Policy LINK Ghana Policy and Program Lead At DAI Global

Position: Policy and Program Lead

Project: USAID/Feed the Future Policy LINK

Location: Accra, Ghana

Status: Long Term Project Staff (1 year Fixed Term Contract subject to renewal for duration of Ghana program activity, which is anticipated 5 years starting on/around November 15, 2021)

Supervisor: Ghana Country Lead

Project Background:

The Feed the Future Policy LINK project will strengthen the capacity of local actors and institutions to lead and manage the agricultural transformation process and contribute effectively and collectively to improved, broad-based food security policy outcomes.

Specifically, the program aims to strengthen food security policy systems by investing in and reinforcing productive human and social capital and developing strategic partnerships that help bring these innovations and capacity investments to scale to achieve a critical mass of local actors with the ability and opportunity to effect positive policy change through collective action.

Policy LINK’s general approach is grounded in facilitative leadership and collaborative governance, which emphasize engaging stakeholders from civil society and public and private sectors in consensus-oriented decision making, collaborative problem solving, and adaptive learning.

Policy LINK in Ghana:

USAID/Policy LINK Ghana is a five-year activity with the overall objective of fostering behavior change that strengthens the capacity and ability of Ghanaian stakeholders to participate in a more transparent, inclusive, and evidence-based agriculture and food security policy process that leads to improved food and nutrition outcomes and broad-based economic growth. Specifically, the activity will facilitate the transition towards a policy development paradigm driven by multiple stakeholders.

This approach to policymaking will strengthen the capacities of Ghana’s main agricultural policy system actors and institutions, and support them to engage stakeholders traditionally excluded from decision-making, including academia, financial institutions, the judiciary, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector representatives from the national, regional, and local levels.

This approach is underpinned by Policy LINK’s overarching theory of change focused on increasing human and social capital, engaging policy system actors in collaborative processes, and developing mechanisms for collaborative governance and dynamic learning systems and platforms to sustain collective action.

Position Objectives:

The Policy LINK – Policy and Program Lead will be responsible for—under the guidance of the Country Lead—for supporting overall planning, delivery, monitoring, and reporting of the Ghana activity at the national, regional, and community levels. The Policy and Program Lead will help ensure effective program development and management, administrative supervision, high level representation, and technical excellence consistent with the goal, objectives, and activities implemented of the USAID/Feed the Future Policy LINK activity in Ghana. The Policy and Program Lead will promote the use of proven Policy LINK tools and approaches and ensure the technical quality of the Ghana Activity services, emphasizing the principles of facilitative leadership and collaborative governance.

Position objectives are summarized as follows:

• Support overall program management, delivery and achievement of program activities and deliverables per the activity description, workplan, and organizational policies and procedures.
• Provide leadership in all aspects of the agricultural policy work, including stakeholder engagement and relationship management to advance technical engagement in a coordinated and coherent manner.
• Provide technical leadership to the Ghana Activity staff, including support with design, operations, training and facilitation, mentoring and relationship management.
• Contribute to coordinate and leverage specialized technical expertise from Policy LINK and DAI.

S/he will continually reinforce Policy LINK’s agreed-upon core purpose and principles, and ensure all decision-making is rooted in those purpose and principles. S/he will contribute to foster a learning environment in which personal and team growth is supported, with a shared understanding that the “team” always comes before the “individual.”

Responsibilities:

The Policy and Program Lead will be responsible for the following:

• * Support the continuous interface with USAID Mission and implementing partners to advance program objectives.
  • Support the overall design, delivery, and accomplishment of program deliverables in Ghana in accordance with Policy LINK and USAID guidelines, especially related to the agricultural policy process.
  • Support the Country Lead to provide overall leadership to the Policy LINK Ghana team, including staff located in regional offices, if any. This will include oversight and support to the Policy LINK Ghana team by providing supervision, technical advice and executive decision making to ensure they effectively implement activities. In addition, the Policy and Program Lead will be sensitive to staff needs for development, motivation, and implement actions to enhance broader team performance and cohesion.
  • Contribute to program efforts to facilitate and implement activities that are inclusive, gender sensitive, and responsive to local context in target regions.
  • As requested, ensure effective management of consultants and service providers to produce high quality deliverables.
  • The Policy and Program Lead will consult regularly with and be responsive to the Ghana Country lead and Policy LINK’s other senior managers, ensuring that the Ghana team is an integral part of the Policy LINK’s global team.
  • Support the Country Lead in other technical activities as required.

S/he will also contribute actively to recruitment efforts throughout the contracted period of performance by serving on agreed-upon interview panels, according to Policy LINK’s recruitment policy and process. Responsibilities of interview panel members may include, but not be limited to:

• Contributing to position shortlists
• Developing or editing interview questions
• Serving as a “panel lead” for certain recruitment efforts
• Conducting oral reference checks

Reporting:

The Policy and Program Lead will report to the Policy LINK/Ghana Country Lead.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

This position may be required to coordinate and supervisor consultants and short-term staff.

Qualifications:

Local Ghanaian candidates, particularly women, are encouraged to apply. Additional qualifications include:

• Minimum of a Master’s degree or equivalent experience in development or relevant field, including economics, agricultural economics, public policy, business management, or similar relevant area;
• Ten (10) years of progressive leadership experience in the Ghanaian agricultural policy process, including stakeholder engagement, capacity strengthening of individuals and institutions, and organizational development;
• Strong leadership and experience in program management, including coordination skills with ability to mentor and building strong cross-functional and cross-organization teams; and to design and rollout program activities;
• A good understanding of donor-funded compliance requirements, including prior experience maintaining productive and responsive communication and reviewing and approving procurement actions and financial transactions;
• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships through engaging senior organization leadership and building strong partnership with diverse partners;
• Strong strategic thinking and organizational skills with ability to work in a complex, rapidly changing environment and respond to changing donor and partner demands;
• Experience in organizing and facilitating multi stakeholder planning and learning events and conferences;
• Good oral and written communication in English;
• Good computing capabilities with working knowledge of MS Word and Excel; and
• Deep familiarity with Ghana, and willingness to travel throughout the country.

Qualified FEMALE candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.