Position Summary:
The Project Director will be responsible for implementing a high-quality, results-oriented program focused on empowering adolescent girls, reducing barriers to success for girls, and increasing girls access to relevant quality education. Position is contingent upon receipt of donor funding.
Essential Responsibilities:
The Project Director is responsible for overall project management, strategic leadership, supervision, administration, and implementation of a high-quality project. S/he will establish and maintain systems for project operations; ensure that all agreement deadlines are met and targets are achieved; coordinate and maintain working relationships with project stakeholders (including government and private sector partners, subgrantees and/or subcontractors); lead collaborative initiatives with other Let Girls Learn projects; and oversee the preparation and submission of technical and financial reports to USAID.
- Manage the Let Girls Learn Liberia project, which includes developing and overseeing annual planning; timely, high quality implementation of activities; and monitoring and evaluation of project implementation and deliverables;
- Provide overall technical expertise, strategic vision, and leadership on a number of areas including girls’ empowerment, educational access, community engagement, teacher training, mentoring, reproductive health education, life-skills instruction/activities, school safety, and development/adaptation of teaching and learning materials.
- Act as primary liaison with USAID Liberia on all management and technical matters and maintain close communication with USAID through formal review sessions and by providing ongoing, informal updates of project progress.
- Facilitate project design, strategic planning, and implementation of project activities.
- Develop and oversee the project’s annual planning and high quality implementation of activities and deliverables in order to deliver impact within agreed timelines.
- Oversee project budget and ensure that all financial activity is carried out in accordance with annual budget allocations, Winrock policy, and donor guidelines.
- Provide technical assistance, support, and oversight to partners and government officials.
- Ensure that the program is well-coordinated with other Let Girls Learn projects in Liberia.
- Represent the project and Winrock to donors, local and national government entities, the media, local NGOs and document successes, lessons learned and best practices.
- Oversee monitoring and evaluation of project implementation, research and learning priorities, and overall communications strategy.
- Hire and supervise local project staff and annually evaluate their performance;
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
Successful candidates will have strong management skills as well as salient experience implementing education programs, preferably in Liberia. Specific experience and specialization in the areas of girls’ education and empowerment, community engagement, reproductive health education, life-skills and mentoring actives, teacher training; creating/maintaining partnerships with schools/PTA, youth-oriented organizations, and other Let Girls Learn projects; and knowledge regarding gender disparities and girl’s empowerment is strongly desired. Significant project management experience and leadership is highly desired.
Education: Bachelor’s degree required in international development, education, gender, leadership or a relevant social science discipline. Master’s degree would be a distinct asset.
Technical: Applicants must have a minimum of 10 years’ experience working on education programs, including a minimum of 5 years’ of demonstrated managerial experience on donor funded projects, USAID experience preferred. Experience in Liberia is required.
Management Experience:
- Enthusiastic and collaborative candidates who possess strategic vision and the willingness and ability to show results are encouraged to apply.
- Experience establishing and maintaining systems for project operations.
- Experience in a leadership role in implementing projects relevant to this solicitation.
- Experience managing international projects to the highest ethical standards
- Demonstrated leadership and administrative skills in the management of complex, multi-activity programming, on time and on budget.
- Financial management, budget design, and budget management experience.
- Demonstrated success in motivating and supervising diverse teams of employees and partners.
- Experience in strategic planning and implementation of strategic plans.
- Experience overseeing monitoring and evaluation systems.
- Experience targeting and reaching disadvantage groups, especially girls.
Skills/Knowledge:**
- Proven success in facilitating meetings among a wide range of stakeholders, with the significant ability to align numerous sets of interests, identify common goals, develop agreed-upon next steps and deliverables, define and identify roles and responsibilities, and hold stakeholders accountable.
- Experience providing support to girls’ education programs
- Knowledge of USAID implementation rules and regulations and specific understanding of the Let Girls Learn initiative.
- Knowledge of US Government regulations, policies, and procedures or those of an equivalently complex international government funding organization.
- Fluency in English is required.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Computer literate in word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software (Microsoft).
HOW TO APPLY:
