff and consultants on research process, including ethics; this may be done by Senior Program Officer or external experts working under guidance of Senior Program Officer. • In collaboration with the MEL Officer, monitor and evaluate the reach, utility and impact of CDI’s research products. Dissemination and outreach: • Lead in disseminating CDI’s research/working products to key stakeholders and target audiences. Approaches in dissemination may include, but not limited to: - Presentations/briefing to stakeholders - Publishing in CDI’s website and social media sites/pages. - Liaising with CDI’s partner organizations for posting of products/outputs on their websites/social media sites/pages. - Media dissemination including writing of summaries for publication in relevant media outlets. The Senior Program Officer will also carry out other tasks as agreed upon with CDI.
Candidate Profile Experience, skills and qualifications: To be successful in this position, the candidate is required to meet the following minimum qualifications: • Post-graduate degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in political science, social science, international relations, law, international political economy, comparative politics, economics or related field. Candidates with a bachelor’s degree and an additional 4 years’ experience over and above that set out in the person’s qualifications (see below) will be considered. • Minimum of 10 years’ progressive professional experience working on political processes and systems, governance, peacebuilding, policy making, or related field. • Demonstrable knowledge and experience in carrying out action/applied research in situations/ contexts of political transitions. Preference will be given to candidates with formal training/ qualifications in qualitative and quantitative social science research methodologies. • Excellent writing skills (English), with demonstrated experience of drafting for a variety of audiences. • Demonstrable experience in policy analysis and drafting, proof reading and editing.
• Excellent presentation skills. • Demonstrable knowledge of political, economic, social cultural situation and history of Sudan. Preferred qualifications, knowledge and experience are: • Working knowledge of written and spoken Arabic • Experience in using data analysis software, such as STATA, SPSS and NVivo. Qualities: • The qualities CDI is seeking in the Senior Program Officer include: - A rigorous, systematic thinker. - Diligent and consistent, with an eye for detail - Committed to CDI’s mission and ethos. - Able to draw lessons and translate them into practical and implementable actions. - Able to communicate complex ideas simply and clearly. - Intellectually curious, keeping up to date with academic literature and current affairs relevant to their profession.
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How to Apply All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter as two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process. The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit. The document should be saved in PDF in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., Pat-JonesCV-122023-CDI or Pat-Jones-CoverLetter-122023-CDI. Timeline Closing Date:
21st January 2024 Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; early applications are strongly encouraged.
First Stage Interviews:
Rolling
Selection Process All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder. Equality Statement Equality and diversity are at the core of Conflict Dynamics International’s values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected. Queries If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email at conflict-dynamics-spo@oxfordhr.com in the first instance.
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