Chief of Party I- Food for Education, Sierra Leone

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:

As Chief of Party I you will provide leadership and overall management of the McGovern Dole funded Food for Education program to serve the poor and vulnerable. CRS Sierra Leone has just started it’s fifth (5th) round of the Food for Education program and it aims to improve literacy and nutrition among school-age students, especially girls. Your leadership, management and technical knowledge will ensure the delivery of high-quality programming and advance the position of CRS as a leading agency in education, nutrition and agriculture with community members, partners and stakeholders. As a senior leader you will also be a member of the Country Programme Senior Leadership.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Lead all aspects of the development, implementation and consolidation of the Food for Education program, including sharing how the program contributes to the thought leadership of the industry. Serve as the primary point of contact to the donor as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders.
• Ensure the project is designed and implemented to meet donor expectations in terms of timely and quality results and budget, including strategies for phase out and sustainability. Ensure coordination between program and operations leads. Ensure the CRS program quality standards are adhered to per MEAL policy and procedures.
• Effectively manage senior programming and operations talent. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring. Strategically tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports. Oversee 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. Ensure compliance with the donor grants, including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, administration and reporting to the donor. Approve program expenditures, budget adjustments, and cost modification requests to donors.
• Oversee the development of communication strategies and materials, complying with donor and CRS’ branding and marketing requirements and procedures.
• Coordinate relationships with consortium partner organizations, including organization of review/planning workshops. 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 ensure the design and delivery of high quality training and technical assistance.

Basic Qualifications

• Masters degree in International Development, International Relations or a relevant technical area. PhD preferred.
• 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.
• 5 years of staff management experience and abilities that are conducive to a learning environment. Experience coaching senior program staff.

Required Languages – Fluent written and oral English is required.

Travel – Physical Requirements/Environment: The position is based in the Freetown Sierra Leone. The position requires approximately 25% travel to supervise field staff and activities. It should be noted that health care facilities and secondary schooling in Sierra Leone are not of high standard.

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.
• Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications

• Recognized leader in sector as demonstrated by peer reviewed publications, conference presentations etc.
• Demonstrated experience of successful program management, including management of complex, high-value, multi-activity projects, with complicated logistics.
• Experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships. Knowledge of CRS partnership strategy a plus.
• Ability to represent and present at high levels.
• Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications, and information and budget management systems.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Senior Program Manager, MEAL Manager, Supply Chain Manager, Finance Manager (Grant), Sustainability and capacity Building Manager.

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Country Representative, Head of Programming, Head of Operations, MEAL Coordinator, Finance Manager, Administration and Human Resources Managers, all Food for Education staff, CRS Regional staff, CRS HQ/PIQA, and Project Support Officer (PSO).

External: Caritas Makeni (sub-recipient), local partners, Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and its decentralized structures, USDA, United States Embassy to Sierra Leone, project consultants, Ernest Bai Koroma University, WFP, UNICEF, other international NGOs.

Qualifications

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

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.

· Integrity

· Continuous Improvement & Innovation

· Builds Relationships

· Develops Talent

· Strategic Mindset

· Accountability & Stewardship

***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.

*Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.*

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.