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USAID Mission in Iraq - Employment Opportunities
Announcing open position for FSN-4005-11
National Capacity Development Specialist (CBO)
OPENING DATE: 11/06/2008
CLOSING DATE: 11/27/2008
WORK HOURS: Full-time; 40 hours/week
Basic Function/Summary of the Position:
This position is located in the National Capacity Development (NCD) Office of USAID/Iraq. The Capacity Development Specialist (CDS) is responsible for providing technical and analytical support to the Supervisory General Development Officer (SGDO)/Director in the start up, management and monitoring of activities under NCD SO 10: Improve Capacity of National Government. He/she provides a wide variety of assistance and support activities to the NCD Office. These include: (a) acting as the liaison officer for the NCD Office and the interagency Capacity Development Working Group (CDWG) Secretariat; (b) coordinating with the U.S. Embassy's National Coordination Team (NCT) and with the Ministerial Coordination Team (MCT), (c) taking responsibility as the Activity Manager for up to five agreements including contracts and cooperative agreements; (d) providing support to the Supervisory General Development Officer (SGDO)/Director by preparing briefs, reports, presentations, analytical and information documents required from the NCD Office.
The CDLO will have a sound knowledge of U.S. Government (USG) policies and procedures along with suitable experience and apply this knowledge in a number of critical functions necessary for the successful operation of the NCD Office. The NCD Office is newly established within USAID/Iraq to support the implementation of its three-year Transition Strategy for Iraq. The Office has a mandate to develop and implement programs to assist the Government of Iraq (GOI) to strengthen its key executive branch institutions by improving its public administration systems and training. It is anticipated that the Office may implement a new NCD Program amounting up to one hundred and fifty million dollars per year over the next three years. The Office also has a portfolio of operational projects to strengthen civil society, independent media, support to governance activities, electoral systems and political party support.
Under the direction of the SGDO/Director of the NCD Office, and working closely with NCD staff and technical contractors, the CDLO will establish systems to facilitate communications and coordination efforts with the GOI, key donors, and USG agencies working in Iraq including U.S. Embassy officials and staff, Multi-National Force (MNF-I), commanders and staff, the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO) officials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others as may be required.
The CDLO will represent USAID as required, by attending regular coordination and review meetings with the CDWG, IRMO officials, Embassy staff and other working in support of the NCD Office or other offices responding to NCD related tasks (e.g., the USAID Front Office or Program Office) as needed. The NCD Office also represents USAID/Iraq on a number of interagency democracy and governance technical working groups such as (a) Anti-corruption; (b) Human Rights; (c) Rule of Law; and (d) Civil society. The CDLO will be expected to articulate, orally and through written memoranda and PowerPoint presentations, the status of activities in the NCD area, identify technical issues, and recommend possible solutions for their solution.
The CDLO will act as Activity Manager for a number of NCD contracts/agreements. The incumbent's duties will involve the full range of consultative, advisory, representation, monitoring, management, data collection and analysis, and evaluative aspects of the NCD portfolio. The incumbent will collaborate with USAID and other U.S. Government colleagues in Baghdad as well as with USAID in Washington, D.C. He/she will collaborate with colleagues from the local donor community and from national government, and non-governmental organizations. The majority of the incumbent's time will be spent in Baghdad's International Zone with occasional travel required to the Red Zone in Baghdad as well as to other provinces. He/she will be required to coordinate a wide variety of technical activities and attend meetings, monitor programs through field visits, NCD meetings, participate in the evaluation of programs, recommend solutions to problems that arise, and report on USAID/Iraq financed support to NCD programs.
2. MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Activity Management and Strategic Objective Attainment Responsibilities (85%)
National Capacity Development Technical and Management Support:
- The incumbent will be the focal point and Capacity Development Specialist for the Strategic Objective Team. He/she will act as the Activity Manager for the SO activities including National Capacity Development, Civil Society, Media and Governance. The incumbent will be knowledgeable about the program requirements of the assistance project cycle.
