Chief of Party – Uganda Water and Food Systems for Resilient Communities Activity

Project Background

The USAID Uganda Feed the Future Water and Food Systems for Resilient Communities Activity (FTF WFSRCA) is a five year activity (2023-2028) that aims to inclusively and equitably improve food and water security in the Kyoga Basin in northeastern Uganda, specifically three watersheds – Lokok, Awoja, and Lokere, by empowering individuals and communities to mitigate and adapt to shocks and stressors in order to improve livelihoods, maintain nutrition and health wellbeing, address drivers of conflict, and reduce reliance on humanitarian assistance. This area is home to nomadic pastoralists whose livelihoods are at risk due to violent cattle raiding and the effects of climate change (drought and flooding). This part of Uganda also suffers from fragmented markets, chronic underinvestment in public services, and a lack of private sector investment. This Activity is aligned with the Water and Development II (WADI II) scope to access critical technical services in support of the U.S. Government’s Global Water Strategy, Global Food Security and Strategy Refresh, Agency Climate Strategy, and the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience; and is a cornerstone of the USAID Uganda (2022) Country Development Cooperation Strategy Development Objective (DO) 2, Resilient Growth Enhanced. The activity aims therefore aims to achieve results under the following development objectives:

1. Improve water supply and integrated water resource management.
2. Increase equitable access to sanitation and hygiene services for households and schools.
3. Improved agriculture-based livelihoods.
4. Increased consumption of nutritious foods among women and children.
5. Expanded access to financial resources for women, men, youth, indigenous people, and marginalized groups.
6. Improve local capacity to manage shocks and stressors.

FtF WFSRCA will enhance market systems, strengthen relevant institutions, expand access to climate-resilient services, and—in two of the most vulnerable of the 20 districts covered by the activity—employ “graduation” approaches to assist the ultra-poor. These initiatives will incorporate conflict sensitivity, local leadership, climate change adaptation, and approaches inclusive of women, youth, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and indigenous groups.

Role’s Purpose

The COP will establish the vision and strategy for FtF WFSRCA, provide technical leadership and assume responsibility for achievement of project results. They will have ultimate decision-making authority and will supervise five staff—Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) – Technical, Croscutting Director, Implementation Director, Director of Finance and Operations (DFO), and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Director. The COP will ensure execution against the technical vision across all field sites. WFSRCA’s program management, administrative supervision, high level representation, technical support, and reporting will all fall under the COPs leadership and direction. The COP will promote the use of WFSRCA tools and approaches towards the realization of WFSRCA objectives and will supervise technical, operational, administrative, and monitoring and evaluation staff based in the Moroto main office and other field satellite and desk offices. The COP is the primary point of contact with USAID/Uganda for day-to-day implementation and management matters, and will serve as the primary liaison to Ugandan counterparts, donors, and WFSRCA stakeholders.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversee and provide cohesive vision, direction, leadership, and management for WFSRCA.
• Monitor the quality of all program activities and the timely delivery of deliverables to client.
• Act as primary point of contact with USAID/Uganda regarding implementation and management matters relating to the contract, along with serving as the lead facilitator and POC on communications and coordination between relevant stakeholders and home office.
• Supervise the DCOP – Technical; Crosscutting Director; Implementation Director; MEL Director; DFO; consultants that provide technical and/or administrative services.
• Ensure that all program activities follow WFSRCA, USAID, and partner guidelines, along with ensuring that objectives are layered, clustered, and sequenced throughout target areas.
• Coordinate regular program and team meetings and debriefs to set targets, review progress, leverage lessons and ensure successful implementation of activities.
• Support technical leadership with technical advice and executive decision making to ensure they effectively execute activities at the community-level, focusing on the graduation, market systems facilitation, institutional strengthening, climate resilient services approach.
• Assess how inclusive, conflict sensitive, gender responsive, accountable, and dynamic the existing coordination structures within systems are, and how to strengthen coordination and knowledge sharing with other implementing partners and/or international donors.
• Collaborate with the DFO to manage budget updates, ensuring that costs for technical implementation and general operations/administrative support are appropriately budgeted, spent, and reported by established deadlines.
• Assess the status of institutions at the national, municipal, and local levels, and how they function together to make decisions, including where critical resilience capacities currently reside and what the decision-making points are.
• In conjunction with USAID/Uganda and DAI’s HO determine annual priorities, develop work plans, prepare annual reports and quarterly progress reports, and ensure program responds to changing conditions and operating environments.
• Lead efforts to establish and maintain linkages with related projects and stakeholders.
• Illustrate the importance of a team atmosphere by creating a positive collaborative work environment, actively manage project personnel, and work with project staff to build their professional knowledge and skills.
• Ensure that DAI’s ethics, safeguarding, Diversity, Equity, Engagement & Inclusion (DEEI) and anti-harassment policies are broadly understood amongst the project team, and violations are addressed in a timely manner consistent with DAI Standards and policies including engagement of HR, the office of Ethics and Compliance and others as needed.
• Create positive relationships with clients, other projects and COPs, cooperating country officials, communities in which the project works and between the project and home office.
• Through USAID, actively capture and share knowledge generated by the project with other projects and agencies.
• Other duties as assigned by project supervisor.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a master’s degree in the field of program management, international development, economics, agriculture, or another related field.
• 10 years’ experience of progressive/leadership experience in program management, international/economic development, and resilience and system building.
• Prior experience required in implementing cost plus fixed fee contracts of similar size and scope.
• 5 years’ experience managing agriculture, market systems, resilience, or WASH projects.
• Experience supervising U.S., third country, and cooperating country experts.
• Ability to draw from experience from similar complex, rapidly changing environments and effectively apply approaches and strategies to meet changing donor and partner demands.
• Demonstrated ability to provide facilitative leadership, engage senior organization leadership and build strong partnership with diverse partners.
• Strong strategic thinking and organizational skills with ability to work in a complex, rapidly changing environments and respond to changing donor and partner demands.
• Experience in organizing and facilitating multi stakeholder planning and learning events.
• Experience working with local communities, nongovernmental, and/or international organizations within and outside Karamoja preferred.
• Experience working in Uganda, and willingness to travel and live in Karamoja.
• Excellent oral and written skills in English required