Project Management Specialist (Peacebuilding, Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism)

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.: 22-27

2. ISSUANCE DATE: March 21, 2022**

3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: April 01, 2022 (4:30 PM East Africa Time).

4. POINT OF CONTACT: USAID Kenya and East Africa Human Resources, e-mail at [email protected].

5. POSITION TITLE: Project Management Specialist (Peacebuilding, Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism).**

6. MARKET VALUE: Equivalent to FSN-11 Step 1 (4,792,523.00 KSH per annum) to Step 13 (8,147,267.00 KSH per annum). In accordance with AIDAR Appendix J and the Local Compensation Plan of USAID/Kenya and East Africa. 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.

8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Nairobi, Kenya; with possible travel as stated in the Statement of Duties.

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: Open to qualified Kenyan Citizens, including current locally hired employees of the US Mission in Kenya. Employees presently on probation are ineligible to apply.

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

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES:

General Statement of Purpose of the Contract

USAID’s Kenya and East Africa Mission (USAID/KEA) is the largest USAID Mission in Africa and supports the Bilateral Strategic Dialogue between Kenya and the United States by addressing shared priorities such as economic prosperity, trade, and investment, democracy, governance, and civilian security, and multilateral and regional issues. The Democratic Governance, Peace and Security (DGPS) Office is responsible for the achievement of USAID’s governance, accountability, anti-corruption, decentralization, conflict mitigation and preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) objectives in partnership with Kenyan civil society, private sector, and national and county governments.

The Project Management Specialist for Peacebuilding and Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism serves as a key member of the DGPS Office, providing strategic advice and technical inputs to the DGPS Center of Excellence, its Analytics, Policy, Partnerships, and Strategy (APPS) Section, USAID/KEA technical and support offices, and relevant U.S. Embassy offices on matters pertaining to peacebuilding and preventing/countering violent extremism (P/CVE) in Kenya. S/he leads the technical design and management of USAID peacebuilding and P/CVE initiatives and programs. The incumbent will initiate and maintain contacts with senior representatives of the Government of Kenya (GOK), donors, academia, civil society organizations and the private sector on themes pertaining to conflict management and mitigation, peacebuilding, and P/CVE. The incumbent will serve as the Peacebuilding and P/CVE Team Leader, supervising one Cooperating Country National (CNN). The Specialist will also represent USAID/KEA interests to USAID/Washington’s Africa, Conflict Prevention and Stabilization (CPS), and Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) Bureaus, as well as other Agency affiliates engaged in peacebuilding, conflict, and P/CVE programming and learning.

Statement of Duties to be Performed

The duties and responsibilities of the Project Management Specialist (Peacebuilding, Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism) include:

Project Management (55%)

· The incumbent plans, designs, develops and manages new and existing peacebuilding and preventing/countering violent extremism (P/CVE) projects and activities.

· These duties include leading procurement processes, providing close oversight of project implementation, identifying and resolving problems, approving and monitoring project budgets, and ensuring all activities are carried out in a technically sound and cost-effective manner, in accordance with all applicable Agency and Mission directives and requirements.

· S/he will serve as the Contracting/Agreement Offices’ Representative (COR/AOR) and/or Activity Manager for projects and activities that include capacity development of various Government of Kenya (GoK) offices, institutions working in the peacebuilding and/or P/CVE realm, and relevant civil society organizations (CSO) to prevent, respond to, and resolve conflicts.

· S/he will be responsible for project monitoring and evaluation (M&E), for obtaining and reporting on results and possible setbacks, and for initiating programmatic adjustments, when necessary. As part of these responsibilities, the incumbent will approve project-level M&E plans, oversee data quality assessments, design technical evaluations, and manage third-party monitoring of projects.

· The incumbent is responsible for regular and ad hoc reporting on program impacts and contextual factors that affect project implementation. As well, s/he will contribute to standard reporting requirement (Operational Plan, the Performance Plan and Report, Mission Resource Request, Congressional Budget Justification, etc.).

· As the technical lead on peacebuilding and P/CVE, the incumbent is responsible for identifying and synthesizing best international and regional practices and lessons learned in these fields and to use this information to meaningfully contribute to improving knowledge management and learning within USAID/KEA.

Advisory and Support (25%)

· The Project Management Specialist will keep abreast of and analyze political, social, economic and other trends and legislation/policies affecting peacebuilding, conflict mitigation and P/CVE in Kenya and provide insights to the Mission’s senior leaders and Washington officials.

· S/he will conduct independent assessments and prepare technical and policy analyses for reports and presentations that assess conflict dynamics and the influence of violent of extremism in Kenya and propose development approaches for consideration in Mission programming.

· The incumbent will be considered an expert resource on peacebuilding, conflict mitigation, P/CVE and related issues, and will be expected to participate actively in internal and external strategy discussions, including active engagement across development sectors at the Mission, with Embassy counterparts, and donor partners.

· Given the cross-cutting nature of peacebuilding and P/CVE work, the incumbent will seek ways to integrate conflict-sensitive approaches into USAID programs in other sectors (health, education, environment, etc.). Part of the incumbent’s role involves active outreach and coordination with other technical offices and the U.S. Embassy to ensure unity of effort around peacebuilding and P/CVE programs.

· As a supervisory, the incumbent will serve as a key member of the DGPS senior management team, participating in Office decision-making and proving management support to the DGPS leadership. On occasion, the incumbent will serve as the DGPS Acting Deputy Office Director.

Representational (20%)

· The incumbent will represent USAID interests and equities in the peacebuilding and P/CVE area in the interagency at Post, with relevant Washington-based office, and at various sector and/or donor working groups in Kenya and within the Mission.

· In addition to government, the incumbent establishes and maintains effective working relations and coordination with other donors, civil society, private sector, media and academic/research bodies on matters related to peacebuilding and P/CVE challenges and initiatives.

· S/he maintains direct and substantive contacts to advise and represent USG policy interests with host government officials at the national and county levels to enhance learning and ensure coordination of programmatic activities.

· S/he will collaborate with USAID/Washington’s Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization, its Center for Conflict Prevention, and the Agency’s CVE Sector Council to share ideas, perceptions, and experiences on peacebuilding and P/CVE programming and learning.

Supervisory Relationship

The incumbent is supervised by the DGPS Deputy Office Director, or his/her designee. The incumbent’s work is governed by an annual work plan, jointly developed with his/her supervisor.**

Supervisory Controls

The incumbent supervises one Project Management Specialist (Peacebuilding, Preventing, and Countering Violent Extremism) FSN-10.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The position requirements do not involve rigorous physical demands.**

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

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

1. Education: A Bachelor’s degree in the social sciences, or in a development-related field (law, economics, public policy/administration, international relations, political science, area studies, etc.) is required.
2. Prior Work Experience: A minimum five years of progressively responsible work experience in the fields of peacebuilding, conflict and/or P/CVE. Experience must include relevant program design and management with an international development agency or non-governmental organization. Experience leading ad hoc and standing teams, for short- or long-term periods, is required.
3. Language Proficiency: Fluency (Level IV, speaking, reading and writing) in both English and Kiswahili is required. The demonstrated ability to write and edit complex technical documents in English, and to translate similar documents from Kiswahili into English, and vice versa, is required.

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. 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.

• Prior work experience (Up to 30 evaluation criteria points)

Up to 30 evaluation criteria points will be given to offerors who, in addition to the minimum requirement, have additional years of work experience in the fields of peacebuilding, conflict and/or PCVE, program design and management with an international development agency or non-governmental organization, and/or leading ad hoc and standing teams for short- or long-term periods.

• Job Knowledge (Up to 40 evaluation criteria points)

Demonstrated technical expertise is required on issues pertaining to peacebuilding and PCVE and how they manifest in Kenya. Expert knowledge of Kenya’s policies and practices in peacebuilding and PCVE, to include deradicalization and reentry activities. Advanced knowledge of Kenya’s PCVE donor/NGO landscape and current awareness of adverse regional influences.

• Skills and abilities (Up to 30 evaluation criteria points)

Due to frequent interaction with external stakeholders in high stakes environments, the jobholder must be able to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions and communicate effectively to ensure positive working relationships are maintained. Demonstration of adept organizational skills required, including, but not limited to: organizing a team to achieve results; time management; quality control; knowledge management (sharing and instituting best practices); and tracking progress towards achieving shared goals. Required abilities include gathering and processing input and data from many sources, and then compiling, analyzing and synthesizing data as appropriate. Critical thinking and active listening are required abilities for the position. The demonstrated ability to work collegially and effectively in an integrated, team environment for specific tasks is required.

Total possible points: 100