OTI Deputy Country Representative – Colombia At US Agency for International Development

The OTI Deputy Country Representative is a full-time Personal Services Contract (PSC) position at the GS-13 equivalent level and located in Colombia. Offers for this position are due no later than March 16, 2022 at 1:00pm Eastern Time. For full information about this position, as well as instructions on how to apply, please read the entire solicitation at www.OTIjobs.net.

INTRODUCTION:

Colombia has experienced armed conflict with insurgency groups for over 50 years. Among the root causes are state weakness and structural inequities that have created a divided nation: a modern, urban Colombia, and an impoverished, neglected, rural Colombia, where most of the conflict has taken place.

In the five years following the ratification of the peace accords with Colombia’s largest guerrilla insurgency group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Government of Colombia (GOC) embarked on a peace implementation process expected to last a generation. As the FARC demobilized and began to reintegrate, the GOC started enacting wide-ranging reforms related to rural development, inclusive political participation, transitional justice, and reducing illicit economies such as coca cultivation. Colombia is one of the oldest democracies in Latin America and USAID/OTI strives to help the GOC implement its peace accords with the FARC.

USAID/OTI’s program, Colombia Transforma, is part of the U.S. Government’s effort to support a sustainable and inclusive peace in Colombia. The program contributes to making peace progress irreversible, by catalyzing front end elements of accord implementation, including: Increasing government entities’ commitment of resources for peace accord implementation; and advancing bottom-up implementation of the peace accords in critical areas.

USAID/OTI will coordinate with other U.S. Government agencies and, as appropriate, the international community, USAID/OTI’s activities are designed to create or preserve political space and help set the stage for more profound longer-term change.

The Deputy Country Representative’s principal responsibility will be the development, oversight and management of OTI’s Colombia program. The incumbent will be called upon to represent OTI’s mission and programs to senior-level government officials, in-country visitors, senior officials from other international organizations, bilateral donors and local government officials. This position requires excellent managerial (project and personnel) and communication skills, an ability to perform in a complex and highly-sensitive political environment, experience in policy formulation and negotiation, an understanding of grantee and contractor/USAID relationships, and a strong interest in assisting countries in transition. Since work may require continued changes in program direction and implementation, including frequent coordination, the individual will be someone who is highly flexible and willing to work under conditions of ongoing change.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Represent OTI interests during meetings with USAID Mission personnel, U.S. Embassy staff, host-country government officials, international organizations, indigenous and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international donors, and others interested in CPS/OTI activities, including projects related to COVID-19 response;
Provide guidance on the identification and development of projects that meet OTI funding criteria, further OTI programmatic objectives, and complement projects and programs implemented by other USAID offices, U.S. Government agencies and donor organizations;
Provide support for the design and execution of programs that follow OTI’s quick-impact programming model in embassies or USAID Missions. Support to embassies and USAID Missions may include attendance and/or facilitation of program management processes for follow-on programming including rolling assessments, strategy review sessions, program performance reviews, and management reviews;
Review proposals and grant concepts and work with diverse groups, many of which have not previously had international funding;
Collaborate with the Country Representative in monitoring the performance of OTI implementing partners in the implementation of OTI-financed activities designed to achieve OTI strategic objectives;
Travel to monitor and assess political conditions, implementing partner operational platforms, meet with potential grantees, host government and other program counterparts, and develop activity ideas;
Mentor and train OTI and implementing partner field staff;
Take the lead on collecting information and drafting/editing regular reporting products;
Assume higher representational responsibilities, potentially serving as Acting OTI Country Representative in their absence;
Perform a wide range of administrative functions including budget preparation, financial management, records management, and travel assistance, to help ensure programmatic success;
Coordinate with the OTI Country Representative to develop an exit strategy that ensures reasonable time to transition from OTI programs to follow-on USAID or other donor programs;
Communicate regularly and share program information with other USAID project managers, the U.S. Embassy, bilateral donors, United Nations organizations, international organizations, and indigenous and international NGOs to ensure visibility and synergy of USAID/OTI activities;
Support the Country Representative to ensure the use of OTI systems and procedures to maintain effective and efficient management of funds, programming, and monitoring and evaluation;
Report to the OTI Country Representative and OTI/Washington on the status of: 1) grant development and implementation, 2) OTI contractor performance, 3) Foreign Service National (FSN) staff support needs and morale, 4) communication and coordination issues among OTI offices with other U.S. Government entities, 5) security concerns, 6) relations with local partners including local, state and national government representatives, and 7) other pertinent information required to achieve OTI’s program objectives;
Manage and/or supervise the FSN staff, including program officers, administrative assistants and drivers alongside the Country Representative; and,
Supervise USPSC, TCN or FSN staff as delegated by the Country Representative. Provide orientation, training, and mentoring for USAID staff supervised; assign work, explain how duties are to be performed to meet expectations, and communicate how the successful performance of those duties will be measured; evaluate staff performance; recognize good performance; communicate where performance needs to be improved; resolve complaints; and approve leave requests and timesheets as well as training, travel, program and operations requests.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

At a minimum, the offeror must have:

(1) A Master’s Degree with five (5) years of work experience;

A Bachelor’s Degree with seven (7) years of work experience;

AND

(2) Five (5) years of project management experience with any of the following organizations: a non-governmental organization in community development, mediation/arbitration, conflict resolution, democracy and governance, international law, human rights activities, and/or political analysis; an international assistance organization, or a U.S. Government foreign affairs agency;

(3) One (1) year of overseas field experience (in person or virtual). A virtual temporary duty (TDY) is defined as work that would have been conducted in an overseas location if not for the global COVID pandemic;

(4) One (1) year of supervisory experience (including but not limited to mentoring, training, and guiding staff);

(5) Demonstrated experience using Spanish in a professional setting.

Please direct questions about this position or the offer process to the OTI Recruitment Team at otijobs@usaid.gov.