Chief of Party – Yemen

ABOUT ARK:

ARK is a social enterprise, empowering local communities through the provision of agile and sustainable interventions to create greater stability, opportunity, and hope for the future.

We believe that resilient communities are the foundation of local, national, regional and international development and stability – and ultimately a safer, peaceful and more prosperous world. At ARK, we have delivered research and programmatic interventions validating this approach in over twenty countries since 2008. As a social enterprise we work in partnership with communities, our donors, and other implementers to build local capacities, generate opportunity and bring about sustainable change.

PURPOSE OF POSITION:

ARK is recruiting an experienced Chief of Party to lead on a prospective 5-year USAID-funded strengthening community resilience to armed recruitment programme in Yemen. The programme will prioritise building community awareness, prevention mechanisms and reconciliation, positively engage children and youth, advance economic empowerment opportunities to limit the drivers of recruitment, and care for individuals’ psychological and emotional needs through psychosocial and mental health support, including specialised assistance and referral services for women and girls who experience high rates of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Yemen. The Chief of Party will have responsibility for all aspects of the programme, including managing and engaging with partners, clients, and other stakeholders. The Chief of Party will oversee regular reporting to USAID and will be expected to maintain strong working relationships with other donor-funded peacebuilding programming in Yemen. This role will be based in Aden, with frequent travel to Amman, Jordan.

ARK has been programming in Yemen since 2009 for the UK and US governments, as well as the European Union and the UN Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen. Work to date has including programming related to service delivery and local governance, support to civil society, research and analysis, peacebuilding and promoting social cohesion.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Relationship Management

• Manage relationships with stakeholders within government/s, other agencies, project partners and stakeholders.
• Develop strong working relationships with other peacebuilding programmes, in particular USAID, and leverage complementarities and synergies where possible.
• Develop and maintain a strong working relationship with the USAID project team and stakeholders.
• Ensure strong team-building and strong working relationships with relevant staff.

Planning:

• Lead preparation of work plans and budgets; staffing plans; performance improvement plans and other delivery plans as required.

Project Management:

• In cooperation with the Project Director, provide guidance, oversight and quality assurance for all project activities and deliverables.
• Assume responsibility for on time and on budget delivery that is compliant and meets client objectives.
• Work with the project team, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) and other relevant teams to develop and implement plans for results measurement, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management and learning, value for money and communication.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Essential

• A Master’s degree in a relevant discipline and a minimum of 8 years of experience or a Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline and a minimum of 10 years of experience.
• At least 3 years of experience in a senior leadership capacity preferred.
• Experience managing a programme of similar size and scope in an insecure environment, preferably with USAID in Yemen.
• Excellent oral and written English skills required.
• Oral and written Arabic skills.
• Legal right to work in ROYG-controlled areas of Yemen.

Desirable

• Previous USAID experience and extensive experience with USAID rules and regulations.
• Good understanding of current dynamics in Yemen and the broader MENA region.
• Experience of working on/leading peacebuilding initiatives in Yemen.
• Experience managing partners and small grants.

MORE ABOUT OUR COMPANY:

What Makes Us Different

We pride ourselves on being the first people able to access and operate in challenging fragile and conflict-affected environments. We are expeditionary by design and our systems and structures enable flexible and agile responses while ensuring safe, effective and compliant delivery.

Working with and through teams drawn from the communities in which we operate enables us to deliver impactful interventions built on intimate local understanding. In collaboration with our global network of international and local experts, we integrate nuanced understanding of the challenges we aim to solve with best practice and field-leading innovation to deliver programming that meets short-term stabilisation objectives and builds the evidence base and knowledge needed to lay the groundwork for long-term peacebuilding and development programming.

What We Do

We enjoy sectoral experience in civil society development, good governance, protection and human rights, refugees and migration, stabilisation, gender, security and justice, as well as cross-cutting experience in programme design and learning, organisational development and management, research and analysis, needs assessments, monitoring and evaluation, communications and capacity building.

Our People

Today, our team covers a diverse range of professional backgrounds; from diplomacy, humanitarian, development and the military, to the UN, civil society groups, multilateral organisations, journalism and the private sector.

They bring sectoral expertise in civil society development, good governance, protection and human rights, refugees and migration, gender and security and justice, as well as practical experience in programme design and learning, organisational development and management, research and analysis, needs assessments, monitoring and evaluation, communications and capacity building. The multi-disciplinary and multi-national nature of our team means the research we undertake and the programmes we deliver are grounded in empirical need and deliver measurable and sustainable impact.

ARK Group is an equal opportunity employer. We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. ARK Group does not discriminate on the basis of ability, age, gender identity and expression, national origin, race and ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. We welcome all kinds of diversity. ARK Group places human dignity at the centre of its development and stabilisation work and is thus committed to the protection from sexual exploitation and abuse of children and adults. All ARK Group employees and related-personnel are expected to share this commitment, and only those who also uphold these values will be recruited as part of our team. This vacancy is therefore subject to a range of due diligence checks.