Project Management Specialist (Food Security)

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

USAID DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING) AND DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANT’S BANK ACCOUNTS.

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 72064924R10003
2. ISSUANCE DATE: January 20, 2023
3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: February 03, 2024 (4:30 PM East Africa Time).
4. POINT OF CONTACT: USAID Kenya and East Africa and Somalia Human Resources, e-mail at [email protected].
5. POSITION TITLE: USAID Project Management Specialist (Food Security).
6. MARKET VALUE: Equivalent to FSN-12 Step 1 (6,834,442 KSH per annum)) to Step 13 (11,618,566 KSH per annum). In accordance with AIDAR Appendix J and the Local Compensation Plan. The salary range is inclusive of all allowances*. Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value*.
7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The services provided under this contract are expected to be of a continuing nature that will be executed by USAID through a series of sequential contracts, subject to the availability of funds, the continued need for services and successful performance. It is anticipated that the selection of the successful candidate will be completed within an estimated six-month period from the closing date of this solicitation. The base period will be for one year with the commencement date based upon successful medical clearance and security certification. Contingent on Agency needs, the Contracting Officer may exercise four additional option period from the contract commencement date.
8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Nairobi, Kenya; with possible travel as stated in the Statement of Duties.
9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: Open to qualified Kenyan Citizens, Third Country Nationals and Current locally hired employees of the US Mission in Kenya. Employees presently on probation are ineligible to apply.

Third Country Nationals will be hired under the U.S. Embassy Nairobi Local Compensation Pay Plan and paid in Kenyan Shillings. This position offers medical benefits to the employee and his/her immediate family – spouse and children only. Third country nationals will not receive a pension plan. Relocation to Kenya (including Entry Visa/Pass) is at the employee’s expense and will not be reimbursed by the U.S. Government.

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Security certification issued by the US Embassy RSO.

II. STATEMENT OF DUTIES:

General Statement of Purpose of the Contract

The USAID Project Management Specialist (Food Security) is the Food Security Team Lead and is a senior member of USAID Somalia’s Economic Growth (EG) Office. The incumbent will be responsible for overseeing large investments by USAID in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries with the goal of improving the livelihoods for large numbers of people in Somalia. The Food Security Team Lead should be a respected leader with strong technical capacity in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries sector; knowledgeable about production, value chain development, marketing, policy and overall competitiveness in these sectors; and able to engage high-level Somali government counterparts, international stakeholders, and the private sector.

The Food Security Team Lead will serve as strategic advisor of the food security portfolio to include activities in food security, agriculture, livestock, and fisheries. The Food Security Team Lead will be a hands-on manager for large food security focused projects, participating in the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of projects. The incumbent will also be a Contracting/Agreement Officer Representative (COR/AOR) to directly handle the large and/or more politically sensitive activities in the food security portfolio. The jobholder should have excellent management skills as the position entails managing one or more contractors implementing activities in Somalia. They will also advise on sector best practices and participate in coordination and technical meetings and working groups. The Food Security Team Lead will keep abreast of current trends, publications, and information in order to advise the Mission on strategic planning and programming.

The incumbent must work closely with the Resilience Coordinator and other USAID/Somalia and U.S. Government (USG) staff across the Interagency working on economic growth issues in Somalia as well as colleagues in humanitarian and relief – Bureau For Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) – who are also funding livelihood-related activities. Given the persistence of shocks and stresses that impact Somalia, particularly drought, the incumbent will be capable of designing and implementing strategies to build the long-term resilience of households and communities.

The jobholder will supervise one Agriculture specialist, FSN -11, who will be based in Nairobi. The Food Security Team Lead will oversee the objectives, work plan, and performance, and work evaluations for this individual, and will mentor the Agriculture specialist to succeed in supporting USG programing priorities.

The assignment requires occasional site visits and other travel to select locations in Somalia in adherence to Mission standard operating procedures including those related to security and safety.

