Chief of party

CARE seeks a Chief of Party (COP) for the anticipated USAID-funded Regional Resilience Leader with Associates Activity for the Sahel Region. This Activity aims to expand resilience in the Sahel, improving the ability of individuals, households and communities to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from perennial shocks and stresses. The Activity will address the unequal impact of shocks, stresses, and climate change on women and youth, and their implication on households and the local economy. The focus of the Activity will be Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Chad and possibly the Gambia.

The COP will be responsible for leadership, management, and technical direction of staff and consultants, project activities such as implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation, and partner coordination. They will serve as key liaison with USAID, government counterparts, and local and international partners. At the same time, the COP will be accountable for the quality of Associate Awards. The COP will manage and supervise the work of Leader Award personnel and subcontractors/subgrantees and ensure that all program assistance is technically sound and appropriate. The COP also oversees work planning, performance management, and strategic communication.

This activity is expected to be a five-year Leader with Associates Award in the $100-300 million range with a ceiling of $200 million. It is anticipated that 65% of the funding will be targeted to Burkina Faso.

This is a Key Personnel position, subject to USAID approval. It is also subject to project award and funding. National and international candidates are encouraged to apply. This position will be based in Dakar, Senegal.

Responsibilities

• Lead the project, providing vision, direction, and technical guidance.
• Ensure quality of implementation under the Leader Award and contribute to the design and supervision of each Associate Award.
• Oversee overall management and implementation of the LWA, ensuring that all results and deliverables meet or exceed USAID expectations and requirements.
• Supervise and mentor senior/technical staff and consultants under the Leader Award.
• Motivate teams to deliver results by establishing a strong team dynamic, open communication, and leading by example.
• Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in internal operations, management, and program implementation.
• Oversee, monitor and support the design and implementation of Associate Awards.
• Actively liaise with Associate Award leaders to ensure that issues and constraints are addressed to produce high quality outcomes and impacts.
• Build and maintain productive working relationships with USAID, host governments, partners, and key stakeholders.
• Manage operational, financial, and administrative priorities, and direct planning and budgeting processes.
• Create or adapt management systems in line with CARE’s standard operating procedures, ensuring adherence to USAID policies and regulations, and relevant national and international policies and laws.
• Build partnerships among international/regional-, national- and community-level stakeholders to maximize the program impact of the Lead Award and Associate Awards.
• For both the Leader Award and Associate Awards, ensure documentation and dissemination of findings, impact, innovations, and lessons learned, and utilize a Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation (CLA) approach to the project cycle.
• Remain current with similar or related programs and best practices in-country and internationally, ensuring that the Leader Award and Associate Award teams apply these consistently.
• Support the MEAL Director in the development and implementation of a cohesive learning agenda for the
• Leader Award and across the Associate Awards.
• Facilitate exchange of knowledge, learning and communication among the Leader Award and Associate Awards.
• Lead information dissemination for the entire LWA and share project achievements and results with the aim of influencing decision and policymakers.
• Oversee preparation of all required reports and deliverables for the Leader Award and ensure that all Associate Awards report in appropriately to the Leader Award.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or equivalent in development studies, international relations, agriculture, economics, business administration, economic development, or related field.
• 10-12 years of relevant senior experience in international development as Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, or in a senior management role on large $50+ million humanitarian or development projects.
• Technical experience and understanding of food security, market systems, agricultural resilience, climate adaptation, sustainable livelihoods, and local civil society engagement/governance.
• Successful experience managing USAID cooperative agreements and/or contracts. Experience managing a multi-country activity and/or Leader with Associates Award and/or an Indefinite Delivery Indefinity Quantity (IDIQ) activity is desirable.
• Strong financial management, budgeting and project operations/administrative oversight abilities.
• Experience working in the Sahel region, especially in Burkina Faso, Chad and/or Mauritania.
• Experience recruiting, developing, and managing staff and teams.
• Successful experience designing high quality proposals that meet or exceed donor requirements.
• Demonstrated skills building and maintaining relationships with host governments, donors, other donor-funded projects and stakeholders, local organizations, and partners.
• Fluency in English and French required (spoken and written).
• Strong oral and written communication skills; excellent demonstrated inter-cultural, interpersonal, and negotiation skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to PSHEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Harassment, and Abuse).
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of Diversity, Equity, Belonging and Inclusion (DEBI).
• Ability to travel within West Africa as required and as security conditions allow.