CHIEF OF PARTY, SOMALIA

CARE seeks a Chief of Party (COP) for the anticipated USAID-funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in Somalia to improve and sustain the food and nutrition security of vulnerable populations. This Activity will work at the individual, household, community, and institutional levels to address the underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition and strengthen transformative opportunities. The Activity is intended to strengthen resilience in populations vulnerable to acute, chronic hunger, and malnutrition; recurrent shocks, stresses, and crises; and to reduce the need for ongoing or future emergency food assistance.

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 partners. The COP will manage and supervise the work of program personnel and subcontractors/subgrantees and ensure that all program assistance is technically sound and appropriate.

This activity is expected to be a five-year program in the $60-80 million range.

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 Mogadishu. This is an unaccompanied post location.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the project, providing vision, direction, and technical guidance. Supervise staff and consultants to fulfill project strategic goals and objectives.
• Oversee completion of all technical requirements, including project results and deliverables, in accordance with the project work plan.
• Build and maintain productive working relationships with USAID, project partners, and key stakeholders. Serve as the primary liaison among all project 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 policies and laws.
• Build partnerships among international-, national- and community-level stakeholders.
• Design and oversee an annual project cycle in accordance with USAID’s annual planning cycles. Ensure documentation and dissemination of findings, impact, innovations, and lessons learned, and utilize a collaborative and adaptive learning approach to the project cycle.
• Establish and maintain formal and informal communication mechanisms with government, community partners and other stakeholders.
• Remain current with similar or related programs and best practices in-country and internationally, ensuring CARE staff apply these consistently.
• Oversee M&E function, including preparation of quarterly and annual project activity reports, M&E reports, and other deliverables, as specified in the agreement.
• Supervise and mentor senior staff, delegating responsibilities as appropriate. Clearly communicate expectations for staff performance.
• Provide strategic leadership in areas related to resilience, agriculture, natural resource management, and agribusiness.
• Understand and integrate gender and youth dynamics in program activities and staff management.

Qualifications:

• University degree required. Master’s degree or equivalent in agriculture, economics, management or international development preferred.
• A minimum of 15 years of progressively increasing management responsibility in complex, multi-sector international humanitarian and development projects as Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, or senior management experience on projects of similar size and scope ($60M+)
• Demonstrated technical expertise in food security and livelihoods and experience in managing program implementation and financial reporting required.
• Experience managing USAID cooperative agreements and/or contracts.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills tailored to diverse audience types, audience sizes, and communication platforms.
• At least 5 years’ experience working in/on fragile or post-conflict states, Somalia experience preferred. Must have prior experience working in the Horn of Africa and familiarity with Somalia’s socio-political landscape.
• Proven success serving in a leadership role for a project addressing issues related to resilience, agriculture, natural resource management, agribusiness, or similar, preferably in the Horn of Africa, required.
• Demonstrated experience in adaptive management and learning techniques strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to gender and youth inclusivity in food security programming.
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of Gender Equity, Diversity, Belonging and Inclusion.
• Demonstrated commitment to Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Harassment (PSEAH).
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments, donors, other donor-funded projects and stakeholders, local organizations, and partners in low resource environments.
• Experience recruiting, developing, and managing staff and teams in remote contexts.
• Fluency in English required.