Deputy Chief of Party II – Regional Resilience Activity, Sahel

Job Title: Deputy Chief of Party II – Regional Resilience Activity, Sahel

Reports to: Chief of Party

Department: Program

Salary Grade: 11

Note: This position is dependent upon funding, as well as the donor’s approval of the proposed Chief of Party.

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.

Job Summary:

CRS is seeking a Deputy Chief of Party II (DCOP) for the anticipated 5-year USAID Regional Resilience Activity in the Sahel project. This grant will be implemented in several countries, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and the Gambia. As Deputy Chief of Party, you will support the Chief of Party’s work and provide oversight of a key function of the Regional Resilience Activity in the Sahel project to serve the poor and vulnerable.- The program seeks to expand resilience in the Sahel, improving the ability of individuals, households, and communities to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from perennial shocks and stresses. You will act on behalf of the Chief of Party as needed, including global representation to the donor to serve the poor and vulnerable. Your strong management knowledge and experience will ensure the delivery of high-quality programming across several countries and CRS regions. The program is anticipated to start in 2024 and this position will be based in one of the Sahel countries.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Manage key aspects of the development, implementation and consolidation of the Regional Resilience Activity. Serve as a point of contact to USAID as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders, when needed.
• Manage key functions of the project to meet donor expectations in terms of timely and quality results and budget.
• Contribute to ensuring coordination between program and operations leads.Contribute to ensuring the CRS program quality standards are adhered to per MEAL policy and procedures.
• Effectively manage talent and supervise. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring. Strategically tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports. Contribute to 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. Help ensure compliance with USAID grants, including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, administration and reporting to USAID.
• Maintain relationships with key staff of consortium partner organizations. Contribute to coordination of 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 recommend trainings and technical assistance.

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Logistics, International Relations or a relevant technical area.
• 7 or more years’ relevant management and technical experience.
• 5 years’ experience managing donor funds, including multi country grants. Strong knowledge and experience in budget management.
• Recognized technical experience and qualifications in sector as demonstrated by peer reviewed publications, conference presentations etc.
• Demonstrated experience of successful management, including management of functions of complex, high-value, multi-activity projects, with complicated logistics.
• Staff management experience and abilities that are conducive to a learning environment. Experience coaching.

Required Languages – French and English fluency, including excellent oral and written skills, required.

Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 50 %

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Strong 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 skills.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships. Knowledge of CRS partnership strategy a plus.
• Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications, and information and budget management systems.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. 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.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

Supervisory Responsibilities: TBD based on project staffing structure

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Project Chief of Party, Project MEAL Lead, Project Strategic Learning Lead, Project Technical Advisors**,** Heads of Programming and Program Quality Teams, Heads of Operations and Operations teams, Finance Managers, Regional Technical Advisors, HQ Teams

External: USAID, UN partners, international and local NGO partners, government agencies, research institutions, church partners, local authorities, community representatives, private sector actors

***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. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position. CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS prioritizes candidates who are citizens/ permanent residents of the countries where we have CRS offices. CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.