Chief of Party

Chemonics seeks a chief of party for the anticipated $90 million USAID-funded Harvest Activity in Ukraine. The Activity aims to enable grain and oilseed farmers to return production of important food export crops to pre-war levels while improving production efficiency and profitability. Specifically, Harvest’s commodities focus will include barley, corn, soybean, sunflower, and wheat. Through strengthening the existing market systems, Harvest will position farmers, including marginalized and underserved groups, to improve quality and high-yield crops and market their crops more successfully in the current war-affected context. The chief of party will oversee all project activities and be responsible for successful project performance. The chief of party will provide strategic leadership and responsibility for administrative requirements of the contract, ensuring that key performance indicators, objectives, and deliverables are met. They will be responsible for ensuring the project effectively meets its objectives and expected results while adhering to USAID regulations, contract requirements, and Chemonics policies. The chief of party will be the primary representative of Chemonics and the project for liaising with USAID, government officials, and private sector actors and forging partnerships with stakeholders.

Location: Kyiv, Ukraine

Responsibilities:

• Provide high level strategic vision, overall leadership, technical direction, and management oversight for all project activities and results
• Agriculture and agribusiness experience, specifically with Harvest commodities and applicable climate-smart resources, and knowledge to ensure successful project performance
• Serve as a key liaison with USAID, Government of Ukraine, and other project stakeholders and counterparts in the public and private sectors
• Apply in-depth technical expertise, ensuring an integrated vision among components and focus on achieving results
• Develop and implement annual work plans and budgets reflecting the needs and priorities of USAID and local stakeholders
• Oversee operations of the project office in-country in accordance with the policies and procedures established by Chemonics management, including human resources, procurement, grants, finance and administration, and subcontracting
• Ensure quality control and overall responsiveness of technical assistance provided under the contract
• Ensure the effective use of appropriate management tools to plan, organize, and monitor costs and resources to achieve project objectives

Qualifications:

• Minimum bachelor’s degree in relevant field (such as rural and agricultural development, business and marketing, international trade, economics, social sciences, or international development). Post-graduate degree preferred
• 15 years of relevant professional experience that showcases increasing managerial responsibility, preferably in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, at least 5 of which are in leadership positions on large and complex technical assistance projects in developing countries
• Previous experience working on agricultural development and private sector engagement in Europe and Eurasia, and specifically Ukraine, is preferred
• Expertise in target commodities (barley, corn, soybean, sunflower, and wheat) preferred
• Knowledge or experience in economic growth, agricultural development, or private sector engagement in a conflict or post-conflict context required; knowledge of current Ukrainian political, economic, and agricultural context preferred
• Experience managing complex contracts and/or agreements, USAID operating procedures, regulations, and reporting requirements
• Demonstrated ability to work in challenging, dynamic environments and with multi-cultural teams
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, technical, and analytical skills including a demonstrated ability to interact effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of public and private sector counterparts, key stakeholders, and staff
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Fluent in written and spoken English required, proficiency in Ukrainian preferred