Chief of Party, Fragile Waters

USAID Fragile Waters

POSITION: Chief of Party

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE (on/about from/to): Upon approval-September 2028

BASE OF OPERATIONS: Washington, DC, area, or an approved remote location

POSITION REPORTS TO: Senior Portfolio Director (SPD)

Project Background

The purpose of USAID Fragile Waters is to increase water security in fragile contexts, with a focus on supporting locally-led approaches. Water security encompasses water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), as well as water resources used for ecosystems, livelihoods (e.g. livestock, agriculture), and industry (e.g. hydropower). USAID Fragile Waters will focus on four objectives: (1) conduct rapid analyses to inform water security programming in fragile contexts; (2) support capacity strengthening for local organizations to implement water security programming in fragile contexts; (3) provide direct assistance to support evolving water security needs in fragile contexts; and (4) advance learning for water security programming in fragile contexts.

Project Assignment

The Chief of Party (COP) must serve as the primary point of contact with USAID/Resilience, Environment, and Food Security (REFS) Center for Water Security, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WSSH) with regard to day-to-day implementation and management matters relating to the contract. The COP will have overall responsibility for management of the team members, all technical aspects of contract performance, as well as for the effective, efficient, and timely implementation of all activities. The COP is responsible for ensuring quality control, and the appropriateness and overall responsiveness of all services provided under the contract, whether by long- or short-term advisors or others.

DAI anticipates this to be a full-time role. In the short term, DAI is open to considering part-time options temporarily in the short term, with the candidate transitioning to a full-time role based on project demands, if that is the candidate’s preference. We are open to discussing full- and/or part-time solutions with short-listed candidates.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Serve as main point of contact to USAID COR, ensuring high-level of engagement and frequent communication.
• Provide overall technical and intellectual direction and leadership, serving as a senior advisor to USAID, counterparts, and task directors.
• Manages the DAI Team’s simultaneous engagement to ensure synergies and linkages across tasks. In so doing, converts project directives, new requirements, new activities, and buy-ins, project talent, and counterpart and customer demands and requests into project directions.
• Leads the development of the first annual work plan for project activities, oversee the participatory planning process to produce a strategic plan for project deliverables.
• Ensures participatory processes and adaptive management are employed across the program’s activities with USAID for a consistent atmosphere of learning.
• Responsible for overall project leadership, management, quality control, and timely implementation. In so doing, ensures high quality and timely completion of all project deliverables.
• Oversees all financial and administrative matters, ensuring the operations and finance team on is in full compliance with USAID and DAI policies and procedures.
• Manages subcontracting relationships to ensure integration with Fragile Waters’ vision/purpose/outputs.
• Provides strategic guidance to USAID staff on building, maintaining effective partnerships with a wide range of internal/external stakeholders.
• Oversee development and implementation of Monitoring and Evaluating Plan.
• Provide timely and accurate reporting to USAID on all program areas, presenting findings in both written and oral presentations as required.
• Responsible for seeking and/or directly providing training, guidance and direction to Fragile Waters Leadership Team.
• Leads quarterly performance and risk management reviews by identifying and rating risks while working in coordination with project and home office project management to design time-bound and accountable mitigation actions.

In the short-term, duties and responsibilities for this position may also include technical support to DAI’s Water, Energy, and Waste Practice and other projects within the corresponding portfolio.

Qualifications:

• Minimum Education: M.S. or M.A. degree in international development, humanitarian/emergency, public policy, public health or other relevant social science or water and sanitation related field.
• A minimum of 8 years with a bachelor’s degree (in the area indicated above) or a minimum of 5 years with a M.S. or M.A (in the area indicated above) demonstrated technical expertise with substantial developing country context experience, in rural and/or urban water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in humanitarian/emergency or conflict settings with one or more additional area of expertise: assessment and analysis, capacity building and institutional strengthening; technical services, service delivery; shock response and adaptive management support, knowledge management, information sharing and coordination.
• At least 3 years of demonstrated experience in management positions for WASH programs in complex, volatile, and uncertain contexts and developing collaborative working relationships with external stakeholders, such as NGOs, other contractors, and international organizations, civil society, governments, and donors and emergency cluster working groups.
• A track record of leveraging data-driven insights to improve decision making.
• Experience supporting thought leadership, including writing about and/or presenting findings to diverse stakeholders to encourage uptake.
• Strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
• Effective planning, time management, and execution capabilities.
• A demonstrated ability to facilitate training, integrate capacity strengthening, gender inclusiveness, climate risk analysis, and knowledge generation into work approaches.
• Demonstrated experience successfully managing USAID-funded contracts preferred.

Compensation & Benefits

For employees working in the United States, the full-time equivalent annual base salary for this position is expected to be between $160,000-195,000.

Salary for part-time employees will be prorated based on actual hours worked. Actual offers will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, qualifications, relevant education, experience, skills, seniority, performance, and business or organizational needs.

Eligible U.S.-based employees will be able to enroll in medical, dental and vision insurance, plus a 401(k)-retirement plan with a company match. Additionally, employees will be eligible for company-paid annual leave (vacation & holidays), sick leave, and parental leave, as well as short- and long-term disability coverage. Detailed information will be provided at the time a formal offer is extended.

For employees working outside of the United States, compensation and benefits will vary based on location.

About DAI

DAI is a Water Security, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WSSH) sector leader with a dedicated technical team in DAI headquarters and flagship USAID programs in Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Philippines, and Nepal. We have additional, and significant, WASH activities under our governance programs in Guatemala, Iraq, and Mozambique, among others. Our experience is comprehensive – encompassing the upstream protection and management of water resources, climate adaptation and water security, water for productive uses, regulatory and monitoring systems, utility reform, development of sanitation markets, rural service delivery models, and more.

Equal Employment Opportunity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or status as a protected veteran.

DAI and its employees are committed to confronting discrimination in all forms, nurturing respect for our interpersonal relationships, and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work. DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner.

DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks.