The roles that USAID contractors typically hire for

The U. S. Agency for International Development’s upcoming priorities, according to its latest business forecast conference call, lie in investing up to $31.1 billion via 257 opportunities in global health, crises and conflict, environment and global climate change, democracy, human rights and governance, and scrutiny and oversight. It’ll be up to the organizations that USAID contracts through its procurement process to drive progress in those areas, but the real responsibility will lie on the shoulders of the staff those organizations hire. Devex’s jobs board, as of June 28, lists over 160 positions for USAID projects, many of which stipulate that the role is “subject to project award and funding.” These might include chiefs of party, directors of finance, or program officers. These are just a few of the roles that USAID considers key personnel and critical to project success. In order to receive USAID funding, an organization must include, as part of its proposal, details on who they plan to hire for stipulated roles alongside their names, CVs, and a “1420 biodata form” which includes the past three years’ work experience and salary. Key personnel can’t, however, run a project alone. Nonkey personnel make up the rest of a project’s staff, but the proposal information required for nonkey personnel tends to be limited to a short biography. Such staff are also interchangeable whilst a change of key personnel staff must be approved by USAID. This classification of staff is important as USAID has specific rules around the pay and benefits that can be given to certain staff groups. So what exactly are the different roles USAID contractors must hire for and how do they compare to others in the sector? Chief of party Each project requires what USAID — and some other organizations including CARE USA, FHI 360, and DAI — call a chief of party. This is effectively a CEO or director role. The chief of party is responsible for the delivery of the project as well as the team and finances throughout the project lifespan — which can be anything between three and five years. This is the contact for program managers and donors, stakeholders and technical teams during that time. As such, the person hired is usually required to have a combination of technical know-how pertaining to the particular project area as well as experience in financial management — projects often come with multimillion-dollar budgets — as well as general management experience. An organization often prefers a candidate based on their experience in managing similar sized projects in terms of monetary value. Focusing on localisation, USAID encourages organizations to consider local candidates, however, oftentimes, this is a role filled by an international staff member who will then need to spend a significant amount of time in the project country. A USAID request for proposal, or RFP, will stipulate some specific chief of party requirements. For example, years of experience required, prior experience in managing a USAID project or experience in managing a project of similar monetary value. When assessing a proposal, USAID will then score the potential chief of party in regard to how closely they match the information shared in the RFP. Current openings for chiefs of party include one with EnCompass in India for a five-year USAID project on accelerating the U.S.-India Partnership Platform, and another with Deloitte in Kosovo for a project on strengthening private sector capacity. Deputy chief of party As second in command of the project, a contracting organization typically looks for a deputy chief of party to complement a chief of party. That might mean that they perhaps have the skills and experience in areas a chief of party may lack. For example, if the chief of party has more technical expertise, the deputy chief of party selected might have more experience in operations, and vice versa. If a chief of party is an international staff member, it’s also common for the suggested deputy to be a local individual. As part of USAID’s localization agenda, there’s often a transition plan in place to allow for a local deputy to move to the chief of party role after specific targets have been met. Current calls for deputy chief of party include ME&A’s recruitment for a USAID monitoring, evaluation, and learning contract for the Sudan MEL indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity while Democracy International is looking to fill such a position within its USAID-funded Strengthening Parliament’s Role in Malawi’s Development project. Technical advisers Advisers can be local or international and there is no limit as to how many can be engaged in a project. Their areas of expertise might lie in a subject specific to the project such as malaria, gender, health systems or nutrition. Alternatively, advisers exist for key project functionalities such as monitoring and evaluation or accounting. For example, IntraHealth is currently looking for a technical director in integrated health service delivery for a USAID Uganda health project focused on increasing the survival and well-being of vulnerable populations. Other roles that fall under the technical adviser umbrella include contracting officer’s representatives, agreement officer’s representatives, government agreement technical representatives, and activity managers. It’s also not unusual for a chief of party to have previously been employed as a technical adviser. Director of finance and administration This is a common position within most development organizations. It would be the staffer’s responsibility to manage a USAID project’s budget and administrative functions. The individual would likely be supported by a team of nonkey personnel and would have to be knowledgeable and have experience in complying with U.S. government rules and regulations. This can mean that oftentimes a U.S. national holds the role. FHI 360 is currently looking for a director of finance for a multiyear USAID fragile waters project while Palladium is seeking a director for a project on reaching at-risk communities and households with malaria services across a range of countries. While any proposal submitted to USAID for funding must include details on the specific people lined up for the above positions, USAID may request a staff change as a condition of funding. This could be because after taking a holistic look at a project team, they believe there is a candidate better suited to ensuring a well-rounded team. Typically, contractors require key personnel to sign a letter of exclusivity stating that they will not work, or be involved in, any other organizations’ USAID bids. Over the years, this model has been criticized as it prevents individuals from pursuing other opportunities when there’s no guarantee USAID will award funding for the bid they’re involved in, or indeed that they’ll approve their involvement as an individual. With this in mind, some organizations have now moved to what’s called a letter of commitment. This commits an individual to working with that organization should they win the USAID bid but is not as strict as a letter of exclusivity. Nonkey personnel positions Program officer or manager: This person serves as an intermediary between USAID and the field office. Typically they are based in a USAID home office and will provide communications support, while recording progress and sourcing the experts and consultants needed for a project. It could be that just one is hired for a project, or that multiple are needed. For example, in 2021 the International City/County Management Association sought six program officers to support the technical activities of a five-year contract focused on strengthening democratic governance in the Philippines. Deputy program officers or managers and program assistants are other common roles a contractor might hire for. They would report to the program officer who in turn would report to the chief of party. Human resource staff member: As in any organization, HR staff play a role in hiring and onboarding project staff whilst managing health and safety, risk assessments, and travel. A project, depending on the size, may need one or several HR staff members. These would usually be hired at a local level. Short-term technical assistance: Also known as STTA, this would refer to expert consultants that are brought into a project for a limited time period. Perhaps they are a water supply engineer only needed for a few months during a clean water initiative, a design adviser needed to improve access to financial services, a consultant for program office support brought in to remedy staff shortages, or a global health security officer completing a situational assessment. Within a USAID proposal, an organization would need to prove that they have access to any STTA that might be needed as part of procurement. Oftentimes this means asking consultants if they’ll consent to having their information included in a proposal, although that doesn’t come with a guarantee of work.