Chief of Party, USAID/Burma All Youth Learning (AYL)

Summary

Save the Children is seeking a Chief of Party (COP) to lead the upcoming USAID/Burma All Youth Learning (AYL) Activity. The USAID/Burma All Youth Learning (AYL) Activity intends to strengthen the foundational literacy, numeracy, livelihoods, and life skills of targeted vulnerable youth in Burma, enabling them to become positive change agents as individuals, within their families and communities, and to the benefit of the larger society.

The Chief of Party (COP) is the key leadership role for this project and will be responsible for managing all aspects of the program including meeting the objectives of the project while providing overall technical, administrative, operational, and logistical management. The COP will act as the principal liaison between USAID/Burma, relevant authorities, partners, and other stakeholders. This position will be based in Yangon for the five-year period of performance.

This position is contingent upon donor approval and funding.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

• Provide overall technical and managerial leadership in developing and adapting strategies and project plans in view of changes in the internal and external operational environment. Work closely with technical advisors, local partners, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the project design is responsive to the needs of communities.
• Lead the program’s strategic planning and implementation, including ensuring progress against approved annual work plans and performance reporting.
• Serve as key liaison and represent the program with USAID/Burma, relevant authorities, partners and other local stakeholders.
• Provide overall management leadership to ensure smooth and timely start-up and implementation of project activities in accordance with approved project plans.
• Oversee the timely submission of all deliverables to USAID.
• Ensure that efficient systems to support all aspects of the program (including grants management, financial, capacity strengthening and performance monitoring and reporting) are in place and support the effective use of program resources in compliance with USAID regulations and Save the Children policies.
• Ensure that key project staff are engaged in a timely manner, with a clearly set performance plan that is monitored against key performance indicators.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree plus at least 10 years of relevant experience working with vulnerable youth to support the development of literacy, numeracy, livelihoods, and life skills. Master’s degree preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with individuals, partners and counterparts at all levels, both internally and externally.
• Demonstrated commitment to fostering and maintaining and environment of diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
• Experience in gender mainstreaming required, with gender budgeting experience preferred.
• Experience working in nexus contexts on activities that foster social cohesion preferred.
• Track record overseeing projects with analysis, studies or academic research related to public resources and social accountability.
• Prior work experience in Southeast Asia, with experience in Burma preferred.
• Proven senior management experience in livelihoods-oriented education and training. Previous COP or DCOP experience preferred.
• Demonstrated skills in leadership, mentoring, motivation and supervision of multicultural teams within a dynamic setting.
• Familiarity with USAID regulations and policies.
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate relationships with stakeholders and within communities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively in team situations.
• Oral and written fluency in English is required. Proficiency in Burmese or other languages spoken in Myanmar is an asset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience working successfully with out-of-school and conflict-affected youth to receive quality foundational and livelihoods-oriented education and training.
• Experience strengthening capacity of education and training institutions and organizations to provide skills training, while forging linkages with employers to ensure that training and skills development are relevant and respond to labor market needs.
• Strong experience of working within a complex national program in the context of an emergency intervention or in conflict/fragile state contexts.

Qualified local national candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Why you should join the Save the Children Team…

Save the Children US offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, pet insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, 403(b), generous vacation, personal sick leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, commuter benefits, dress for your day, and much more.

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in YOU!

About Save the Children

No matter your role when you join Save the Children, each and every day you will challenge yourself to devote your skills, talent and expertise to changing the world for kids. It’s an ambitious goal, and a meaningful one no matter how you see yourself professionally: an accountant, a writer, a data analyst, a teacher, a driver, a designer, or any one of the hundreds of dozens of roles we’re looking to fill every day.

You see, Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our work for children and their families requires that we commit—at every opportunity—to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination everywhere we work. As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form—in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse. In addition, it is Save the Children’s policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of child abuse. All our representatives are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.