- Performs a variety of research, reporting, and analytical duties to provide programmatic and technical activity management including liaison functions for NCD, civil society, media and governance activities in support of the SGDO/Director;
- Maintains current information on the status and processes of national capacity development, civil society, media and governance in Iraq; conducts research, independent analysis and interpretation;
- Drafts and processes SO activity documentation for clearance, including MAARDs, non-competition and cost share memos, and other documentation as required;
- Prepares reports on funding availability and reporting on the status of funds;
- Maintains a database with national capacity development, civil society, governance activity expenditures for each grant/cooperative agreement, including fund balances, obligations, earmarks, commitments, disbursements, accruals and pipelines on activities. Provides reports as required on the financial status of NCD Program activities;
- Provides financial inputs as may be required for Congressional Presentation and Annual Budget submissions;
- Reviews and recommends to Cognizant Technical Officers payment of invoices/vouchers ensuring compliance with the terms of the contracts/grants/agreements;
- Ensures that Initial Environmental Examinations are in place and up-to-date for all NCD activities under his/her responsibility;
- Monitors financial expenditures for all activities under his/her responsibility and ensures that the SGDO/Director is briefed on the status of the financial pipeline each quarter;
- Recommends administrative approvals or brings to the notice of the SGDO/Director any discrepancy which does not appear appropriate;
- Follows up on these recommendations to ensure implementation. Resolves program issues or brings them to the attention of appropriate staff;
- Assists the CDWG Secretariat to set up their office by providing technical assistance and support to the establishment of the office.
Partner Communications and Liaison:
Under the guidance of the SGDO/Director the incumbent will liaise with the GOI, the CDWG, the NCT, the MCT, U.S. Embassy officials and staff, Multi-National Forces (MNF-I) commanders and staff, IRMO officials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, cooperating agencies and partners, and with USAID in Washington, D.C. facilitating communications. Communication will be in person, by telephone or written communication, in English. Communications will be at all levels up to the U.S. Ambassador as may be required and senior officials of the Government of Iraq.
The purpose of contact will be to maintain dialogue in support of the NCD Program, civil society, media and governance; to maintain timely management of activity functions and procedures; to collect and verify information on the program, planning activities and implementation (e.g., this may include statistical information, responding to taskers and ad hoc inquiries, activity progress reports, proposals, etc.); and to monitor and report on existing activities and financial expenditure information of the NCD Program's activities.
The incumbent provides assistance to visitors and performs other duties in support of the NCD Program and the strategic objectives and goals of USAID/Iraq.
Official Interaction and Association:
The incumbent will be required to build and maintain a productive professional working relationship with the following parties: all USAID employees (e.g., USAID/Iraq, USAID/Middle East Region, USAID/Washington, U.S. Embassy officials, Government of Iraq officials, USG employees, US and non-US partners, other donor agencies, local and national government officials and the general public.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
The incumbent will assume a key role in the regular monitoring and evaluation of partners working under the NCD Program. He/she will assist in the development of a monitoring and evaluation plan within the annual work plans. The incumbent will help to develop a data base of quarterly and annual programmatic and financial reports from NDC Program partners. He/she will perform site visits as required to program locations to review and monitor the performance of the program to keep abreast of program developments.
Performance Monitoring:
The incumbent serves as the principal assistant to the SGDO/Director in monitoring and evaluating the performance of partners in the NCD and civil society spheres. Collects and distributes working group and partner reports and maintains report tracking systems. Collects information on program planning, implementation, and achievements. Collects and contributes to the quantitative and qualitative input into the USAID/Iraq Mission's Annual Report.
USAID/Iraq Additional Activity Support (15%)
Under the direction of the SGDO/Director the incumbent provides support to USAID/Iraq in a wide variety of assigned tasks. As requested he/she will serve as a member of any Mission SO teams responsible for guiding the development, implementation and evaluation of USAID/Iraq's assistance to support the NCD and civil society sectors, cross-cutting themes and other sectors. This can include but is not limited to serving as team member on selected Mission Teams which impact the NCD and civil society sectors, drafting and finalizing activity-related correspondence and documents, contributing to annual and semiannual performance reviews; drafting technical justifications for new activities and changes to on-going activities; organizing donor or other NCD related events in support of activities; and assists in other NCD program implementation as required. The incumbent will be expected to broaden his/her knowledge of the other activities in the NCD Office and provide support when workloads are extreme or when other staff members are on leave.
4. POSITION ELEMENTS:
Supervision Received: The Capacity Development Specialist (CDS) will work under the general supervision of the Supervisory General Development Officer (SGDO)/Director of the National Capacity Development Office, who will provide technical guidance as/when necessary. In collaboration with the incumbent, the immediate supervisor will: (a) establish annual work objectives and performance measures; (b) review work outputs and accomplishments to ensure compliance with Agency policies and implementation of best practices; (c) provide regular feedback to the incumbent throughout the Performance Evaluation period; (d) prepare the annual Evaluation Report when required; and (e) obtain 360 degree input from USAID/Iraq technical offices and team members as appropriate. The incumbent will work with a high degree of independence, establish priorities, adhere to and meet established deadlines, and perform responsibilities and duties with minimal guidance and little or no follow-up. In accordance with official policies, the incumbent must be able to work additional hours beyond the established 40 hour work week and outside the normal Sunday-Thursday workweek as may be required or necessary. The incumbent must be proactive and have self-direction.
Available Guidelines: The incumbent is required to understand Mission and Agency-specific policies and procedures which govern Project Activity Management in addition to the USAID/Iraq established administrative operating procedures, policies and formats. When necessary to carrying out unique assignments, the immediate supervisor will provide verbal guidance or specific detailed instructions. The incumbent will be required to be proactive in keeping abreast of evolving guidelines and policies which affect overall support to the National Capacity Program within the Regional Officer, including but not limits to the Automated Directives System (ADS), Mission Orders Mission Notices, USG Procurement regulations, and USAID Program Strategy and Policy documents.
Exercise of Judgment: In instances not clearly covered by written guidelines, the incumbent will use his/her own personal, well-informed judgment in devising appropriate and, when necessary, innovative approaches to resolving technical, administrative, managerial and/or policy problems. Excellent (balanced) judgment must be exercised in setting priorities. The use of initiative, discretion and patience is expected from the incumbent in dealing with Mission personnel as well as representatives from other USG agencies and donor organizations to resolve problems that arise during the course of work for which there is often no clear or immediate solution. In addition, considerable judgment is required in working effectively with officials in the
government and the private sector, in overseeing grantee/contractor activities and coordinating multi-sectoral efforts in support of USAID/Iraq strategic objectives, and more specifically SO 10: Improve Capacity of the National Government, and in collecting, analyzing and reporting on progress of activities and recommending corrective or other actions. The incumbent will be required to follow and adhere to USAID's Core Values as well as the Agency's Code of Ethics and Conduct.
Authority to Make Commitments: The incumbent will have no independent authority to commit U.S. Government (USG) Mission (USAID/Iraq) funds on behalf of the U.S. Government or the USAID/Iraq National Capacity Development Office.
Nature, Level and Purpose of Contacts: The incumbent will be required to establish and maintain solid working relationships with all categories of Mission personnel to function effectively. The incumbent will be required to work closely with the Capacity Working Group Secretariat, the U.S. Embassy and its National Coordination Team and Ministerial Coordination Team, Multi-National Force (MNF-I), commanders and staff, the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO) officials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working-level representatives of the Government of Iraq, contractors, directors of non-governmental organizations, private sector representatives and other foreign donor institutions. The established method of communication/contact will be in person, by phone or written communications. The purpose of the contact will be: (a) to maintain open lines of communication in support of the National Capacity Development Officer, (b) to maintain regular communications regarding the timely management of activity functions and procedures; (c) to collect, obtain and verify factual information pertaining to program/project planning and implementation; (d) to monitor and evaluate existing activities in the National Capacity Development sector, civil society, governance and media on a regular basis. The purpose of contacts will range from simple information gathering to assisting in the development of complex programs and documents with various partners. Consultations between the incumbent and partners can be held for explaining and discussing proposals and objectives, obtaining and furnishing information, securing cooperation, resolving problems, and persuading USAID/Iraq staff and counterparts to take action and accept recommendations.
Supervision Exercised: This position is designated as non-supervisory, however, the position will be authorized to provide some work assignments and daily instructions specific to the National Capacity Development Office clerical and secretarial staff.
Time Required to Perform Full Range of Duties: The successful candidate is expected to be able to perform the full range of duties after 12 months probation in the position.
Selection Criteria / Minimum Requirements of the Position:
Education: Masters degree in Anthropology; International Development; Business Administration; Statistics; Public Administration; social sciences or related field.
Prior Work Experience: the position requires three to five years of progressively responsible program management experience in the field of capacity development and governance, including at least one year of experience with a USG or international donor agency in Iraq or a post-conflict or conflict setting requiring intensive donor and inter-agency coordination.
