Counterpart International is currently seeking a Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) to support the anticipated Iraq Civic Engagement Activity (ICEA) opportunity. This activity will be a multi-year $25-50 million program to foster a more politically engaged citizenry in Iraq, enhancing trust and participation in the country’s democratic processes. This position is full time and will serve through the life of the project.

Responsibilities

In collaboration with the Chief of Party (COP), the DCOP will assist in overall technical management, monitoring, reporting, developing and maintaining partnerships to meet activity objectives; providing technical expertise; and handling administrative and supervisory responsibilities as specified by the COP. This position will report to the COP. Qualified Iraqi nationals are encouraged to apply. Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Ensure oversight of the civic literacy and civic engagement aspects of the program; working with in-house experts and partner experts to ensure technical delivery of the program.
• Ensure that implementation is on time, within target, and budget; and work with the Counterpart’s Complexity-Aware Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Director to ensure the M&E system is effective and efficient. Work with the COP to establish a program management structure that favors integration among technical sectors. Manage adaptive processes as necessitated by changes to the operational environment.
• Participate in the development and review of annual work plans quarterly reports, annual reports, financial pipelines, and resource estimates.
• Assume leadership and supervision of the program’s technical project staff, including the civil society technical lead, grants team, and others.
• Coordinate weekly internal meetings with senior staff and ensure proper dissemination of information to all staff as appropriate.
• Maintain regular contact and interaction with project and USAID mission staff, as well as with all partners and stakeholders to the program.
• In coordination with the project’s Director of Finance and Operations (DFO), ensure program implementation follows Counterpart’s policies/procedures, the laws of the Government of Iraq, and USAID rules and regulations, particularly with respect to financial and grants management.
• Coordinate with program, finance and administration staff to ensure operational systems are in place and perform optimally in support of the timely implementation of field activities.
• Support grants co-design, issuance, and monitoring aspects, reviewing the work of the grants management team to ensure alignment with program scope and donor requirements.
• Fill-in for the COP as needed should they be on leave or otherwise unavailable.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• University degree (bachelor or higher) in social sciences, community development, communications, business, international development, and/or other related fields; master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum 12 years of experience on civic literacy, citizen participation and policy advocacy.
• Previous experience supporting and/or managing complex donor-funded projects, including minimum 3 years of senior project management in a highly complicated environment.
• Demonstrated experience developing systems to identify potential partners, evaluation of partner capacity, managing grants with local partners, training development and other technical areas related to the activity objectives.
• Ability to work effectively and develop trusting relations with government officials at all levels, CSOs, USAID, project staff, and other beneficiaries.
• Experience in designing and implementing development projects focused on human rights, civic engagement, and civic literacy in Iraq;
• Experience supervising teams of diverse staff and demonstrated leadership capacity.
• Demonstrated ability to give effective presentations and write high-quality technical reports.
• Knowledge of applicable U.S. and Iraq federal government regulations,
• Ability to produce high-quality deliverables throughout the project cycle from planning, management, and execution to troubleshooting.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate fully and effectively, both oral and written, in English is required, and in Arabic is strongly preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English required;
• Professional proficiency in Arabic required. Mesopotamic Arabic is preferred. Proficiency in Kurish is also beneficial.