Capacity Development Experts at Pact

At the heart of Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow. A nonprofit international development organization founded in 1971, Pact works on the ground in nearly 40 countries to improve the lives of those who are challenged by poverty and marginalization. We serve these communities because we envision a world where everyone owns their future. To do this, we build systemic solutions in partnership with local organizations, businesses, and governments that create sustainable and resilient communities where those we serve are heard, capable, and vibrant. Pact is a recognized global leader in international development. Our staff have a range of expertise in areas including public health, capacity development, governance and civil society, natural resource management, poverty, fragile states, monitoring and evaluation, small-scale and artisanal mining, microfinance and more. This expertise is combined in Pact’s unique integrated approach, which focuses on systemic changes needed to improve people’s lives.

Department

Programs – Pact strives for a world where all people are heard, capable, and vibrant. The Programs Team helps realize this objective by bridging program management, technical support, and business development, enabling Pact to achieve its global strategy. We ensure program excellence through continuous learning, monitoring and evaluation and provide organizational and industry-wide thought leadership by leveraging a complementary set of cross-functional, multi-disciplinary skills, expertise, and experiences. The Programs team: influences progressive change through the development and implementation of global and regional strategies and business plans; supports advancement of innovative solutions; pursues new business opportunities; and drives effective internal and external engagement to maximize Pact’s impact across the globe. Across all aspects of its role, the Programs Department adheres to and promotes a culture of inclusion, accountability, and respect.

Position Overview

Pact is recruiting experienced Capacity Development (CD) professionals in El Salvador Guatemala, and Honduras to support our projects in the region on part-time and full-time basis.

The CD expert may focus on strengthening civil society capacities and oversight of sub-grants to support effective advocacy and address root causes of migration. The CD expert may provide leadership and oversight of project strategy to strengthen the technical and operational capacity of a variety of civil society organizations (CSOs), with a particular emphasis on new or under-utilized partners. The CD expert may lead in the direct provision and coordination of high-quality, demand-driven support services that contribute towards civil society’s enhanced capacity at multiple levels and towards select organizations’ readiness to transition to direct USAID funding. Additionally, s/he may oversee support to emergent, young leaders, as well as representatives from vulnerable groups, to strengthen and empower them through innovative initiatives, platforms, and exchanges. The CD expert may lead a team with the shared responsibility to facilitate assessments, provide direct support, and coordinate the provision of technical assistance to civil society, with an emphasis placed on leveraging local expertise. The CD expert may ensure integration between CD activities and sub-grants to local organizations, ensuring sub-grants facilitate learning by doing opportunities and take into consideration transition readiness criteria.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the development and implementation of the project’s comprehensive and adaptive CD strategy to strengthen the organizational and technical capacity of local partners.
Manage the development, implementation, and monitoring of CD activities in close alignment and coordination with activities across the project.
Lead the technical and contextual adaptation of Pact’s organizational assessment tools and supervise or directly implement baseline and follow-up assessments.
Oversee the development, implementation and monitoring of Capacity Action Plans (CAPs) for each local partner to ensure achievement of expected outcomes.
Design, facilitate and/or provide direct capacity development services to local partners for a wide range of institutional areas including financial and administrative management, human resources, institutional governance, marketing and communication, monitoring and evaluation, etc. Lead and mentor a team of CD Specialists who will share in the responsibility of conducting assessments, creating CAPs, facilitating and/or delivering direct support services, and providing ongoing mentorship to local partners.
Ensure high-quality technical programming through participatory methodologies, co-creation, and contextualization, as per Pact’s capacity development overarching principles, approaches, and tools.
Collaborate closely with other technical leads and manage the integration and coordination of technical contributions of other relevant consortium partners, particularly in the areas of youth and leadership development and support to emergent, young leaders through innovative approaches.
Foster strong collaboration and coordination with the grants management team to integrate CD and subaward monitoring processes and to ensure that capacity development is incorporated into subawards, as appropriate.
Manage and maintain updated programmatic data in Pact’s Capacity Solutions Platform and the project’s over-arching MEL system.

Basic Requirements

Master’s degree in a relevant field including organizational development, social sciences, education, etc.
At least 6 years of experience in civil society strengthening, governance, community mobilization, or other relevant programming.
Excellent grasp and demonstrated experience in participatory CD methodologies, with particular emphasis on youth-led or serving organizations and those serving or led by marginalized groups (i.e., women and girls, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, and indigenous populations).
Demonstrated experience in strengthening the organizational and technical capabilities of civil society organizations of various levels of maturity.
Demonstrated flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to perform and collaborate in complex and politically sensitive project environments.
Technical expertise in politically smart advocacy, network strengthening/coalition building, public policy, and/or civic engagement
Excellent facilitation, training, and mentoring skills in a variety of organizational development and technical topics, with a particular emphasis on communication, networking, advocacy, and democratic governance.
Experience implementing technical assistance and training through a variety of modalities including online synchronous and asynchronous delivery.
Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with civil society partners and other strategic stakeholders in government and the private sector.
Proven ability to manage a team, set realistic priorities, and plan for the successful implementation of activities.
Strong written and oral communication skills, including presentations and preparations of written reports.
Proven program leadership, adaptive management, project planning, organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills.
Ability to frequently travel to project sites within the country and across the region.
- Fluency in Spanish (oral, writing, and reading).
- Working proficiency of English (oral, writing and reading).
- Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience implementing USG-funded programs in Central America.
Solid understanding of the contemporary challenges and opportunities facing the civil society sector.
Fluency in English (oral, writing and reading).