Statement of Duties to be Performed

Project Management– 70%

The Food Security Team Lead serves as the COR/AOR and/or alternate for large grants and contracts and coordinates projects/activities to promote economic growth, employment, and resilience in Somalia. These grants and contracts are implemented by external parties selected through USAID – the current implementer is DT Global with three consortium: Mercy Corps, Save the Children, and Somalia Agriculture Technical Group (SATG), and the Food Security Team Lead is responsible for managing the performance of the Implementing Partners and ensure they meet USAID requirements. The incumbent monitors and evaluates managed projects/activities, including project expenditures, through site visits and working through third-party monitors. The jobholder will review project reporting and analyze trends with an eye towards collaboration, learning and adaptation. The Food Security Team Lead works in close collaboration with the other Specialists working in resilience, private sector, environment, stabilization and social services in the Mission and with other international donors to avoid overlap and to seek synergy with other projects/activities. The incumbent facilitates the development of work plans and monitoring plans, reviewing and proposing modifications to activity approaches when necessary to better achieve results. The incumbent leads in the review of annual and quarterly project reports and weekly updates, requesting or participating in the preparation of other reports as needed, and coordinates preparations for portfolio reviews. The jobholder leads in the preparation and review of high quality internal and external reporting and communications related agriculture, livestock, and fisheries activities, such as weekly reports, success stories, and USAID and inter-agency planning and programming documents.

As AOR/COR, the Food Security Team Lead is responsible for budget allocation, obligation, and expenditure. The jobholder will be responsible for planning and implementing evaluations and audits. Outreach communications for internal USAID audiences and external stakeholders will be developed in collaboration with communications staff. The incumbent will also manage the project closeout process. The incumbent is responsible for drafting narratives and providing other inputs into mission planning (Operational Plan) and reporting (Performance Plan and Report; Mission Resource Request, Congressional Budget Justification, etc.)

The jobholder will also supervise one Agriculture Specialist, FSN -11, who will be located in Nairobi and support oversight of USAID investments. The Food Security Team Lead will oversee the objectives, work plan, and performance oversight, and work evaluations for this direct – report. This will include ensuring that this individual is adequately mentored to support USAID activities related to agriculture, livestock and fisheries.

Technical Specialist and Representational Duties – 30%

The Food Security Team Lead actively leads the strategic planning and all facets of project design, including drafting and reviewing documents and ensuring necessary clearances are in place. The Food Security Team Lead gathers information, analyzes data, prepares concept papers, scopes of work and other project documents, prepares independent government cost estimates, and evaluates proposals for all agriculture, livestock and fisheries related economic growth activities. As a senior member of the Economic Growth Office, the incumbent will collaborate with other Offices to strengthen USAID strategic and programmatic directions, and ability to address managed projects/activities, with special emphasis on implementing best practices related to agriculture, livestock, fisheries and broader issues related to resilience in Somalia. The Food Security Team Lead assists senior USG, Mission, and Office staff in representing USAID to implementing partners, NGOs, Somali government counterparts, donors, and other national and international groups and bodies, in order to develop effective and sustainable strategies for implementing economic growth programs, and the scaling up of activities to meet national and international standards and to achieve national and USAID goals. The Food Security Team Lead collaborates with other Office members and inter- agency processes in the preparation and presentation of deliverables, and assists in monitoring progress toward meeting overall Mission and broader USG objectives.

The Food Security Team Lead plays a leading role in fostering and managing relationships with cabinet level Somali government counterparts, private sector, donor partners, and other stakeholders, leading or supporting coordination and negotiation efforts in economic growth activities, and for providing technical guidance and leadership as appropriate, participating in partners and coordination meetings. The Food Security Team Lead represents USAID at official meetings and events and provides written reporting as appropriate. The Food Security Team Lead coordinates VIP and other short-term technical engagements related to personally managed and Office-wide activities. The Food Security Team Lead participates in budgeting and financial analysis with other Office staff, and with other Offices in areas related to economic growth activities. The Food Security Team Lead mentors one Project Management Assistant and one Agriculture specialist.

Supervision Received

The Food Security Team Lead will work under the supervision of the Direct Hire/USPSC Economic Growth Office Chief in the Somalia Office at USAID. The incumbent’s immediate supervisor will: 1) establish annual work objectives and performance measures; 2) review work outputs and accomplishments to ensure compliance with agency policies, and implementation of best practices; 3) provide regular feedback to incumbent throughout the performance evaluation period; 4) prepare the annual Evaluation Report(s) as/when required. As the incumbent is expected to work with a high degree of independence, they must be able to establish priorities, adhere to and meet established deadlines, and perform responsibilities and duties with minimal guidance and little or no follow up.

