The OTI Regional Team Leader (Africa) is a full-time Personal Services Contract (PSC) position at the GS-14 equivalent level and located in Washington, D.C. Applications for this position are due no later than May 12, 2016 at 5:00 pm Eastern Time. For full information about this position, as well as instructions how how to apply, please visit www.OTIjobs.net.
The Africa Regional Team Leader is a member of the USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA)/OTI Field Programs Division (FPD), reports to the OTI Chief of FPD, and is based in Washington, DC. OTI currently has five regional teams as part of its Field Programs Division: Africa (AFR), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Afghanistan and Pakistan (AF/PAK), Middle East (ME), and Europe and Asia (EA). OTI’s Regional Teams are responsible for all program implementation-related activity in the specific region.
Under this solicitation, the Regional Team Leader will be responsible for overseeing specific OTI country programs in the Sub-Saharan Africa regions, supervising program teams in Washington, DC and the field, and serving as the principle OTI interlocutor on all existing and forecasted programs in the region. This is a program-funded USPSC position that focuses the vast majority of its time on managing country programs. The Africa Regional Team Leader will insure that U.S. Government funds are spent wisely, in coordination with other key actors, and in a manner that reflects OTI standard practices and U.S. Government policy.
Lead and oversee the OTI Regional Team, including Deputy Team Leader(s), Program Managers in Washington, Country Representatives in the field, and implementing partner grants and agreements at the headquarters level; including the effective oversight of management, logistical, budget, administrative, human resources, and contractual issues;
Provide managerial and supervisory support including: 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, timesheets, training, travel and program and operations requests;
Apply a sound understanding of USAID’s programmatic and operational processes in Washington to support transition programming overseas, including assessment and conceptualization, design, management, analysis and evaluation of political transition and/or post-conflict activities. Perform complex country and program analysis to develop existing and future strategies in high-priority countries;
Monitor and evaluate OTI country programs through regular communication with staff, reports from the field and Washington, liaising with the OTI Program and ABC Office teams, and regular site visits;
Design staffing plans to meet overall program objectives, ensure staff work objectives and tasks are well defined, and ensure that recruitment is initiated immediately when staffing needs arise. Ensure that staff is highly qualified, trained, and mentored in all critical aspects of OTI operations and programming. Ensure that employee performance evaluations are completed in a timely manner in accordance with OTI office policy;
Supervise the implementation of OTI-financed activities, including overseeing and/or managing the selection of program implementers such as grantees, contractors, and Personal Services Contract employees;
Negotiate, oversee and manage the overall Regional Team country budgets to ensure that the team procurement plan is kept up to date, and that country programs are appropriately budgeted for. Additional responsibilities include working to secure additional funding from other U.S. Government sources if required, and ensuring that the team is trained on all the appropriate systems and tools for budgeting, finances and procurement;
As requested by embassies and/or USAID Missions, provide support for the design and execution of programs that follow OTI’s quick-impact programming model. Support may include attendance and/or facilitation of program management processes for follow-on programming such as rolling assessments, strategy review sessions, program performance reviews and management reviews;
Serve as a central participant on inter- and intra-agency policy and crisis task forces as required;
Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with USAID, Department of State, Department of Defense, and other U.S. Government personnel, to share programmatic information and coordinate Interagency development efforts;
Liaise with grassroots organizations and their constituencies, national and local government officials, U.S. Government agencies, non-governmental organizations, donor and international organizations, to monitor and evaluate OTI country program activities;
Oversee, develop and manage, in conjunction with OTI Washington staff and the Country Representative in the field, an OTI close-out strategy that will, whenever appropriate and possible, ensure reasonable and effective handover to follow-on USAID and/or other donor programs;
Ensure the proper development of documentation for required program contracts, grants or cooperative agreements in conformance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), agency and office guidelines;
Mentor other OTI Team Leaders, and mentor and train Country Representatives, Deputy Team Leaders, and Program Managers as required;
When required, assume higher representational responsibilities, potentially serving as Acting Chief of Field Programs;
If required, serve on short-term assignments with other USAID offices or bureaus in direct support of OTI programs, not to exceed three months;
Perform other related duties and activities as required for the successful completion of country programs.
Minimum Qualifications Required for this position
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Applicants 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 “Applying”)
At a minimum, the applicant must have:
- A Master’s Degree with seven (7) years of work experience;
OR
A Bachelor’s Degree with nine (9) years of work experience;
AND
Seven (7) years of project management experience with a U.S. Government foreign affairs agency, international or domestic assistance organization, or non-governmental organization in community development, economic development, mediation/arbitration, conflict resolution, democracy and governance, international law, humanitarian assistance, and/or human rights activity;
Two (2) years of overseas field experience in politically transitioning countries;
Five (5) years of supervisory experience, of which two (2) years must consist of supervising at a management level (defined as supervising supervisors);
Demonstrated experience in contract and grant management, including the design, management, and evaluation of political transition project activities.
Please direct questions about this position or the application process to the OTI Recruitment Team at otijobs@usaid.gov
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