About CRS:

CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Background:

The Joint Emergency Operation (JEOP) is CRS’ largest emergency program worldwide, providing life-saving food, cash and nutrition assistance to transitory food insecure households through a project participant targeting process. Caseloads range from two to three million individuals each month depending on the crisis context, making the JEOP CRS’ largest emergency response initiative worldwide, with a five-year budget of over $1 billion. JEOP seeks to protect lives and livelihood where natural or man-made disaster have affected in harvest loss, livestock death and price increase of essentials. The consortium is led by CRS and includes CARE, Food for the Hungry, Relief Society of Tigray (REST), World Vision, GOAL and ORDA. CRS also works thorough local implementing partners Hararghe and Meki Catholic Secretariat (HCS and MCS). CRS also has two technical partnerships, Project Balance, and John Hopkins University.

Job Summary:

As a member of the JEOP Senior Management Team, you will provide strategic direction, leadership, and management of the consortium programming technical team to ensure the establishment and successful implementation of high-quality interventions serving the poor and vulnerable. Within CRS, this includes supervision of senior managers and technical advisors for targeting, early warning systems, protection, gender, safeguarding, disability inclusion, youth, nutrition, and environmental impact. You will be responsible for ensuring timely communication on concerns about performance, harmonizing approaches, standardization and progress on targets. In particular, you will work with JEOP partners to develop common technical strategies and approaches for each intervention area and ensure that activities are implemented in an integrated manner across the consortium to achieve maximum program impact. Your leadership, management and knowledge will ensure that JEOP delivers high-quality programming and continuously works towards improving the impact of its work.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic direction for design of JEOP’s strategic frameworks and plans, including resource mobilization to optimize the impact of interventions in line with donor, regional and agency strategic priorities.
• Coordinate with JEOP partners to achieve high levels of program quality through technical oversight and guidance; consortium-wide learning; and effective management of resources as per USAID/BHA regulations.
• Support donor relations, via development of high-quality communications, branding strategy, and overseeing JEOP’s business development cycle to ensure quality applications per agency and donor standards.
• Effectively manage talent and supervise staff. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, and complete performance assessment for direct reports. Contribute to developing staffing plans for projects and to the recruitment process of senior project staff.
• Lead high-quality design incorporating project management standards, appropriate to scope, context, and technical requirements of the JEOP. Coordinate planning of activities across crosscutting sectors to ensure integration and efficiency of interventions.
• Create and maintain proper conditions for learning. Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies. In collaboration with the Deputy Chief of Party MEAL, promote accountability, learning and knowledge management overseeing implementation of the MEAL policy, as well as cross-sectoral and cross-department learning. Ensure that JEOP technical working groups meet on a regular basis, identify lessons learned, solve problems and harmonize approaches.
• Coordinate with Deputy Chiefs of Parties for Compliance/Risk and Operations to ensure appropriate project budgeting, efficient use and stewardship of project sources.
• Support identification, assessment and strengthening of new and existing partnerships and the appropriate application of partnership concepts, tools, and approaches.
• Ensure technical assistance and capacity strengthening for JEOP partner teams in project management standards, business development and operational activities. Identify training opportunities, develop training curriculums, and deliver trainings.
• Lead development of periodic progress reporting, final project reporting and annual Pipeline and Resource Estimate Proposal (PREP) submission to USAID/BHA, coordination with the Chief of Party (CoP), other DCoPs and consortium partners to provide relevant updates and information.
• Identify innovation, including use of new technologies and ICT4D for program quality, in collaboration with the ICT4D manager and respective technical areas and facilitate its adaptation and application within the context of JEOP across consortium partners.
• Support CoP to liaise between JEOP and other stakeholders from Government, USAID, international agencies and NGOs, JEOP consortium partners, East Africa Regional Office and CRS HQ. Represent JEOP at external meetings and varied fora as related to the technical areas, notably early warning, protection and inclusion, emergency nutrition, and ensure that JEOP experiences are shared with others and learning is leveraged for the benefit of the wider the humanitarian community.

Required Languages – Strong command of English (required).

Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 25% within Ethiopia.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Program Managers (2), Program Quality Technical Advisors (5), remote Writer/editor (1)

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Chief of Party, Deputy Chiefs of Party (JEOP and RFSAs), Country Representative, Deputy Country Representative for Programs, Deputy Regional Director – Program Quality, regional and global Technical Advisors

External: JEOP partners, INGO/NGO networks, Government counterparts, USAID

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
• Experience in leading/coordinating USAID PREP processes, and USAID report writing.
• Knowledge and experience in Title II and IDA program areas of emergency food assistance, nutrition, cash assistance, consortium management, early recovery.
• Demonstrated ability to work both strategically and at an appropriate level of detail to lead a complex program and consortium, excellent analytical skills.
• Demonstrated capacity to understand sector-level best practices and challenges while coordinating JEOP program strategies via a participatory approach.
• Excellent partnership skills and the ability to interact effectively with donors, collaborating agencies, and local partners.
• Strong presentation and facilitation skills.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions oriented, and results oriented.
• Flexibility, persistence, and ability to work well with people and cross-cultural skills
• Excellent English writing skills.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in International Development, International Relations or relevant field.
• Minimum of seven years of relevant field-based program management, at least three years of middle/senior management experience.
• Minimum of five years’ experience managing donor funds, including strong knowledge of USAID and USG grant regulations and procedures.
• Prior management of USAID funding required; knowledge of Title II or IDA policies and procedures preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in consortium management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a technical team in two or more of the following areas: early warning analysis, nutrition, gender, protection/safeguarding, inclusion (disability, youth), environmental impact, and/or MEAL.
• Experience in the development of successful proposals, reports, strategic alliances, project design, project management, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Experience in partner capacity strengthening, staff development, training, and mentoring, as well as in team building and strategic planning initiatives. Experience working with Church partners a plus
• Experience in successful business development activities and project grants management, including project design, budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, etc., preferably for projects funded by multiple public donors, including USAID.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Staff management experience and abilities that are conducive to a learning environment.
• Experience and abilities in capacity strengthening – developing curricula and facilitating trainings.
• Experience using MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, and knowledge sharing networks.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability
• Acts with Integrity
• Collaborates with Others
• Builds and Maintains Trust
• Open to Learn
• Strategic Mindset
• Develops and Recognizes Others
• Leads Change

***CRS carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

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

Note:  All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency. 

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer