Chief of Party

Job Description

The IRC began working in Mali in 2012 in response to the political crisis. The IRC has provided lifesaving assistance to over half a million displaced Malians displaced by conflict and facing severe food shortages. The crisis in Mali has also led to a collapse of basic public services such as health care and education.

To help the country recover, the IRC is focusing our efforts by providing emergency relief; supporting village savings and loan associations and income-generating activities, especially for women; providing clean drinking water, water treatment kits, water-point rehabilitation, and health care supplies; providing vital health care services and training community health workers; providing children and parents with psychosocial support to help them heal from trauma; and training teachers and reopening schools for children affected by conflict.

Scope of work

The IRC seeks a Chief of Party (COP) for an anticipated five-year USAID Cross-Sectoral Youth activity in Mali. The project will enable vulnerable and marginalized 15–29-year-old Malian youth in the regions of Bamako, Mopti and Segou to become educated, healthy, and productive citizens while building their resilience to recurrent crises. The $25-$50M Cross-Sectoral Youth Activity will focus on an integrated program that includes basic education, workforce development, media literacy to counter disinformation, youth entrepreneurship, and reproductive health.

The COP will have the primary responsibility for the overall strategic leadership and oversight of the activity. The COP will also have the principal responsibility for representation of the project to all key stakeholders, including government officials and USAID, provide overall strategic leadership and vision for the IRC-led team spread across multiple technical areas and locations, oversee international and national partners implementation of activities, as well as implementers of other USAID-funded initiatives as required. The COP will ensure that project initiatives achieve the expected results of the USAID funded Cross-Sectoral Youth activity in Mali. This position is contingent on the IRC being awarded funding and is anticipated to begin in 2024. The position will be based in Bamako, Mali.

Job responsibilities

· Provide strategic and technical leadership and direction, define and implement activities to achieve the greatest impact toward project goals and objectives;

· Develop, review, and monitor in coordination with key project staff, annual work and performance plans to ensure long-term and short-term priorities are on track;

· Oversee technical direction and project delivery to ensure activities are in line with the performance framework and meet all standard operational policies and procedures;

· Oversee the Deputy COP in managing partners and providing financial and operations support that optimizes resources through sound budgets, consistent financial tracking, and timely submission of reports to the donor;

· Report to USAID through both formal and informal debriefings, annual and semi-annual reports;

· Maintain active and cooperative relationships with all key stakeholders, including government officials, project partners, other implementing agencies, and related institutions;

· Represent the project and the organization in public and ensure distribution of information about project achievements and lesson learned;

· Support project staff by creating and maintaining a work environment that promotes teamwork, trust, mutual respect, and empowers staff to take responsibility.

Requirements

· Advanced degree (PhD or MA) from an accredited university in Economic Recovery and Development, International Development, or related field; equivalent experience may be substituted for graduate degree;

· Minimum of 10 years of experience in similar economic recovery and positive youth development programs, and experience managing complex international donor-funded development activities in challenging environments.

· Significant previous experience working in conflict or crisis situations.

· Experience working in Mali or within the West Africa region on economic recovery and positive youth development programming.

· Previous experience as COP of USAID-funded programs preferred;

· Demonstrated experience in managing multi-year and multi-million-dollar projects.

· Demonstrated success incorporating innovation and participatory, flexible, and gender-sensitive programming into implementation.

· Strong negotiation skills and the ability to develop relations with local counterparts, donors, and other stakeholders;

· Demonstrated innovation and success in staff capacity-building and in participatory, flexible, and gender-sensitive programming and implementation;

· Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain productive working relationships with a wide network of partners and stakeholders

· Strong communication skills, both oral and written.

· Capacity to work well under pressure, and the ability to communicate appropriately and effectively cross‐culturally is critical.

· The candidate must be fluent in English and French.

Working environment

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

Women, minorities and people living with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications