OTI Deputy Country Representative - Littorals Regional Initiative (GS-13), April 2024

The OTI Deputy Country Representative – Littorals Regional Initiative is a full-time Personal Services Contract (PSC) position at the GS-13 equivalent level and located in Ghana. Offers for this position are due no later than December 10, 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 Deputy Country Representative is a member of the Conflict Prevention and Stabilization (CPS)/OTI West and Central Africa Regional Team, reports to the OTI Country Representative for the Littorals Regional Initiative (LRI) or designee, and is based in Accra, Ghana. 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 may be required to travel regionally as necessary. The Deputy Country Representative’s principal responsibility will be development, oversight, and management of CPS/OTI’s Littorals Regional Initiative. The incumbent will be called upon to support the OTI Country Representative with managing an implementing partner and may be called upon to represent OTI’s program to local partners, senior-level government officials, in-country visitors, senior officials from other international organizations, bilateral donors and local government officials.

The Deputy Country Representative will be responsible for supporting the Country Representative in overseeing all aspects of a regional program from its base in Accra. Working with an Implementing Partner, the Deputy Country Representative must be capable of enabling grant development and implementation, support provision of technical assistance, and other assistance to beneficiaries in five select countries across the region. Contingent on funding, the Deputy Country Representative may additionally need to help with 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 supporting the deployment of additional OTI staff or other representatives to provide day-to-day management.

The USAID/OTI Littorals Regional Initiative 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 across more than one country; 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:

● Represent OTI interests during meetings with USAID Mission personnel, U.S. Embassy staff, host-country government officials, international organizations, indigenous and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international donors interested in CPS/OTI activities;

● Provide guidance on the identification and development of projects that meet OTI funding criteria, further OTI programmatic objectives, and complement other projects and programs implemented by other OTI offices, U.S. government agencies and donor organizations;

● Provide support for the design and execution of programs that follow OTI’s quick impact programming model in embassies or USAID Missions. Support to embassies and USAID Missions will include attendance and/or facilitation of program management processes for follow-on programming, including rolling assessments, strategy review sessions, program performance reviews and management reviews;

● Review proposals and grant concepts and work with diverse groups, many of which have not previously had international funding;

● Collaborate with the Country Representative in monitoring the performance of OTI implementing partners in the implementation of OTI-financed activities designed to achieve OTI strategic objectives;

● Travel to monitor and assess political conditions, implementing partner operational platforms, meet with potential grantees, host-country government and other program counterparts, and develop activity ideas;

● Mentor and train other OTI and implementing partner field staff;

● Take the lead on collecting information and drafting/editing regular reporting products, such as weekly reports, cables and digest reports;

● Assume higher representational responsibilities, potentially serving as Acting OTI Country Representative in his/her absence;

● Perform a wide range of administrative functions including budget preparation, financial management, records management, and travel assistance to help ensure programmatic success;

● Coordinate with the OTI Country Representative to develop an exit strategy that ensures reasonable time to transition from OTI programs to follow-on USAID or other donor programs;

● Communicate regularly and share program information with other USAID project managers, the US Embassy, bilateral donors, UN Organizations, International Organizations, and indigenous and international NGOs to ensure visibility and synergy of USAID/OTI activities;

● Support the Country Representative to ensure the use of OTI systems and procedures to maintain effective and efficient management of funds, programming, and monitoring and evaluation;

● Report to the OTI Country Representative and OTI/Washington on the status of: 1) grant development and implementation, 2) OTI contractor performance, 3) Foreign Service National (FSN) staff support needs and morale, 4) communication and coordination issues among OTI offices with other U.S. Government entities, 5) security concerns, 6) relations with local partners including local, state and national government representatives, and 7) other pertinent information required to achieve OTI’s program objectives;

● Assist the Country Representative in managing and/or supervising the FSN staff, including program officers, administrative assistants and drivers; and,

● Supervise staff as delegated by the Country Representative (e.g. Program Managers, Program Assistants, Program Administrative Assistants, etc.). Provide orientation, training and mentoring for USAID 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 and timesheets as well as training, travel and program and operations requests.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

At a minimum, the offeror must have:

(1) A Master’s Degree with five (5) years of work experience;

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

AND

(2) A minimum of five (5) years of project management experience with a U.S. Government foreign affairs agency, international assistance organization, or non-governmental organization, in community development, economic development, mediation/arbitration, conflict resolution, democracy and governance, international law, human rights activities, and/or political analysis;

(3) One (1) year of overseas field experience working in one or more developing countries;

(4) One (1) year 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].

More Information

Job City Ghana

Ghana

United States Agency For International Development (USAID)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the United States Government agency which is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid.

President John F. Kennedy created USAID from its predecessor agencies in 1961 by executive order. USAID's programs are authorized by the Congress in the Foreign Assistance Act, which the Congress supplements through directions in annual funding appropriation acts and other legislation. Although it is technically an independent agency, USAID operates subject to the foreign policy guidance of the President, Secretary of State, and the National Security Council.

USAID operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

USAID is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.

In an interconnected world, instability anywhere around the world can impact us here at home. Working side-by-side with the military in active conflicts, USAID plays a critical role in our nation’s effort to stabilize countries and build responsive local governance; we work on the same problems as our military using a different set of tools. We also ease the transition between conflict and long-term development by investing in agriculture, health systems and democratic institutions. And while USAID can work in active conflict, or help countries transition from violence, the most important thing we can do is prevent conflict in the first place. This is smarter, safer and less costly than sending in soldiers.

USAID extends help from the American people to achieve results for the poorest and most vulnerable around the world. That assistance does not represent a Democratic value or a Republican value, but an American value; as beneficiaries of peace and prosperity, Americans have a responsibility to assist those less fortunate so we see the day when our assistance is no longer necessary.

USAID invests in ideas that work to improve the lives of millions of men, women and children by:

Investing in agricultural productivity so countries can feed their people
Combating maternal and child mortality and deadly diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis
Providing life-saving assistance in the wake of disaster
Promoting democracy, human rights and good governance around the world
Fostering private sector development and sustainable economic growth
Helping communities adapt to a changing environment
Elevating the role of women and girls throughout all our work

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The OTI Deputy Country Representative - Littorals Regional Initiative is a full-time Personal Services Contract (PSC) position at the GS-13 equivalent level and located in Ghana. Offers for this position are due no later than December 10, 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 Deputy Country Representative is a member of the Conflict Prevention and Stabilization (CPS)/OTI West and Central Africa Regional Team, reports to the OTI Country Representative for the Littorals Regional Initiative (LRI) or designee, and is based in Accra, Ghana. 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 may be required to travel regionally as necessary. The Deputy Country Representative’s principal responsibility will be development, oversight, and management of CPS/OTI's Littorals Regional Initiative. The incumbent will be called upon to support the OTI Country Representative with managing an implementing partner and may be called upon to represent OTI’s program to local partners, senior-level government officials, in-country visitors, senior officials from other international organizations, bilateral donors and local government officials.

The Deputy Country Representative will be responsible for supporting the Country Representative in overseeing all aspects of a regional program from its base in Accra. Working with an Implementing Partner, the Deputy Country Representative must be capable of enabling grant development and implementation, support provision of technical assistance, and other assistance to beneficiaries in five select countries across the region. Contingent on funding, the Deputy Country Representative may additionally need to help with 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 supporting the deployment of additional OTI staff or other representatives to provide day-to-day management.