Language Proficiency: Strong written and oral English proficiency is required. Effective written and oral communications are absolutely critical to perform successfully in this position. The incumbent must communicate effectively and accurately with all Mission employees and management; government officials within State Department, the U.S. Embassy, Multi-national force (MNF-I) commanders and staff, IRMO officials the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and international donors and other Embassies. The incumbent is required to prepare briefing documents and sophisticated presentations, participate in the preparation of the drafting of annual, technical, programmatic and fiscal reports and Modified Acquisition and Assistance Request Documents (MAARDs). The incumbent must also research and prepare reports, correspondence, and a wide variety of documents without need for excessive supervision, correction of grammar and organization of material.
Knowledge:
- Knowledge of concepts and principles of public administration, governance and capacity development;
- Knowledge and understanding of the key issues, trends, environment and resources available and having an impact on the National Capacity Program including civil society, media, and governance;
- Knowledge of capacity development process and the appropriate government, non-government and international interventions needed to affect it;
- Knowledge of the current economic, political, social and cultural characteristics of Iraq that affect capacity development in Iraq's government, civil society and governance (Desirable).
- Knowledge of the programs of other agencies such as the ADB, World Bank, other donors and NGOs (Desirable).
Skills and Abilities:
- Proven ability to work independently with minimal day-to-day supervision or guidance is required. The Mission is seeking a self-starter with the ability to be responsive to client needs and to work with multiple tasks and demands, and work effectively under pressure as a member of the USAID/Iraq team in addressing these needs;
- Efficient and orderly with attention to detail, able to complete work by established deadlines that meets USAID/Iraq's organizational standards;
- Ability to effectively manage more than one activity at a time, to work from oral and written instructions, to organize, prioritize and complete assignments with minimal oversight; to quickly and accurately draft documents that meet USAID/Iraq organizational standards, to objectively furnish information and advice in assigned areas and to work effectively as a team member in USAID/Iraq's culturally diverse and unique USAID/Iraq Mission environment;
- Honesty, integrity and the ability to assume personal responsibility for the successful achievement of work assignments and NCD Office objectives;
- Extreme flexibility and the ability to adapt to the requirements of a multi-cultural environment in meeting the needs of the USAID/Iraq Mission and public customers;
- Strong interpersonal skills to establish and maintain strong contact with counterparts both inside and outside of USAID and to explain USAID's NCD program objectives at different levels, from high-level government officials to community and non-governmental representatives. In the same vein, must be able to transmit and interpret host country government and non-governmental sector program-related concerns to senior USAID/Iraq and U.S. Embassy officials;
- Ability to conceptualize - both strategically and programmatically;
- Ability to identify, assess and resolve impediments to program and project implementation;
- Ability to identify, assess and propose resolutions to impediments to program/project implementation;
- Ability to analyze date and to report findings, including recommendations for subsequent planning and implementation;
- Ability to keep abreast of the current environment related to national capacity development, governance, civil society and media and to package this information as required, for easy access and use by other mission personnel;
- Ability to execute and manage more than one activity at a time in the performance of program management;
- Excellent writing, analytical and oral presentation skills;
- Excellent computer skills including the use of word processing programs, preparing power point presentations, emails, databases and spreadsheets.
Additional Selection Criteria:
- Applicants already on file will be considered.
- Current employees serving in a training level are eligible to apply.
- If any candidates do not meet the full experience requirements, they may be employed at a trainee level, below the full grade of the position, and placed on a training and development plan.
- Management will finalize the hiring grade depending on the entry level qualifications of the incumbent. If the selected candidate does not meet the full requirements of the position, as stated above, s/he will be hired on a trainee level, and work under a development plan until s/he reaches the full level of the position.
Instructions for Application:
Please follow all these instructions carefully
- Please indicate the title of the position you are applying for in the subject line of your email.
- Please indicate the solicitation number in your application.
To Apply for This Solicitation no. 09-003
Please submit the following documents with an application/cover letter/email:
- A current resume or curriculum vitae providing a daytime telephone number
- Copies of any relevant supporting documentation (e.g. essays, certificates, awards and copies of degrees earned). These documents must address and be relevant to the minimum requirements of the position as listed above.
- At least three references quoting their telephone numbers (and email if possible)
- A separate page that addresses each selection criterion/qualifications detailed above with specific information supporting each item. i.e. Education, Experience, etc and how you meet these requirements.
- Do not attach original documents to your application as they will not be returned.
Candidates who do not follow these instructions will not be short listed for the position.
Please send email or hand deliver your application by 11/27/2008
USAID Iraq
EXO/Human Resources
Job Application
USAID Compound
Email: iraq-jobs@usaid.gov
www.usaid.gov/iraq/employment/html
Only short listed candidates will be contacted after the selection has been made.
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