Chief of Party – Improved Resilience for Coastal Communities in CDI & Ghana

Habitat for Humanity (HFH) Africa seeks for a Chief of Party to be based in Cote d’Ivoire for the anticipated Climate adaptation fund project: Improved Resilience of coastal communities in Cote D’ Ivoire and Ghana. The Chief of Party will lead the execution of the 2nd component which is ‘sustainable development implementation and management of concrete interventions to reinforce the capacities of coastal communities to adapt to the effects of climate change in Cote ‘d’Ivoire and Ghana’. In coordination with the Habitat for Humanity team of regional, national, and local experts, the COP will be responsible for the overall planning, implementation, and management of the project with the following key responsibilities:

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Leadership:

• Lead the development and implementation of the detailed work plan for Component 2 in alignment with the overall project goals, outcomes, outputs, and timeline.
• Ensure the project plan to meet the ambitious outcomes expected by the executing entity – UN Habitat and the donor, Adaptation Fund, for example by identifying and addressing the gaps in the existing implementation plans and providing direction for filling these gaps.
• Oversee project planning and implementation, paying close attention to the need to both deliver according to the plan and to learn and adjust the plans according to new opportunities and threats arising in the countries and spaces where the project will be implemented.
• Provide leadership to ensure alignment of the project with Habitat for Humanity Strategy and the Africa Strategic Framework.
• Manage the performance of the project team in line with the set policies, work plan and organizational values.
• Promote an organizational culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and commitment to quality.

Grant Management:

• Manage a team of technical experts and external consultants to deliver on the set objectives.
• Coordinate with the other project domains and related stakeholders to ensure effective implementation, synergy, and requirement compliance.
• Provide overall project management for all project-related activities and oversee inputs of assigned staff to the project.
• Work with the Habitat for Humanity International ‘s Compliance Teams to develop and implement project risk and mitigation strategy, as well as plan to train staff and oversee grant compliance provisions.
• Work with the Habitat for Humanity ’s finance team to develop and implement appropriate project financial monitoring and compliance procedures.
• Support the recruitment and onboarding of project staff, as needed.
• Ensure proper reporting and accountability to internal and external stakeholders.
• Support new fundraising efforts related to project outcomes and activities.

Technical Oversight:

• Lead the conceptualization and implementation of project activities.
• Oversee the quality assurance, monitoring, evaluation, and learnings of all project activities.
• Ensure proper reporting and accountability to internal and external audiences, including leading the donor reporting process as required.
• Assure monitoring of the project work plans, and work with assigned M&E specialist to ensure appropriate monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategy
• Serve as a strategic advisor and thought partner to the HFHI ‘s Director of Program Operations on project implementation.

Representation:

• Steward the relationship with all collaborating entities for the project responsible for the project, working closely with the Director, Program Operations and the project teams to align this relationship with all stakeholders involved in this project.
• Represent the organization in other external meetings as agreed.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a relevant field, such as climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, or sustainable development or Community development/ sociology
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and minimum ten (10) years of relevant experience in leadership roles
• Demonstrated past representational experience as Chief of Party or similar roles, with host governments and other donors and demonstrated success with inter-agency coordination and joint programming/partnerships.
• Fluency in English and French.

Experience:

• Over 15 years’ experience with significant experience in roles that focus or include project and grant management, MEL and leadership, preferably in an international NGO.
• 10+ years of project experience working in one or more technical disciplines, ideally with a focus in West Africa, particularly, coastal climate adaptation, climate resilience, community development, sustainable livelihoods, or other relevant technical areas, with demonstrable experience leading implementation of large, restricted grants
• Strong leadership and management skills, with the ability to motivate and lead a team of technical experts with multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural background and experience.
• Policy Advocacy for Sustainable Practices: Engage with policymakers at local, regional, and national levels to advocate for the integration of sustainable and climate-resilient practices into development policies. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships with a variety of stakeholders such as consortium partners private sector, government officials, donors, etc.
• Experienced knowledge of Adaptation Fund policies, procedures, and reporting requirements.
• Expertise in setting up systems for effective accountability, monitoring and reporting across teams and regions.
• Experience adapting context specific analysis, strategy, policies, and procedures to suit different audiences.
• Proven ability to manage projects workflow, including facilitating project scope, identifying goals and deliverables, planning and scheduling project timelines, and monitoring project progress.
• Experience managing across regions, remote staff and a range of priorities.
• Ability to influence, lead and collaborate with those that may not have a direct reporting relationship.
• Experience in providing non-profits technical assistance.

Preferred – in addition to minimum:

• Experience working in the Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana will be an added advantage.