Chief of party is not only one of the most senior positions on a project team but also one of the most intriguing and unusual job titles in the global development sector.
It’s essentially a fancy word for a project director, said Mama Laryea, who is based in Ghana as FHI 360’s chief of party for USAID’s Partnership for Education: Learning. This role is responsible for overseeing a project, including operational, technical and financial activities, and ensuring deliverables are met.
There is a lot of hiring in the sector for chief of party roles, Laryea said, since it's essential to almost any donor-funded project, but it can be very competitive. Organizations tend to look for professionals with previous experience in handling multimillion-dollar budgets and hundreds of staff.