Mozambique Country Representative

Job Description

Project Background:

The USAID Southern Africa Trade & Investment Hub (the “Hub”) project is a five-year project that seeks to increase regional trade and investment as well as agricultural value chain competitiveness in Southern Africa. The Hub project will help the Southern Africa region, including Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member States, the private sector, and civil society organizations realize greater regional and global trade linkages and export-oriented business development. These objectives are underpinned by an improved regional trade and investment enabling environment coupled with increased agricultural value chain competitiveness supporting intra-regional trade.

The Hub will hire a full-time Country Representative based in Maputo, Mozambique to manage the Hub’s portfolio of activities in country, and to facilitate coordination and collaboration with the USAID Mission and bilateral projects in Mozambique, government partners, and private sector partners in the implementation of Hub activities in Mozambique.

Overview:

The Country Representative (CR) will support the Hub’s three strategic objectives: support firm level competitiveness and transactions; transform market systems, and support U.S. business engagement, which aligns with the new Prosper Africa initiative. Four major components of the Hub project are: 1) Agribusiness and Food Security; 2) Export Competitiveness; 3) Finance and Investment; and 4) Trade Facilitation.

The CR will coordinate with government stakeholders, the private sector, and civil society organizations, to design, implement, and support the Hub’s workplan and activities and serve as the Hub Point of Contact for in Mozambique. The CR will function as a key counterpart and will coordinate and facilitate Hub activities and assistance at the country-level, under the supervision of the Chief of Party or designee to improve regional trade and investment as well as engage with public and private sector partners and stakeholders and to facilitate the harmonization, implementation, and uptake of regional trade and regulatory policy, agricultural and investment reforms, as well as trade promotion initiatives.

The CR will work closely with USAID and DAI’s bilateral projects in Mozambique to optimize resource utilization and results.

Responsibilities and Tasks:

The CR will have three principal roles: (a) representation and high-level liaison, (b) portfolio identification, development and oversight, and (c) technical delivery and project team leadership. The CR shall also conduct the following tasks:

• Provide input for conceptualization, development, planning, coordination and implementation of Hub activities in-country
• Develops relationships with key local stakeholders (private sector, public, donor / development agencies – particularly USAID in-country office – CSOs, FOs, research / policy institutions, etc.) to build and nurture country-level partnerships, solicit interest, obtain buy-ins, and mobilize resources, as appropriate;
• Monitor progress of activities against the approved workplan, flagging delays or challenges with suggested resolutions to the Chief of Party as well as M&E team;
• Act as senior interlocutor between the project and key stakeholders, including USAID/REGO, USAID/Mozambique, government ministries private sector organizations and firms;
• Actively communicate with stakeholders across Hub interventions to ensure their needs and accomplishments are widely known and understood;
• Convene and manage the private-public working partnerships;
• Manage and coordinate schedules and work of Hub staff and consultants on STTA assignments;
• Ensure that all Hub activities are closely coordinated with the USAID/Mozambique, including drafts of all technical reports and other deliverables, such as separate work plans and discrete reports, and ensure they are shared with the USAID Mission for review and comment;
• Coordinate any deployment of human resources for the program utilizing STTA with USAID/Mozambique;
• Monitor and report on the status of all donor and government activities related to trade in country;
• Responsible for overall risk management in Mozambique, which includes identifying, monitoring, and reporting political / implementation / security etc. risks in accordance with the Hub’s risk management procedures and USAID standards;
• Coordinate capacity building efforts with relevant partner organizations, and support stakeholder consultations and trainings;
• Provide input to annual work plans, weekly reports, quarterly and annual reports, success stories, briefs, and any other communication needs requested by the project, within the prescribed timeline;

• Produce at least one weekly report story per the format provided (text and a photo of an activity) to be submitted weekly to the Strategic Communications team in Pretoria.

Qualifications:

• MBA or Master’s degree in economics, public policy, international trade, trade law/policy, political economy, or related area, with international experience preferred
• Ten years of experience working in economic growth programming with a focus on trade and investment, trade facilitation, agribusiness, or related field
• Experience working with USAID, governments, and donor agencies
• Demonstrated experience working with a range of clients and counterparts, including donor agencies, private sector partners, and multilateral organizations, to implement trade facilitation-focused activities and procedures
• Demonstrated experience in developing implementation strategy and workplan management
• Previous experience working on international development projects with a preference for running or starting up USAID projects in the field
• Ability to organize, present, and disseminate information, and to draft clear and concise documents with minimal supervision
• Demonstrated experience to anticipate challenges and resolve conflicts amongst stakeholders
• Excellent English and Portugese writing and communication skills
• Ability to use the latest ICT technology and computer software programs

Supervisory Responsibilities:

The CR will supervise short-term consultants.

Interested candidates should submit their C.V. to SATIH-Recruitment@dai.com before May 1, 2019. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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.