Chief of Party II – McGovern Dole Food for Education, Guinea Bissau At Catholic Relief Services

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

CRS is seeking applications from qualified candidates for a Chief of Party II (COP) position leading the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) McGovern-Dole International School Feeding and Child Nutrition Program (MGD) funded MeREECE project in Guinea Bissau. The MeREECE project—Promotion of Educational and Economic Performance in Educative Communities, or Melhoria do Rendimento Escolar e Económicas das Comunidades Educativas (MeREECE) — aims to achieve two main objectives: improve literacy among school-age children and increase the use of health, nutrition and food practices in 350 schools (pre-school and elementary school) in 5 regions in Guinea Bissau. The project began in October 2019 and is due to end in September 2023. Project activities include improving teacher and student attendance, providing school meals, training teachers, creating savings and credit groups in the communities, and building capacity at various levels in Guinea Bissau.

Job Summary:

The COP II will provide the vision and overall leadership and management to the Guinea Bissau FFE project team. S/he will be responsible for overseeing the overall management of the project, including the quality of programmatic implementation (including monitoring, accountability, evaluation and learning) and administrative elements of the project, including the coordination of all consortium partners, and monitoring the budget. The COP will serve as the primary point of contact to USDA as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders. S/he will be responsible for ensuring compliance, including oversight of partner budgets, finance and administration, and reporting to USDA. The COP will ensure that project results are achieved on time and on budget, including strategies for phase out and sustainability, and that the budget is executed as planned. In addition, your strategic leadership, management and technical knowledge will ensure the delivery of high-quality programming and advance the position of CRS as a leading agency in Guinea Bissau. As a senior leader you will proactively manage security and mitigate security risks.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Lead all aspects of the development, implementation and consolidation of the FFE project, including ensuring that the project contributes to the thought leadership of the industry. Serve as the primary point of contact to USDA as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders.
• Ensure the project is designed and implemented to meet donor expectations in terms of timely and quality results and budget, including strategies for phase out and sustainability. Ensure coordination between program and operations leads. Ensure the CRS program quality standards are adhered to per MEAL policy and procedures.
• Effectively manage senior programming and operations talent. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring. Strategically tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports. Oversee the development of staffing plans and the recruitment process of senior staff.
• Manage and mitigate risk through monitoring national and regional issues that may impact staff and programming. Ensure all staff understand and adhere to CRS staff safety and security policies and plans, and ensure the updating of such plans.
• Promote, uphold and model a commitment to the efficient use of agency and donor resources. Ensure compliance with USDA grants, including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, administration and reporting to USDA. Approve program expenditures, budget adjustments, and cost modification requests to donors.
• Represent CRS programming in international circles, highlighting innovative work. Publish program results and deliver presentations. Oversee the development of communication strategies and materials, complying with donor and CRS’ branding and marketing requirements and procedures.
• Manage relationships with consortium partner organizations, including organization of review/planning workshops. Coordinate the roles and activities of staff from other consortium member organizations in implementation in line with CRS partnership principles.
• Create and maintain proper conditions for learning. Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies. Identify performance gaps and training opportunities for CRS and partner staff and ensure the design and delivery of high quality training and technical assistance.

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in International Development, International Relations or a relevant technical area. PhD preferred.
• 10 or more years’ relevant management and technical experience.
• 7 years experience managing donor funds, including multi country grants. Excellent knowledge and experience in budget management.
• 5 years of staff management experience and abilities that are conducive to a learning environment. Experience coaching and mentoring senior program staff.

Required Languages: English and French with a strong preference for a candidate who has working professional proficiency in Portuguese (or Spanish)

Travel: Must be willing to travel up to 10%

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Excellent relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
• Team leadership abilities with diverse/multi-disciplinary teams. Coaching/mentoring skills.
• Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications

• Established leader in sector as demonstrated by peer reviewed publications, conference presentations etc.
• Demonstrated experience of successful program management, including management of complex, high-value, multi-activity projects, with complicated logistics.
• Experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships. Knowledge of CRS partnership strategy a plus.
• Ability to represent and present at high levels.
• Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications, and information and budget management systems.

Qualifications

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

· Integrity

· Continuous Improvement & Innovation

· Builds Relationships

· Develops Talent

· Strategic Mindset

· Accountability & Stewardship

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

*Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.*

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer