OTI Senior Transition Advisor

The OTI Senior Transtion Advisor is a full-time Personal Services Contract (PSC) position at the GS-15 equivalent level and located Worldwide. Offers for this position are due no later than November 30, 2023 at 1:00pm Eastern Time. For full information about this position, as well as instructions on how to apply, please read the entire solicitation at www.OTIjobs.net.

The Senior Transition Advisor is a member of USAID’s Bureau for Conflict Prevention and
Stabilization (CPS)/OTI Field Programs Division (FPD), and is considered an expert in the field
of political transition programming overseas with strong program management, budgetary and
operational skills. The Senior Transition Advisor is an intermittent and senior-level position in
support of OTI’s numerous field programs, including ad hoc support for assessments, country
start-ups, program implementation and close-outs. The incumbent is involved in the strategic
design of OTI country programs, the development of management products based on lessons
learned, and will support the training and mentoring of field and DC-based staff. The complex
demands of this position requires overseas travel (anywhere between two weeks and six months)
with short notice (72 hours to one week), and the ability to respond to immediate and challenging
managerial, operational, and security issues (in the field or in Washington, DC, depending on the
need). The incumbent must be prepared to work and collaborate with senior officials from other
international organizations, bilateral donors, and non-governmental organizations important to
OTI’s programs and objectives, with an in-depth knowledge of international relations.

The work of the Senior Transition Advisor requires teamwork, the exercise of discretion,
judgment, and personal responsibility. As a member of an operational office, you are willing and
able to perform a wide range of administrative functions to help ensure programmatic success.
You have a high level of integrity and attention to detail to ensure the use of Office of Transition
Initiatives (OTI) systems and procedures to maintain effective and efficient management of funds,
programming, and monitoring and evaluation. You are flexible and willing to work under
conditions of ongoing change, and remain professional and respectful of colleagues and authority
in a diverse workforce. You place a premium on the building of positive relationships with your
respective team both in the field and in Washington, DC, and with key stakeholders both in and
outside of USAID. You are able to prioritize and complete tasks without follow-up by the
supervisor, while also filling in gaps as needed to ensure the responsiveness of the team. You are
a strategic thinker, articulate innovative ideas, present solutions, and are a positive role model for
colleagues both in and outside of OTI. You are also committed to upholding USAID/OTI’s
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Vision and Values as outlined in the
background.
Under the direct supervision of the Washington-based Bureau for Conflict Prevention and
Stabilization (CPS)/OTI Field Programs Division (FPD) Chief or their designee, you will
perform the following duties:
● Conceptualize and design country program strategies and objectives in close coordination
with OTI staff, USAID and U.S. Department of State personnel, and other governmental
and non-governmental actors, based on political objectives and advocate on behalf of
new programmatic approaches;
● Manage OTI programs broadly within the framework of United States Government
(USG) policy in order to both problem solve and develop new ideas, theories or
techniques which optimize the impact and effectiveness of transition programs;
● Conduct, in collaboration with relevant OTI regional team, assessments for possible new
country programs, and visits to field sites in areas where OTI has projects;
● Fill critical program implementation staffing needs in the field and in Washington, DC

including the provision of ad hoc support to new OTI Country Program start-ups and on-
call technical assistance;

● Discuss and assist OTI Regional Teams in determining program and project agreements
with governmental and non-governmental counterparts;

8 | Page
● Ensure that plans and activities of OTI Implementing Partners are well coordinated with
USAID Mission, the U.S. Embassy, and international organizations and that roles and
objectives are clearly defined;
● Lead, manage, and implement an assigned country program, including assessing project
sites and selecting a contractor/and or grantees to execute OTI’s country program;
● Conduct field visits to areas where OTI has projects and advise and guide OTI Country
Representatives on political transition and strategy issues. Analyze and propose specific
improvements/actions at both the program and project levels and report on all
coordination activities and command structures, detailing the effectiveness of each site’s
operations as well as identifying problems/issues and making recommendations;
● Lead or participate on Technical Evaluation Committees (TECs) for the selection of OTI
implementing partners and U.S. Personal Services Contractors;
● Provide support for the design and execution of programs that follow OTI’s quick-impact
programming model. Support to Embassies and USAID Missions may also include
attendance and/or facilitation of program management processes for follow-on
programming including but not limited to rolling assessments, strategy review sessions,
program performance reviews and management reviews;
● Provide technical assistance for OTI program staff and implementing partner staff on a
variety of issues (e.g. budget, OTI activity database reporting and use, activity cycles,
general implementation systems setup, etc.) to enable them to manage OTI country
programs throughout the activity life cycle;
● Serve as OTI’s liaison official with other CPS offices, other USAID divisions and State
Department officials, and articulate OTI’s position on program and policy direction;
● Identify Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), international donors, USG agencies
and other appropriate organizations interested in OTI programs and activities and
establish, develop, and maintain sound professional relationships with them;
● Represent and articulate OTI’s mission and global programs to U.S. Ambassadors,
Mission Directors, high level visitors, senior officials from international organizations,
bilateral donors, and national and foreign government officials;
● Participate in conferences, meetings, or presentations involving issues of strategic
relevance to political transition programming in order to provide sustained knowledge to
the OTI Senior Leadership Team or current events and programs;
● Identify issues and potential problems with appropriate recommendations that affect
program implementation and policy direction and present them to USAID, U.S. Embassy
officials, and the OTI Contractor or Implementing Partner;

9 | Page
● Monitor and evaluate the country program, individual projects, and contractor and
grantee performance;
● Supervise staff as delegated by the supervisor (e.g. Country Representatives, Regional
Team Leaders, Program Managers, etc.). Provide orientation, training, and mentoring for
staff supervised; assign work, explain how duties are to be performed to meet
expectations and communicate how the successful performance of those duties will be
measured; evaluate staff performance; recognize good performance; communicate where
performance needs to be improved; resolve complaints; and approve leave requests and
timesheets as well as training, travel, and program operations requests;
● When required, act as OTI Director, Deputy Director, Regional Team Leader, or Country
Representative; and,
● Serve on temporary details within OTI, other USAID bureaus/offices, or other U.S.
Government (USG) agencies under this scope of work for a period not to exceed six (6)
months. Duties performed while on detail must be directly related to the scope of work,
but may not be directly related to OTI programs or activities. Contracting Officer (CO)
approval is required for the temporary detail. Any extension past the six (6) months
requires CO approval.

(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Offerors who do not meet all of the education and
experience factors are considered NOT qualified for the position. See detailed instructions for
demonstrating Education/Experience under “Submitting an Offer”)
At a minimum, the offeror must have:
(1) A Master’s Degree with nine (9) years of work experience;
OR
A Bachelor’s Degree with eleven (11) years of work experience;
OR
An Associate’s Degree with twelve (12) years of work experience;
OR
A High School diploma/equivalent with thirteen (13) years of work experience;
AND
(2) Nine (9) years of project management experience with a U.S. Government foreign affairs
agency, domestic or international assistance organization, or non-governmental
organization in community development, economic development, mediation/arbitration,
conflict resolution, democracy and governance, international law, political analysis,
and/or human rights activities;
(3) Six (6) years of overseas field experience (in person or virtual). A virtual temporary duty
(TDY) is defined as work that would have been conducted in an overseas location if not
for the COVID pandemic;
(4) Six (6) years of supervisory experience with at least one direct report.

Please direct questions about this position or the offer process to the OTI Recruitment Team at [email protected].