Chief of Party - Kosovo Municipal Integrity Activity

Job Description

Project Background

The purpose of Kosovo Municipal Integrity (KMI) Activity is to address long-standing challenges related to corruption and poor-quality service delivery by the Government of Kosovo by enhancing public financial management (PFM), with a focus on municipal procurement, and by reinforcing accountability mechanisms both within government and outside of government through civil society, the private sector, and media. This activity fits into the broader efforts of USAID/Kosovo to advance self-reliance by promoting more accountable and citizen-responsive local governance. Through work with local governments, national accountability bodies, the private sector, civil society and media, the KMI Activity aims to contribute to Development Objective 1 of USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (May 2020-May2025) namely, “Citizens are better served by accountable and effective governance institutions.”

The Kosovo Municipal Integrity Activity will focus on the following four program objectives:

· National accountability agencies provide more effective and coordinated financial oversight.

· Governments increase use of good practices in budget planning, public procurement, and contract management.

· Government advances norms and practices that support internal audit and accountability.

· Civil society, media, and the private sector improve the integrity of public and private sector actors in public procurement.

Purpose

The Chief of Party (COP) provides overall technical and administrative leadership and expertise to the program and serves as the primary liaison with USAID/Kosovo on management and technical matters. The COP will take a leadership role in coordinating with USAID, other implementing partners, other donors, and other key stakeholders (local and international). The COP will have demonstrated ability to work in complex environments and manage diverse and substantial teams to deliver impact.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide technical and managerial leadership on anti-corruption, public financial management, and municipal development, including e-procurement, audit, and civil society monitoring of municipal procurements.
• Provide the vision and resources to meet the KMI Activity goals and objectives. Manages and ensure workplan, contract deliverables (including inputs from subcontractors and consultants), and quarterly reports are on time and of high quality.
• Serve as primary liaison to USAID, local and national governmental authorities, the private sector, local NGOs, and other donor organizations.
• Participate in USAID meetings and site visits as requested.

• Represent KMI, USAID, and DAI at public conferences, forums, and events
• Communicate effectively with counterparts/stakeholders.
• Ensure adaptive management linked to effective information and M&E systems
• Ensure the highest quality of program monitoring, evaluation, reporting and communications.
• Provide overall leadership, recruitment, training and supervision of office staff and partner organizations.

• Oversee multiple activities simultaneously, including hiring, training, mentoring, and supervising local personnel.
• Build the capacity of local staff in both technical and managerial skills, including coaching and mentoring the local DCOP.
• Ensure compliance with local labor law, USAID policies, and DAI policies and procedures.
• Provide mentoring and professional development support to project staff, with an emphasis on building the capacity of national staff.
• Management of project administration and oversight to ensure appropriate controls are in place that supports DAI’s policies/practices and are in compliance for delivery of goods and services.
• Oversee budget preparation and overall financial oversight to ensure strict fiscal accountability.

· Ensure program implementation and financial management complies with DAI procedures and USAID rules and regulations.

• Coordinate with home office project management team to ensure accurate forecasting of project’s financial performance through careful planning (pipeline budgets, etc.) and financial management.
• Coordinate with the DAI’s home office on a regular basis.

Reporting:

The Chief of Party will report to the DAI home office Project Director.

Qualifications:

■ Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (such as public administration) plus twelve years of relevant experience required (or MA/MS and eight years of relevant experience) in international development work experience (including experience in the Balkans region) in governance programming.

■ Proven field technical experience in designing and implementing integrated program management in the areas of governance, anti-corruption, public financial management, and municipal development, including e-procurement, audit, and civil society monitoring of municipal procurements.

■ Must have supervisory work experience, including: (1) direct supervision of professional and support staff; (2) quality evaluation of staff performance and deliverables; and (3) project management under contract(s).

■ Previous Chief of Party experience on a USAID contract required.

■ Strong communication skills and ability to build effective relationships with government stakeholders and counterparts.

■ Fluent in English

About the Organization

DAI works at the cutting edge of international development, combining technical excellence, professional project management, and exceptional customer service to solve our clients’ most complex problems. Since 1970, DAI has worked in 150 developing and transition countries, providing comprehensive development solutions in areas including crisis mitigation and stability operations, democratic governance and public sector management, agriculture and agribusiness, private sector development and financial services, economics and trade, HIV/AIDS, avian influenza control, water and natural resources management, and energy and climate change. Clients include international development agencies, international lending institutions, private corporations and philanthropies, and host-country governments.