Chief of Party II, USAID Afghanistan Women in Agriculture Activity

Position description

Pending a successful application and donor approval, as Chief of Party II you will provide vision, leadership and overall management of the anticipated U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Afghanistan Women in Agriculture Activity to strengthen livelihoods and resilience in Afghanistan. Your strategic leadership, management and technical knowledge will ensure the delivery of high-quality programming and advance the position of CRS in livelihoods programming and value chain strengthening. As a senior leader you will proactively manage security and mitigate security risks.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of the implementation and consolidation of an anticipated multi-year agricultural livelihoods development activity, including work that improves food security, creates sustainable jobs, and strengthens access to capital and market linkages; lead efforts to share how the project contributes to the thought leadership of the industry;
• Serve as the primary point of contact to the donor, as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders;
• Ensure compliance with contract, including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, administration and reporting to donor. Approve program expenditures, budget adjustments, and cost modification requests to donors. Promote, uphold and model a commitment to the efficient use of agency and donor resources;
• 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;
• 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 inline 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.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent strategic, analytical, systems thinking, andproblem-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.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in agriculture, business, international development, international relations, or a relevant technical area. PhD preferred;
• 10 or more years’ relevant management and technical experience in livelihoods programming, with demonstrated experience in value chain development, private sector engagement, and market-based approaches;
• 7 years’ experience managing donor funds, including USAID funds. 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.

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.

Required Languages – English required. Dari or Pashto an asset.
Travel – The position is anticipated to be based in Kabul. Must be willing and able to travel up to 50% within Afghanistan. Occasional international travel may be required.
Supervisory Responsibilities: Deputy Chief of Party, Finance and Operations Director, Strategic Learning Advisor. Supervisory responsibilities are subject to change.

Key Working Relationships

• Internal – Country Representative, Head of Programming, Head of Operations, MEAL Coordinator, Finance Manager, Regional Technical Advisor for Livelihoods, Regional Technical Advisor for Gender;
• External – Donors, partner INGOs and local NGOs, private sector actors, relevant government ministries, and peer agencies.

Application instructions

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