National Consultant and Field Data Collection Lead: South Sudan

Consultancy · Project-based · Based in Juba with travel to Unity State · Short-term

About Bodhi

Bodhi Global Analysis is a woman-led international development research consultancy established in London in 2017, with subsidiaries in Nairobi (2018), Singapore (2023), Dar es Salaam (2025), and The Hague (2026). We specialise in formative and evaluative research through participatory approaches, serving UN agencies, bilateral donors, international financial institutions, INGOs, and regional organisations across fragile and conflict-affected contexts. As an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001 certified organisation, and a signatory to the Women's Empowerment Principles, Bodhi maintains rigorous quality control and a strong commitment to gender equality across all operations.

About the Role

Bodhi is recruiting a National Consultant and Field Data Collection Lead to design-adapt and deliver all in-country data collection for an upcoming gender and social inclusion (GESI) assessment in Unity State, South Sudan. The assessment examines gender roles, workload, access to and control over resources, participation and decision-making, and social norms across the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and climate-smart agriculture sectors, in a flood-affected, agro-pastoral context spanning host, returnee, and internally displaced populations.

This is a senior, hands-on field role. You will lead community entry, recruit and train the enumerator team, and manage a mixed-methods field effort (household survey, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews) across the eight payams of Rubkona and Mayom counties, before facilitating validation and dissemination in Juba. You will work as the in-country lead within a small, remote international team: senior methodological direction, analysis, and quality assurance are provided from Nairobi and London through a daily debrief architecture, so that analysis and adaptation run continuously alongside fieldwork rather than after it. No international travel is involved; the role is delivered entirely from within South Sudan.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead community entry and liaison with state, county, payam and boma authorities, in coordination with the project team, securing the access and cooperation needed for fieldwork
  • Recruit, train, and manage a field team of approximately seven enumerators, drawing on your established network in Unity State, with at least five women fluent in Nuer and Dinka so that women respondents are interviewed by women and language is never a barrier
  • Deliver a three-day enumerator training and a one-day pilot, refining the tools and documenting any changes before full deployment
  • Oversee a household survey across the eight payams, using digital data collection on handheld devices, including sampling implementation adapted to actual settlement patterns (including IDP sites), routing, and device management
  • Facilitate and moderate single-sex focus group discussions, applying gender-sensitive, conflict-sensitive, and GBV-safe approaches, and embedding participatory exercises (daily activity clocks, seasonal calendars adapted to the flood cycle, access and control matrices, and decision-making mapping)
  • Conduct or support key informant interviews at community and local-authority level
  • Perform survey data cleaning under the Team Leader's direction, and run daily high-frequency checks and back-checks on at least 10 per cent of completed interviews
  • Hold daily debriefs with the international team, provide real-time contextual and security updates, flag risks, and trigger the pre-agreed alternate-site protocol where access changes
  • Ensure all data collection adheres to informed consent, research ethics, safeguarding, PSEA, and referral protocols throughout, with every team member equipped to respond safely to spontaneous disclosures
  • Manage field logistics, including scheduling, venue identification, respondent mobilisation, and movement planning across a flood-affected environment, including boat and air movement options where required
  • Facilitate, in person in Juba, the validation meeting and the presentation of findings to partners and government ministries, representing the team in the room while senior colleagues join remotely

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

  • South Sudanese national, currently resident in South Sudan and able to be based in Juba for the duration of the assignment
  • Fluency in Nuer and Dinka (both are essential for the two target populations), together with strong working English for reporting, transcript translation, and liaison with the international team
  • A minimum of five years' experience coordinating primary data collection in South Sudan, covering both quantitative household surveys and qualitative methods (focus group discussions and key informant interviews)
  • Direct fieldwork experience in Unity State (experience in Rubkona and/or Mayom counties is strongly preferred)
  • An established, mobilisable network of enumerators and field researchers in Unity State, including female enumerators fluent in Nuer and Dinka
  • Demonstrated experience training and managing enumerator teams and delivering to a high standard under tight timelines
  • Experience in gender and social inclusion research (gender analysis, GESI, women's participation and decision-making), ideally in WASH, agriculture, or climate-affected settings
  • Hands-on experience with digital data collection platforms (for example KoboToolbox, SurveyCTO, or ODK)
  • Familiarity with GBV-safe research practice, informed consent, safeguarding, and PSEA
  • Willingness and ability to conduct fieldwork in flood-affected, insecure, and remote rural environments during the rainy season
  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (social sciences, development studies, gender studies, statistics, or a related discipline), or equivalent professional experience in field research and data collection

Desirable

  • Master's degree in a relevant discipline
  • Prior experience contributing to gender assessments in WASH and/or climate-smart agriculture
  • Experience facilitating validation workshops and presenting findings to government and partner audiences
  • Experience managing data collection in fragile, insecure, or flood-affected areas
  • Familiarity with the Washington Group Short Set on disability and with disability-inclusive data collection
  • Knowledge of sampling methodologies and field-level quality control protocols
  • First aid, safety, or security training relevant to fieldwork
  • Experience working with UN agencies, bilateral donors, international financial institutions, or INGOs

Assignment Details

  • Level of effort: approximately 14 working days, delivered over an assignment window of approximately six weeks
  • Duty station: Juba, South Sudan, with required travel to Unity State (Rubkona and Mayom counties) for fieldwork and stakeholder consultations
  • Anticipated start: September 2026; fieldwork falls within the rainy season, and the work plan builds in payam sequencing, buffer days, and an alternate-site protocol accordingly]
  • Remuneration: a competitive daily consultancy fee, commensurate with experience
  • Reporting line: the Team Leader, with daily debriefs to the international project team

What We Offer

  • A consultancy engagement on a technically rigorous assignment, with the prospect of inclusion on Bodhi's consultant roster for future opportunities in South Sudan
  • Collaboration with an experienced, multidisciplinary international research team
  • Exposure to Bodhi's established research methodologies and ISO-certified quality assurance frameworks
  • A delivery model that concentrates resources on time in communities and invests in national field leadership

How to Apply

To apply, please click on Apply, and follow the instructions. You will be invited to submit:

  • A CV demonstrating relevant fieldwork, gender and social inclusion research, and data collection experience in South Sudan
  • A cover letter that addresses (1) your Nuer and Dinka fluency and working English, (2) your fieldwork experience in Unity State and your mobilisable enumerator network, including female enumerators, and (3) your availability for the assignment window
  • Proof of right to work in South Sudan

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Early application is strongly encouraged, as we may close the vacancy before the deadline for exceptional candidates. [Insert closing date.]

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Bodhi is a women-owned enterprise committed to gender parity at all levels of the organisation. We particularly welcome applications from women researchers and candidates who bring lived experience from the regions where we work. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religious belief, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, socioeconomic background, or disability.

For more information about our organisation, please visit www.bodhiglobalanalysis.com.

Bodhi Global Analysis. ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001 certified. Signatories to the Women's Empowerment Principles.

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