Program Management Specialist/Development Partner Liaison – USAID Power Africa

About Us

International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. (IBTCI), a U.S. based international development consulting company established in 1987, has worked in over 100 countries and implemented over 300 projects. IBTCI serves government agencies, private sector companies, and several donor agencies. IBTCI specializes in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) and institutional support across many areas and sectors including, but not limited to, conflict and crisis, democracy and governance, agriculture, economic growth, food security, education, environment, and global health.

Job Title: Program Management Specialist/Development Partner Liaison

Department/Location: USAID Power Africa

Type: Regular Full-Time

Clearance Required: Secret

Overview:

Launched in 2013, Power Africa is a Presidential initiative that focuses on bridging the gap between Africa’s power shortage and its economic potential by working with other U.S. Government agencies, African Governments, NGOs, and the private sector to take the steps needed to substantially expand power generation, transmission and access in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S. Government-wide initiative is charged with adding more than 30,000 megawatts (MWs) of electricity generation capacity and bringing electricity to 60 million homes and businesses on the continent by 2030. Power Africa is coordinated by USAID, where it sits within the Agency’s Africa Bureau, and accomplishes its objectives through promoting investment in energy projects, leveraging public and private sector financing facilities, strengthening capacity, improving management, providing critical technical assistance and supporting necessary policy and regulatory reform efforts.

Power Africa’s Development Partners (DP) team manages partnerships with key bilateral governments, multilateral development banks, and other technical institutions in the energy sector to leverage their financing, technical assistance, and policy reform tools to help achieve joint power sector objectives. The DP team is responsible for initiating and coordinating the development of these partnerships and operationalizing partnership Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in support of shared Power Africa goals. The team also works closely with Power Africa Coordinators Office, comprising Front Office technical, program and communications teams in Washington and Pretoria, USAID Bureaus, the Agency Administrator’s office and the U.S. Government interagency on key high-level international events and initiatives that involve Power Africa bilateral and multilateral partners.

Responsibilities

Essential Duties/Tasks and Responsibilities:

The Development Partner Liaison will assist in management of relationships with a key set of multilateral and bilateral partners as a member of the Development Partnerships team and regularly interface with Power Africa technical colleagues, who function as technical relationship managers for the development partners. The Development Partner Liaison will regularly interface with U.S. interagency, senior level development partners, private sector executives, and USAID leadership. This position requires a sophisticated level of diplomatic expertise in dealing externally with a host of foreign and U.S. government interlocutors. The Development Partner Liaison, under the supervision of the AFR/PA Partnerships Office Director, DP Team Lead, or their designees, will also work with colleagues across the Partnerships Office. The Development Partner Liaison will be expected to perform a variety of duties ranging from routine tasks such as scheduling meetings, drafting briefers, arranging travel and maintaining program files, to more complex tasks such as researching, compiling and analyzing information for various programs and designing and maintaining data in Power Africa and USAID information systems. The Development Partner Liaison ranks tasks in order of importance and impending deadlines, and handles several tasks seamlessly and simultaneously. The individual must possess a working knowledge of USAID policies and guidelines, as well as corporate practices and procedures.

NOTE: The incumbent will not perform other inherently governmental functions or duties (e.g. will not serve as AOR/COR or supervise staff), but rather will advise, mentor, and facilitate as appropriate on the performance of inherently governmental functions on the part of the Office or Mission.

Specifically they will:

• Assist management of key relationships with multilateral and bilateral partners including international financial institutions and development organizations;
• Support coordination efforts with Power Africa development stakeholders to include MOU signings, high-level meetings, deep-dives and webinars.
• Provide strategic and programmatic leadership support to the Power Africa Coordinator’s Office technical teams, US Missions, and USG agencies.
• Manage the reporting, updating and maintenance of DP information and tools, including leading regular data collection and verification exercises with partners and awardees.