The incumbent must be proactive as well as self-motivated.

Supervision Exercised

The jobholder will supervise and mentor one Agriculture Specialist, FSN – 11, located in Nairobi

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

III. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

Any application that does not meet the minimum requirements stated below will not be evaluated.

1. Education: Bachelor’s degree in agriculture related studies or other relevant fields such as Business Administration, Economics, or Finance is required.
2. Prior Work Experience: Seven years of relevant work experience in areas relevant to agriculture, livestock, and fisheries, demonstrable ability in value chain development is required. Out of the seven years, at least two must have been in Somalia or a similar conflict context.
3. Post Entry Training: The incumbent is expected to possess the necessary technical, program management and information technology (IT) expertise required of the position. The jobholder will receive familiarization training in USAID-specific procedures, regulations, and methods, and orientation to working from a donor-agency perspective, etc. AOR/COR certification will be required. Participation in job-related seminars, workshops and other development studies programs organized by USAID COR/AOR certification, Automated Directive Systems, and USAID Inter/Intranet. Courses, seminars, conferences, and other activities in fields related to the sector needed to maintain and update professional qualifications may be provided, subject to offerings and the availability of funds.

CCN PSCs may participate in temporary duty (TDY) travel to USAID/Washington and other Missions in order to participate in the Foreign Service National Fellowship Program described in ADS 495maa.

4. Language Proficiency Level IV fluency in both oral and written English and Kiswahili is required*.*

IV. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR52.215-1. The CO reserves the right at any point in the evaluation process to establish a competitive range of offerors with whom negotiations will be conducted pursuant to FAR 15.306(c). In accordance with FAR 52.215-1, if the CO determines that the number of offers that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the CO may limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated offers. The FAR provisions referenced above are available at https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.

• Job Knowledge (60 points)

The Food Security Team Lead must have in-depth professional-level knowledge of development principles, concepts, and practices, especially in fragile states. The incumbent is expected to possess a comprehensive technical knowledge of agriculture, livestock, and/or fisheries and/or other work related to value chain development. The Food Security Team Lead is required to have a sophisticated knowledge of economic, social, and political characteristics in fragile states. The jobholder should have a strong understanding of private sector led development principles and practice. Knowledge of development in the East African region, particularly in Somalia, is desired. The incumbent will be required to have competency in cross-cultural work and gender in development.

• Skills and abilities (40 points)

The Food Security Team Lead is required to have experience both implementing projects in the field and managing others who are implementers. The jobholder should have excellent interpersonal skills in order to establish relationships with key private sector, cabinet level host-country counterparts, donors, and other stakeholders, and strong coordination and negotiation skills to ensure activities are carried out efficiently, effectively, and meaningfully. The jobholder must have demonstrated the ability to rapidly learn new technical areas. Good written and oral communication skills are required in order to represent USAID, speak publicly and give presentations, and develop original reports and other communications products for a variety of audiences and a variety of purposes. The Food Security Team Lead must have the ability to prioritize among a considerable range of differing tasks and the ability to use critical thinking and innovation to solve problems as well as to develop new approaches.

The Food Security Team Lead must be able to function both independently and as part of a team with a high degree of proactivity, responsiveness, and motivation in order to meet established deadlines. The Food Security Team Lead must have strong analytical skills to analyze information and evaluate data to inform program and project decisions. Advanced IT skills in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint) and adherence to USAID’s Core Values and Ethical Code of Conduct is required. Given the nature of the position, effective communications (written/spoken/reading) are absolutely critical to perform successfully in this position and must be exceptional. The incumbent must be able to communicate clearly and effectively with: 1) all categories of USG employees at post and in Washington, D.C.; 2) cabinet level Somali government officials; 3) senior officials from International Organizations, Donors, and Embassies; and 4) the general public.

The incumbent is required to be able to prepare concise/thorough documents and reports including but not limited to: concept papers; scopes of work; reports; budgets; a range of other project documents for internal and external purposes; human interest stories; and correspondence, all of which must be done in a professional and competent manner requiring little or no editorial changes. The incumbent will also be required to be able to speak publicly in English and in Somali representing USAID effectively and competently.

Total possible points: 100