The Health in Emergencies (HiE) Specialist will provide strategic leadership and technical support for Save the Children’s health interventions in emergency settings across Sudan, with a particular focus on Emergency response, conflict, disease outbreaks, displacement, and climate-induced crises. Recognizing that health is a fundamental component of humanitarian response supporting physical and psychological protection, child survival, and development, the postholder will ensure that health programming is evidence-based, context-appropriate, and aligned with global best practices, donor standards, and Save the Children’s humanitarian health frameworks.

Working closely with the Senior Health Specialist and Head of Child Survival, the HiE Specialist will play a central role in capacity building of area teams, consortium members, partners, and other local actors. The postholder will also provide technical monitoring and quality assurance throughout the project cycle, supporting implementation teams to deliver high-quality programming.

Additionally, the role includes program design and proposal development, supporting the growth of the health in emergencies portfolio and resource mobilization in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. The specialist will ensure effective technical coordination of all HiE activities by actively participating in national and sub-national health technical coordination platforms, including Health Clusters and technical working groups.

Internally, the postholder will work as part of the Child Survival and PDQ teams, promoting the dissemination of good practices and lessons learned, and supporting advocacy efforts on health for children, mothers, and communities. Externally, the role requires strong engagement and partnership building with ministries of health, UN agencies, INGOs, and civil society to enhance the impact and reach of Save the Children’s health programming.

1. Programme Design, Development, and Quality

• Provide strategic technical leadership in the design, implementation, and quality assurance of Health in Emergencies (HiE) and development-focused health programmes.
• Lead or contribute to the development of quality, cost-effective, and innovative proposals in line with the Child Survival strategy (Health, Nutrition, and WASH sectors)
• Collaborate with PDQ and Operations teams to design integrated health project proposals including early recovery and preparedness, ensuring child protection and gender are mainstreamed.
• Ensure health programs adhere to the national, humanitarian and global standards, including Sphere and Save the Children Common Approaches.
• Lead development and submission of HRPs, SHF proposals, and other donor applications ensuring timely and high-quality contributions.
• Coordinate with Child Protection, Nutrition, and WASH teams to ensure cross-sectoral integration and technical inputs in program design.
• Ensure HiE programming is technically strong and includes clear M&E plans, phased procurement plans, and logical frameworks.
• Support program innovation through identifying and addressing emerging issues, promoting learning and adaptive programming.

2. Technical Capacity Building and Support

• Design and implement capacity building plans for Save the Children staff, partners, and consortium members, including health managers, coordinators, and officers.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and training both in-person and remotely to improve quality health programming in emergency and development contexts.
• Develop and disseminate technical training materials to strengthen health outcomes.
• Support capacity strengthening of parents, communities, schools, teachers, and health institutions to improve access and quality of health services.
• Build technical capacity to ensure high-quality donor reports aligned with technical expectations.

3. Representation, Advocacy, and Learning

• Technically represent Save the Children in national coordination platforms, including the Health Cluster and inter-agency forums.
• Support technical teams in developing and implementing localized advocacy strategies around child and maternal health.
• Provide evidence-based inputs to support Save the Children’s external representation, donor engagement, and visibility in health forums.
• Proactively identify advocacy opportunities, document and disseminate lessons learned, case studies, and best practices to influence internal and external strategies.
• Shape Save the Children’s communications and media priorities related to Health in Emergencies, in coordination with advocacy leads.

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

• Collaborate with MEAL teams to ensure robust monitoring plans, baselines, reviews, and evaluations are in place for all health projects.
• Lead or support technical assessments in coordination with internal teams and partners, ensuring that children’s voices and needs are captured.
• Establish accountability mechanisms for beneficiaries and communities, ensuring feedback is used to improve program design.
• Organize and lead technical review meetings and contribute to studies and documentation of good practices in both emergency and development settings.
• Work closely with MEAL to design, monitor, and report on HiE indicators, aligning with donor and internal requirements.

5. Program Delivery Support and Reporting

• Provide backstopping support to the implementation of HiE programs across Sudan.
• Support program managers in timely, technically sound donor reporting and internal documentation.
• Monitor program implementation against technical standards, ensuring timely and quality delivery.
• Serve as PDQ focal person for HiE grants (e.g., SHF), participating in donor/member meetings and ensuring compliance with technical requirements.
• Collaborate with Operations and Supply Chain teams to plan for essential medical and non-medical supplies for effective health programming.

6. Internal Collaboration and Coordination

• Support effective coordination and collaboration across PDQ, Operations, MEAL, and Advocacy teams, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
• Promote a culture of information sharing, learning, creativity, and innovation among technical teams.
• Foster a strong matrix management environment, providing ongoing coaching and performance feedback.
• Contribute to building an organizational culture that reflects Save the Children’s dual mandate and core values.

7. General Responsibilities

• Uphold and promote Save the Children’s policies on Child Safeguarding, Code of Conduct, Gender Equality, and Anti-Harassment.
• Ensure integration of child rights and child protection in all aspects of health programming.

Perform other responsibilities as agreed with line management to support overall health sector goals.

• Post-graduate qualification in Public Health, Community Medicine, or Maternal/Child Health, with specialized training in Epidemiology and/or Health in Emergencies (HiE); medical doctor or minimum of medical background (Nurse or Clinical Officer) is compulsory.
• Minimum of six years of progressive technical experience, including at a senior advisory level, in designing and implementing health programs in both emergency and development settings, preferably in fragile contexts.
• Demonstrated experience in Health in Emergencies (HiE) program supervision, epidemic investigation and control, and Cholera prevention and response programming.
• Proven ability to lead assessments, develop and manage high-quality, cost-effective health projects, and apply strong project cycle management, M&E, and proposal development skills.
• Strong track record in training, mentoring, and coaching national staff, partners, and health institutions to enhance local capacity and technical quality.
• Experience in building strategic relationships with government and donors, and contributing to advocacy initiatives at local and national levels.
• Experience in budgeting, financial management skills gained through demonstrated budget-holding responsibilities.
• Highly developed skills in influencing, negotiation, and coaching, with the ability to present complex technical content clearly and persuasively.
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to work effectively in diverse and international teams under challenging conditions.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently, work irregular hours, and deploy on short notice during emergencies, including participation in surge responses.
• Fluent in English (written and spoken), with a strong commitment to Save the Children’s values, humanitarian principles, and child rights.
• Specific experience of designing and managing ECHO, OFDA/BHA, UNOCHA and other major humanitarian donor projects.
• Work with the Health Cluster as well as experiences on the HRP and SHF development and design