Resident Director at National Democratic Institute

Job Function: International
Department: Central & West Africa

Details

• The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) is seeking a Resident Director with strong management skills and legislative development, civil society elections support and/or political party experience to oversee the implementation of its democracy support program in Nigeria.
• The Resident Director in Nigeria reports to NDI’s Regional Director for Central and West Africa.  This position is based in Abuja, Nigeria and would require occasional travel elsewhere within the country. Please note that donor approval is required to fill this position.
• The Director will be responsible for overall office management, including financial and human resource management, as well as supervisory responsibility for the design, implementation and evaluation of all NDI-Nigeria programs. The Director will provide leadership and oversight to a team of talented and experienced national staff.  S/he will be NDI’s principal liaison with the donor community, representatives from the Nigerian government, local political and civil society organizations, USAID, DFID and other donors. Close coordination will also be expected with NDI-Washington, including frequent communication with the Washington-based staff.

NDI Programs in Nigeria
Since the 1998/99 transition from military to civilian rule, NDI has supported the efforts of Nigerian civil society and legislators to strengthen the country’s political processes and nascent democratic institutions.  With support from USAID and DFID, NDI conducted election monitoring programs for every election since 1999. NDI currently provides technical assistance to Nigerian civil society groups as they: engage in systematic citizen observation of upcoming gubernatorial races; conduct voter education programs targeting youth on the importance of peaceful elections;  advocate to prevent gender-based electoral violence; and conduct issue-based advocacy to increase the political inclusion of marginalized groups. NDI is also working to strengthen women’s political participation by supporting women legislators to be more effective and political parties at the national and state levels to be more inclusive. 

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain strong working relations with the donor and diplomatic communities, international organizations, and in-country partners, including political and elected officials and local civic organizations
• Manage frequent external and internal communication to produce high-quality program reports and effectively coordinate program activities
• Manage the successful implementation of NDI program activities, including evaluation and reporting
• Oversee the proper accounting, management, and planning of budget funds in coordination with local accountant and NDI/Washington;
• Manage expatriate and local employees, including hiring, performance reviews, staff development, program implementation, and adherence to human resource policies
• Coordinate, with NDI/Washington, timetables and staff assignments for developing proposals, budgets, work plans, and reports and ensure documents reflect NDI priorities, strategy, needs and objectives
• Coordinate regular informal and formal communication with NDI/Washington on program and political developments, including regular program and financial reports;
• Provide, as needed, skills-building training and informal consultations for political, elected and civic leaders
• Serve as the principal liaison between NDI and international donor representatives in country, Nigerian officials, legislators and staff, political party leaders, local non-governmental organizations, the media and U.S. and other government representatives
• Assist NDI in obtaining funding from international donors for new programs in Nigeria

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in International Relations, Political Science, Public Administration, or a related subject
• A minimum of fourteen (14) years program management experience overseeing international development programs, preferably in the field of democracy and governance, in the political field, with experience working to expand women's political participation, enhance political party outreach capacity, and/or bolster civil society involvement in political processes preferred
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with senior political and civic leaders as well as members of the donor and diplomatic community
• Demonstrated experience in proactively navigating and ensuring compliance with host country legal and reporting requirements
• Substantial experience overseeing and implementing programs, managing staff, and ensuring compliance with financial regulations, and operations and human resources, including experience in overseeing sub-grants to local partners
• Experience in program management with experience implementing US government-funded programs preferred;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with and build relationships with senior political and civic leaders, U.S. and foreign government personnel and policy makers, and members of donor organizations
• Substantial program design and management, proposal writing and financial management experience, including experience in initiating and managing sub-grants preferred
• Ability to motivate and inspire a diverse group of professionals in a challenging environment, instilling a strong sense of mission and team work to program implementation
• Ability to communicate skills and experience to others as a trainer, advisor and consultant
• Demonstrated ability to conduct and apply sophisticated political analysis to programmatic activities
• Knowledge of political processes and actors of Nigeria preferred
• Proven capacity to meet program goals while managing financial, administrative, and security responsibilities;
• Proven ability to effectively communicate skills and experiences to others as a trainer and/or adviser;
• Demonstrated ability to conduct and apply sophisticated political analysis to programmatic activities;
• Excellent managerial, interpersonal, and networking skills, as well as the ability to establish and maintain professional political relationships;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English required to effectively present information, respond to questions and negotiate outcomes
• Excellent organizational, networking and managerial skills, as well as the ability to conduct professional political relationships
• Experience working in the developing world, and an ability to work in a highly challenging and stressful environment
• Experience with Google Apps (Gmail, Calendar, Google Drive, G+, etc.) strongly desired.
• Ability and willingness to travel to regional locations which may be remote and difficult to reach