Position Summary:**
The Chief of Party will be responsible for implementing a high-quality, results-oriented program focused on decreasing barriers to girls’ access to quality education, improving their safety, and increasing their adoption of positive health behaviors. The position is contingent upon receipt of donor funding.
Essential Responsibilities:
The Chief of Party is responsible for overall project management, supervision, administration, and implementation of a high-quality program. 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 industry stakeholders, subgrantees and/or subcontractors); lead collaborative initiatives with private companies; and oversee the preparation and submission of technical and financial reports to USAID.
- Manage the Mali girls’ education and empowerment project, which includes developing and overseeing annual planning; timely, high-quality implementation of activities; and monitoring and evaluation of project implementation and deliverables;
- Oversee project budget and ensure that all financial activity is carried out in accordance with annual budget allocations, Winrock policy, and donor guidelines;
- With support from field and home office staff, prepare and submit timely and accurate activity, financial, and procurement reports to USAID and Winrock;
- Maintain close communication with USAID, reporting regularly for formal review sessions and providing ongoing, informal updates of program progress;
- Provide technical assistance, support, and oversight to local partner NGOs and CSOs;
- Provide technical assistance, support, and information to national and local government officials;
- Develop strategies for working with local government, educators, community members, and youth;
- Hire and supervise local project staff and annually evaluate their performance;
- Represent the project and Winrock to donors, local and national government entities, the media, local NGOs, and the local business community;
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications and Background:
Successful candidates will have strong management skills as well as salient experience implementing education programs, preferably funded by USAID in West Africa. Specific experience and specialization in the areas of formal and informal education; leadership training; creating/maintaining partnerships with MoE structures, CSOs, youth-oriented organizations, and health providers; experience in curriculum development and training of trainers; experience in education and security issues in conflict-affected areas; and knowledge regarding gender disparities, reproductive health issues, and girl’s empowerment is strongly desired. Significant project management experience and leadership is highly desired.
Education:
- Master’s level degree required in education, international development, leadership, political science, or a relevant social science discipline.
Technical:**
- Applicants must have a minimum of 10 years’ experience working on education programs, including a minimum of 4 years of demonstrated managerial and/or team leadership experience.
- Experience in the West Africa region is required, and Mali strongly preferred.
Management Experience:
- Experience managing to the highest ethical standards international projects;
- Demonstrated leadership and administrative skills in the management of complex, multi-activity programming, on time and on budget;
- Ability to manage a contract and adhere to specific deliverables and timetables;
- Financial management, budget design, and budget management experience;
- Demonstrated success in recruiting, motivating and supervising diverse teams of employees in multiple locations;
- Demonstrated experience using project management and work planning tools to deliver quality programs;
- Ability to establish mechanisms to continuously assess the operating environment and program activities and make course corrections with agility;
- Experience in strategic planning and implementation of strategic plans;
- Experience designing and implementing or overseeing monitoring and evaluation systems;
- Good track record building stakeholder buy-in and working with and/or partnering with a variety of individuals and organizations, including senior US and host country government officials, international agencies, private sector companies, and donor organizations.
Skills/ Knowledge:
- Knowledge or understanding of social, economic, political, and policy context governing youth (especially girls) vis-à-vis education, gender-based violence, reproductive health, leadership development and empowerment and in developing countries;
- Experience providing support to formal and nonformal education programs, leadership trainings, and local organization capacity building;
- Experience implementing programs in conflict-affected and/or high-risk security environments;
- Knowledge of US Government regulations, policies, and procedures or those of an equivalently complex international government funding organization;
- Knowledge of USAID and specific understanding of USAID’s Education Strategy, the Let Girls Learn Initiative, as well as girls’ education goals under the Mali Country Development Cooperation Strategy is desirable;
- Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills, creative problem solving, conflict, and ethical management skills;
- Fluency in English and French is required;
- Excellent written and oral communication skills;
- Computer literate in word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software (Microsoft).
HOW TO APPLY:
