Job Description
CARE seeks a Deputy Chief of Party/Livelihood Specialist (DCOP/LS) for an anticipated five-year, USAID/Food for Peace (FFP) Development Food Security Activity in Ethiopia, SPIR2 (Strengthen PSNP4 Institutions and Resilience 2). This position will be based in Addis Ababa.
The goal of this activity will to contribute significantly to reducing poverty and increasing resilience for extremely poor households in highland areas of Tigray, Amhara and/or Oromia Regions. International relocation and allowances are for this position, and this position is subject to project award and funding. The Deputy Chief of Party/Livelihood Specialist would be the second most senior position on the project, which follows the on-going and successful SPIR project.
The DCOP/LS would oversee the CARE staff serving the consortium and lead relevant implementation components for SPIR2. Core to the DCOP/LS’s work will be the promotion of a data-driven, learning culture that seeks evidence-based actions to expand successful activities and adjust or terminate initiatives that fail. Building the overall project team’s capacity to work in these ways and communicating best practices to relevant parties will be central to those efforts. The DCOP/LS will lead the development of high-quality and practical project implementation plans that meet the technical expectations of the project theory of change. S/he will lead and mentor a team of technical advisors as well as represent the project in steering committees, Technical Working Groups, etc. The DCOP/LS will lead development of implementation plans, identify and resolve challenges and promote ongoing learning and quality improvements throughout the life of the project. The DCOP/LS will lead the development of standard operating procedures and work across the implementation teams to ensure project objectives and targets are met while promoting learning and innovation. The DCOP/LS will partner with the Chief of Party to guarantee quality, efficiency, integrity, and learning throughout the project’s duration. Specifically, s/he will be the overall lead on strategy development and implementation and provide oversight and technical guidance to and resolve challenges in implementation of the program’s theory of change, results framework, monitoring and evaluation framework, and work plans.
Primary responsibilities as Deputy Chief of Party:
- Lead and supervise a team of up to six technical advisors to develop and routinely enhance the program’s implementation plan and standards. Oversee the coordinated planning (of activities and budgets) and implementation of the project in line with state-of-the art strategies, technical standards, and CARE priorities and program principles.
- Build and manage strong working relationships with all the program’s partners, to ensure the implementation plan is applied consistently and with a high degree of quality. Facilitate the resolution of technical conflicts amongst partners and foster a healthy partnership team.
- Collaborate with a variety of external technical supporters / partners to integrate their expertise with relevant project components
- Ensure efficient use of project resources, adherence to USAID and CARE standards and compliance with USAID rules and regulations.
- Facilitates detailed implementation plans (DIP) for CARE’s operational areas, and works closely with project partners to ensure the completeness and adequacy of partners’ DIPs.
- Monitors budget burn rates and sets systems to improve financial management and utilization of project budgets both for CARE Operational Areas per plans and commitments made to donors and government, making adjustments when needed.
- Build and sustain close partnerships with key project stakeholders, including Government of Ethiopia officials, senior management of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), USAID, and others. Represent the project and CARE at high-level external project meetings with same.
- In collaboration with the Chief of Party, ensure the adequacy of planning, monitoring and reporting and competence for the effective scale up of program interventions to meet established programmatic and financial targets and timeframes.
Primary Responsibilities as Livelihoods Specialist:
- Provide technical guidance, leadership, supervision, and support to all aspects of livelihoods on the program (includes planning, budget management, implementation, and reporting).
- Ensure that principles and practices of gender and women’s economic empowerment are applied throughout SPIR2 programming.
- Lead the development and implementation of livelihoods assessment tools and approaches.
- Ensure Village Economic and Social Association with Village Savings and Loan Association approaches, methodologies, and strategies are properly incorporated into the program and that minimum standards are met.
- Develop livelihood promotion capacities within the program, partners, and at woreda and community levels to protect livelihoods and achieve food security.
- Provide or facilitate capacity building and training of CARE and partners for livelihoods interventions.
- Develop standards and systems for implementing livelihood approaches working with rural communities. In particular, lead on innovative programming engaging youth in off-farm and wage employment livelihoods pathways.
- Liaise with other NGOs, relevant Government agencies, and other USAID-funded investments to ensure programmatic layering and sequencing and share lessons and approaches for maximizing impact.
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in International Development, Agriculture/Agronomy, Public Health, Nutrition, Water-and-Sanitation Engineering, Economics, and/or related field.
- Minimum of 8 years of recent and progressively more challenging experience working in food and nutrition security.
- Experience (3+ years) working in a management capacity on development projects (including funded by USAID) and knowledge of USAID rules and regulations.
- Experience with rural development, food and nutrition security programming, livelihood and market development, and/or natural resources management.
- Demonstrated commitment to principles of Gender Equity and Diversity, as evidenced in previous management positions and programming.
- Experience with programming that incorporates one or more of the following as cross-cutting approaches: gender equality and women’s empowerment, youth empowerment, climate change adaptation, market resilience, and/or social accountability and governance.
- Proven leadership skills and demonstrated experience recruiting, developing, and managing local and international staff and consultants.
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments, donors, other donor-funded projects and stakeholders, local organizations, and partners.
- Experience in Ethiopia is preferred but not required.
- Fluency in written and spoken English. Strong written skills in English.
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