OTI Country Representative – Littorals Regional Initiative (GS-14) 214 views0 applications

The OTI Country Representative – Littorals Regional Initiative is a full-time Personal Services Contract (PSC) position at the GS-14 equivalent level and located in Ghana. Offers for this position are due no later than December 9, 2020 at 1:00pm Eastern Time. For full information about this position, as well as instructions on how to apply, please read the entire solicitation at www.OTIjobs.net.

INTRODUCTION:

The Country Representative is a member of the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization (CPS)/OTI West and Central Africa Regional Team, reports to the OTI West and Central Africa Regional Team Lead or designee, and is based in Accra, Ghana. The incumbent will be required to travel regionally as necessary. The Country Representative’s principal responsibility will be the development, oversight and management of CPS/OTI’s Littorals Regional Initiative (LRI). LRI is a regional mechanism with the ability to implement activities across the five focus Littoral states: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo. The incumbent will be called upon to represent OTI’s mission and programs to senior-level government officials, in-country visitors, senior officials from other international organizations, bilateral donors and local government officials. In addition, the incumbent will collaborate closely with USAID/OTI’s Senior Regional Advisor in Accra.

The Country Representative will be responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of the LRI from its base in Accra, Ghana. Working with an Implementing Partner (IP), the Country Representative must be capable of overseeing grant development and implementation, technical assistance, and other assistance to beneficiaries in five select countries across the region. Contingent on funding, the Country Representative may additionally need to oversee the start-up of one or more intensive country-specific engagements (“Country Clusters’) to deliver more robust tailored programming. This would entail establishing a local IP presence and office(s), and likely the deployment of additional OTI staff or other representatives to provide day-to-day management.

The USAID/OTI program is viewed as one part of a larger USG response to an evolving situation that also includes contextual monitoring and analytical tracking; support for pilot interventions; planning and initiating longer-term USAID programs; enhancing regional coordination processes focused on regional stability across USAID operating units, interagency and local partners, and donors; and training and capacity building of USG personnel and implementers in the region.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

● Manage a high-profile program in a dynamic environment and provide programmatic, operational, and strategic guidance to OTI’s implementing partners (contractors and/or grantees) ensuring that activities are contributing to OTI’s program objectives and are within the partner’s scope;

● Conceptualize and design program strategies and objectives in close coordination with OTI staff, U.S. Embassy, Host Country government, and local civil society officials based on political analysis and U.S. Government policy;

● Articulate program strategy, as well as communicate and coordinate OTI’s in-country activities between OTI and its implementing partners, USAID, and other donor organizations; prepare and disseminate programmatic, financial and periodic reports to the USAID Mission, OTI/Washington and other organizations as appropriate;

● Communicate and coordinate OTI’s in-country activities between OTI and its implementing partners, USAID, the U.S. Embassy and other donor organizations;

● Monitor local and regional political developments and regularly brief OTI and partner staff on their potential programmatic impact;

● Analyze and report on current political developments, security concerns, and other pertinent information required to achieve OTI’s program objectives;

● Provide recommendations to the Washington-based Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and/or the Regional Team Leader on implementing partner performance, the appropriateness of the partner’s scope to OTI’s country objectives, partner’s budgets, and modifications thereto;

● Provide USAID concurrence on all implementing partner activities, including final approval of grantees for grants under contract, in accordance with the USAID’s Automated Directives System (ADS);

● Ensure the use of OTI systems and procedures to maintain effective and efficient management of funds, programming, as well as monitoring and evaluation;

● Ensure that OTI’s programs and activities are monitored and evaluated and that lessons learned are applied to ongoing or future activities;

● Prepare and maintain OTI program budgets for field operations;

● Serve as OTI’s primary liaison with USAID Mission personnel, U.S. Embassy staff, Host-Country Government Officials, UN Organizations, Indigenous and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other pertinent organizations. Develop and maintain collaborative relationships to ensure close coordination at the field level, identify the widest range of potential local partners and opportunities, and achieve maximum synergy with other programs;

● Prepare operational plans in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, including logistics and property use guidelines, closeout and hand-over, security procedures, and contingency and evacuation plans;

● Ensure that all OTI and partner field staff adhere to in-country security guidelines set by the U.S. Embassy Regional Security Officer and other organizations such as the United Nations or host government; and,

● Design and review staffing plans to meet overall program objectives as well as recruit, train, supervise, and evaluate the performance of in-country OTI staff.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

At a minimum, the Offeror must have:

(1) A Master’s Degree with seven (7) years of work experience;

OR

A Bachelor’s Degree with nine (9) years of work experience;

AND

(2) Minimum of six (6) years of recent project management experience with a USG foreign affairs agency, international assistance organization, or non-governmental organization, in community development, stabilization programming, economic development, mediation/arbitration, conflict resolution, democracy and governance, international law, human rights activities, and/or political analysis;

(3) Minimum of two (2) years of overseas field experience working in one or more developing countries;

(4) A minimum of three (3) years of supervisory experience (including but not limited to mentoring, training, and guiding staff).

(5) Working proficiency in French is strongly preferred.

Please direct questions about this position or the offer process to the OTI Recruitment Team at [email protected].