Ethiopia: JEOP Deputy Chief of Party, Program Quality

Position Title: JEOP Deputy Chief of Party, Program Quality
Department/Country: EARO/Ethiopia
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Band: D
FLSA: Exempt
Reports To: Chief of Party

About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Job Background/Summary:
CRS/Ethiopia is the lead agency of the FFP emergency food aid program, Joint Emergency Operation (JEOP), which first started in 2008 to address acute food security shocks. The participating consortium members are CRS, Save the Children, World Vision, CARE, Food for the Hungry and The Relief Society of Tigray (REST). The program is managed through the Core Management Team located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

CRS seeks a qualified candidate to serve as Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP/Program Quality) to oversee program technical quality coordination of the JEOP Program. The DCoP/Program Quality will be responsible for overseeing the program technical team, assuring program quality, as well as standing in for the Chief of Party (CoP) when necessary, and will be in daily contact with each partner through their representatives, ensuring rapid communication on concerns about performance, harmonizing approaches, standardization and progress on targets. In particular, the DCoP/Program Quality will work with JEOP partners’ Program Managers to develop common technical strategies and approaches for each of their intervention areas and ensure that interventions are implemented in an integrated manner across the consortium to achieve maximum program impact. The person filling this position will report to the JEOP Chief of Party.

Specific Duties Include:

I. Strategic planning and coordination
• Coordinate with JEOP partners’ to achieve high levels of program quality through technical oversight and guidance; consortium-wide learning; and effective management of human, material and financial resources as per FFP/ USAID regulations
• Lead and support JEOP program staff in developing and implementing efficient technical service delivery that may consist of capacity building, feed-back mechanism from the consortium partners and performance monitoring system to measure progress
• Address bottlenecks and scale up best practices to achieve high quality program implementation
• Coordinate JEOP consortium partner Program Managers in program implementation, learning across the consortium and effective management of human, material and financial resources as per the FFP/ USAID regulations
• Contribute to ensure high quality coordination between program and finance
• Work with the Chief of Party, the Deputy Chief of Party/Operations and Deputy Chief of Party - Commodity Risk Monitoring & Compliance in drafting narrative input into USAID reporting
• Ensure the effective and full integration of program interventions across technical sectors and SO teams, including the integration of cross cutting strategies regarding gender, environmental impact monitoring, and sustainability

II. Program Quality, Monitoring and Learning
• Provide technical direction to programme quality activities/innovations (including M&E, Early Warning Systems, and informal village based micro-credit)
• Manage a team of technical staff in various sectors who will coordinate and lead in implementing all the functions of program quality activities
• Ensure that JEOP technical working groups meet on a regular basis, identify lessons learned, solve problems and harmonize approaches where possible
• Identify innovation in the respective technical area from elsewhere and facilitate its adaptation and application within the context of the JEOP with all consortium partners
• Develop and implement a regular feedback mechanism to respond to M&E findings on program implementation and ensure corrective actions
• Assist COP to facilitate JEOP program implementation, and to ensure quality of products including early warning reports, technical training modules, monitoring and evaluation reports, and compliance with agency and donor standards
• Enhance cross-learning within consortium through exchange visits, exchange of staff and other practical ways
• Provide services for specific program activities on behalf of consortium members, including (but not limited to) short term and long term consultancies, research studies and visits of donors and others
• Manage relationships with contracted research organizations as part of being a learning project and regularly review and revise learning agenda
• Assist the COP to review progress in the implementation of the JEOP according to the proposal, budget, detailed implementation, annual work-plans, and agreements with the donor and that the program is implemented according to proposed technical design, quality standards and reporting schedules
• Monitor progress towards impact on behalf of partners and the Steering Committee, including developing and implementing a scorecard system to appraise performance of Consortium partners

III. Liaison
• Support Chief of Party to liaise between JEOP and other stakeholders from Government, USAID, international agencies and NGOs, JEOP Consortium partners, EARO and CRS HQ
• Support partner organizations in orienting regional government officials to the JEOP and its activities and linking partners more closely with regional administrations

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning

Supervisory Responsibilities:
Directly supervises JEOP M&E Technical Quality Coordinator, BCC/Nutrition Advisor and Early Warning Coordinator

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: Chief of Party, CRS Country Representative, CRS Head of Programs, CRS Management Quality Director, Deputy Chief of Party/Operations, Deputy Chief of Party - Commodity Risk Monitoring & Compliance, Partner Program Managers

• External: Primarily Program Managers of Consortium Members and Technical service providing agencies. Others consist of Consortium members, USAID, GoE, other stakeholders

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

1. Proven skills, knowledge and experience in Title II program areas of emergency food distribution, program monitoring and evaluation, commodity management, consortium management, recovery
2. Additional demonstrated ability to lead a technical team in one or more of the following technical areas: early warning analysis, health and nutrition; village savings and loan; and M&E
3. Minimum three years’ experience in Africa in a senior position that demonstrates mentoring national staff to achieve program results
4. Demonstrated ability to work both strategically and at an appropriate level of detail to lead a complex program and consortium, excellent analytical skills
5. Excellent partnership skills and the ability to interact effectively with donors, collaborating agencies, and local partners demonstrated through close work experience with international PVOs
6. Demonstrated capacity to understand the current best practices and challenges while coordinating to implement JEOP program strategies through a participatory approach;
7. Computer literate, with strong knowledge of MS Office applications, spread sheets, database programs, and statistical software packages
8. Personal qualities include flexibility, persistence, and ability to work well with people and cross cultural skills
   Travel: Willingness to travel approximately 40-50% of the time to remote areas of the country.

Qualifications:

1. A Master’s degree in International Development, Social Science or related technical field with a minimum of 7 years’ experience with CRS or other humanitarian agencies
2. Knowledge of USAID and USG grant regulations and procedures
3. Prior management of USAID funding required; knowledge of Title II policies and procedures preferred
4. Experience in consortium management is preferred
   Language: English, excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
   Major Responsibilities of Position: Technical leadership, Team building, strategic leadership, Coordination, Monitoring/Evaluation, Mentoring/Training, Supervision, and Report Writing.

Disclaimer Clause: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

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