Title: Chief of Party (Director, Project)
Reports to: Regional Director, CEA/Country Director, Central African Republic
Department: Global Programs
Team: Program Implementation
Location: Bangui (CAR)
Position Summary
Search is looking for a Chief of Party (CoP) for an anticipated USAID program in Central African Republic (CAR) focused on Peacebuilding, Governance and Human Rights.
The CoP will provide strategic, managerial, and technical leadership and management oversight to the project. This position will lead the team through the project’s inception phase, and then through project implementation, including program quality, staffing, and financial oversight, including sub-grants. The position is the lead liaison on behalf of Search with project partners in-country and key stakeholders, as well as serving as the principal liaison to the donor. This position reports to Search’s Country Director-CAR, and the position will be based in Bangui, CAR.
Team Summary
The Program Implementation team has oversight for the implementation of Search’s programs and projects in its country offices, in accordance with Search and donor policies and procedures. The Program Implementation team works on the full life-cycle of the project, from the start-up phase to the full close-out. This involves designing work plans, implementing activities, reporting, financial management, and staffing management The Program Implementation team collaborates with other departments, including Finance, Institutional Learning, Programs, Global Affairs and Partnerships, Human Resources, and Information Technology
Key Responsibilities
- Set overall programme strategy and direction in consultation with the project management team and partners, with overall accountability for ensuring that programmatic goals are met.
- Serve as the primary point of contact and coordination on matters related to this project for consortium partners, USAID, CAR counterparts, and other stakeholders, and maintain productive, positive working relationships.
- Lead the operational and programmatic aspects of the project’s start-up phase, including the coordination and regular convening of consortium partners.
- Manage the project team in CAR; motivate the project team to perform effectively toward program objectives through strong communication, team building incentives, and responsiveness.
- Ensure that research, learning, and adaptive management are applied as key principles throughout implementation.
- Serve as lead ‘fund manager’ responsible for ensuring funds are disbursed to civil society organizations within the timeframes established in the activity terms of reference.
- Oversee and contribute to development of programme deliverables including but not limited to: monthly reports, quarterly reports, annual reports, learning plans and reports, annual work plans, and financial reports.
- Identify implementation problems/challenges quickly, and proactively develop mitigation strategies and solutions independently.
- Work with the Central and East Africa regional team to ensure adequate human resources, including short-term technical assistance, as well as compliant grant and financial management.
Contributions
-
Program implementation: Ensure quality utilization of project work plan, reporting, M&E, compliance, partnership/sub-agreement, stakeholder engagement. Liaison directly with the donor financing the project.
-
Reporting: Ensure quality and compliant reporting in line with donor rules and regulations.
-
Compliance: Demonstrate leadership in understanding and enforcing compliance, capacity building and coaching of staff and partners, and oversight of expenditure verifications and/or project audits.
-
Financial management: Ensure quality and timely financial management, ensuring retention and capacity building of staff
-
Personnel management: Oversee recruitment and retention of key management staff for project
* Ensure onboarding and training to adhere to Search and donor policies and procedures
* Ensure timely performance management
-
External Engagement: Lead communication with key donors, government, media and partner organizations. Ensure that project teams are integrated into appropriate networks to update context and conflict analysis, and coordinate with other projects in similar domain
-
Program management, quality, and project design: Collaboration with the Institutional Learning Team to ensure reflective practice and adaptive management
* Ensure that all relevant project staff understand and utilize the logical framework and the necessary Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) tools for the project
* Contribute to adaptations or extensions of project
* Contribute to design of adjacent programming areas within the country or regional portfolio, drawing on insights from project
-
Operations: Ensure compliance of staff and partners to Search, donor and country rules and regulations. Ensure adhesion to logistical and security architecture of the country or regional implementation landscape
- Infuses organizational Values into all work
- Other duties that are broadly in line with the above key contributions as assigned.
Education and Experience
Required Qualifications
A Master’s degree in international development, political science, peacebuilding, conflict studies or a closely related field.
Minimum of 13 years of progressively responsible experience designing, implementing, and managing programs sponsored by USAID or other international donors.
Minimum of 5 years of supervisory experience.
Previous experience working in conflict affected countries, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Complete fluency in oral and written English. Working professional proficiency in oral and written in French.
Demonstrated track record with coordination and supervision of personnel.
Highly Desired Qualifications
Previous experience managing large USAID programs.
Previous experience working in Central African Republic and/or the Central Africa region
Fluency in local languages a plus.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. The job ad will remain online until a suitable candidate has been identified.
As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.
Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work. All Search Employees must adhere to the values: Collaboration- Audacity - Tenacity - Empathy - Results. In accordance with these values, Search enforces compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies on Anti Workplace Harassment, Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Conflict of Interest, and Anti-fraud. Search is committed to safeguarding the interests, rights, and well-being of children, youth, and vulnerable adults with whom it is in contact and to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for children, youth, and vulnerable adults. Search for Common Ground does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. View our code of conduct here and our privacy policy here.
Les descriptifs de pouvant ne pouvant être exhaustifs, le titulaire du poste pourra être amené à entreprendre d'autres tâches qui correspondent globalement aux responsabilités clés ci-dessus.
Seuls les candidats invités à un entretien seront contactés. Pas d'appels téléphoniques s'il vous plaît. Veuillez consulter notre site Web www.sfcg.org pour tous les détails de notre mission.
Tous les employés de Search doivent adhérer aux valeurs de Search : Collaboration- Audace - Ténacité - Empathie - Résultats. Conformément à ces valeurs, Search fait respecter le code de conduite et les politiques connexes sur la lutte contre le harcèlement au travail, la protection contre l'exploitation et les abus, la protection des enfants, les conflits d'intérêts et la lutte contre la fraude. Search s'engage à préserver les intérêts, les droits et le bien-être des enfants, des jeunes et des adultes vulnérables avec lesquels elle est en contact et à mener ses programmes et ses opérations d'une manière qui soit sûre pour les enfants, les jeunes et les adultes vulnérables.
Search for Common Ground ne fait pas et ne doit pas faire de discrimination fondée sur la race, la couleur, la religion (croyance), le sexe, l'expression de genre, l'âge, l'origine nationale (ascendance), le handicap, l'état matrimonial, l'orientation sexuelle ou le statut militaire, dans aucune de ses activités ou opérations.
Consultez notre code de conduite ici et notre politique de confidentialité ici.