Coordination & Engagement 70%

• Support negotiations and management of Power Africa partnerships with critical multilateral and bilateral development partners in partnership with Technical Relationship Managers from across the Power Africa Coordinator’s office.
• Develop and execute implementation plans that detail activities, timelines, and benchmarks for individual partnerships that align with existing MOUs.
• Support partners to integrate their data and utilize/benefit from Power Africa’s Tracking Tool, an online database of generation, transmission, and distribution projects.
• Research opportunities with new potential partners to understand their financial and technical resources, operations, and strategy to inform partnership approach.
• Contribute to monthly reports to track progress with existing and potential new partnerships and coordinate partner participation in Power Africa’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning plan.
• Support the convening of events and meetings with development partners, including agenda drafting, logistics, follow-up, etc. This could include meetings specific to Power Africa’s on- and off-grid connections strategy as well as financing initiatives. International travel to support these key meetings may be required.
• Supporting efforts to align policy agendas among development partners in specific countries when MOUs/Action Agendas are in discussion.
• Draft briefers, fact sheets, website content, and other written materials to support strategic communications around Power Africa’s partners.

Strategic and Programmatic Leadership 20%

• Provide strategic guidance on relationship management to Power Africa’s senior management.
• Support the continuous implementation of the Development Partnerships Team Strategy including proposing adjustments to team goals and approaches as needs arise.
• Identify opportunities to add value to Power Africa’s development partnerships; clarify, and communicate the value of Power Africa development partnerships to both internal and external audiences and ensure Power Africa delivers this value to its stakeholders.
• Identify internal and external programmatic challenges; develop options to address them and recommend solutions.
• Provide strategic guidance and support to technical office directors and team leads to promote and advance development partners’ commitments and coordination with Power Africa.

Other Duties 10%

Respond flexibly and capably to a wide range of work-related requirements such as: 1) inquiries from the White House, USG departments/agencies, US Congress and the public; 2) ad hoc assignments as dictated by unforeseen requirements at the discretion of the Team Lead Director, Deputy Coordinators, and/or Coordinator or his/her designee.

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Requirements:

• Mastery of a wide range of methods for the assessment and improvement of complex programs, processes and systems;
• Skills to plan, organize, and implement programs, plans, and proposals involving substantial agency resources, or that require extensive changes in established procedures. The ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
• The ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to reports and financial tracking systems.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment in an active office.
• Proficiency in the use of Google Workspace, the Microsoft Office Suite and enterprise systems applications is required; experience in the use of database applications is recommended.
• U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain a Secret security clearance.
• Oral and written fluency in English required, fluency in another language preferred.

Education: Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of five (5) years of related professional experience OR a Master’s degree and a minimum of two (2)

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong oral, written, and general communications skills combined with the ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals.
• The ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.

Working Environment: Work is typically performed in an office environment. Currently the company is allowing for remote work due to COVID 19 in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area. This can be updated by the company.

COVID Vaccine status: As a condition of employment, IBTCI requires all new employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Candidates should be prepared to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination upon hire or request for an accommodation with HR that is consistent with our COVID-19 safety protocols and policies.

Physical Requirements: This is largely a sedentary position that requires the ability to speak, hear, see, and lift small objects up to 20 lbs.

Supervisory Responsibility: This position does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Travel: International travel may be required and may include travel to fragile and/or conflict-prone zones.

Work Authorization: Candidate must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

About the Organization:

IBTCI has been in business since 1987. We specialize in Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL), Institutional Support (IS), Financial & Risk Management (FRM), Supply Chain Management & Procurement (SCMP); Social & Behavior Change (SBC) and Capacity Building. We provide these services across many sectors including, but not limited to, agriculture, resilience & food security, conflict & crisis, democracy & governance, economic growth & trade, education & human capacity development, energy & infrastructure, environment & climate change, global health & WASH and humanitarian and disaster assistance. At IBTCI, our colleagues are encouraged to collaborate and be part of the solution while getting the tools and guidance needed to grow and support our clients’ missions.

IBTCI is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identification, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran, or any other classification protected by applicable anti-discrimination laws. We prohibit and do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment. VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

If you are an applicant with a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability, or unable to use the online application system and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact the Talent Acquisition team at [email protected] (Do not send your resume to this account, for consideration please apply in our career page, https://careers.ibtci.com/jobs).