Deputy Chief of Party I at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Job Summary:

CRS is seeking a Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP) for an anticipated CDC-funded global childhood immunization project. The project will reach zero- and under-immunized children with immunization services in Northern Nigeria in fragile and conflict settings. Project interventions will focus on: (a) Supporting immunization uptake for polio eradication, measles and rubella reduction and elimination, hepatitis B and maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination; (b) strengthening  surveillance systems to improve preparedness and response to outbreaks of VPDs; (c) establishing global laboratory networks for polio and measles/rubella; (d) planning and implementing supplemental immunization campaigns; and (e) strengthening of immunization delivery systems and capacities. The DCoP will serve as the project’s Senior Technical Advisor, and will provide technical advice, guidance, and support to a wide range of program design and implementation issues on the immunization project in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices. Also, ensures the Country Program (CP) teams the advance delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. The DCoP’s technical knowledge, advice and guidance will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive, and innovative CRS’ immunization programming is across the project. 

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership to the project to achieve expected project results within expectations and timeframe.
• Serve as key technical liaison to CDC, the states and country government's technical staff, ensuring high levels of coordination, while nurturing relationships with all key stakeholders (including partner organizations at the national and subnational level) on technical and programmatic matters related to the project.
• Support the CoP in liaising with other implementing partners and stakeholders, to ensure coordination of and harmonization with other relevant immunization prevention, mitigation and response mechanism, private sector engagement, and USG activities globally.
• Ensure results-oriented technical components and high-quality and timely deliverables and reports.
• Oversee implementing partners and advise on technical issues.
• Support the CoP in ensuring the achievement of project deliverables, including ensuring technical report preparation and high-quality timely submission, and ensuring cross-cutting issues are effectively integrated into project implementation.
• Direct preparation of annual work plans, project activity updates, and other project-related communication and reporting materials.
• Support the CoP to represent the project in technical, policy, and programmatic fora at all levels (country, national, and international). Identify lessons learned and best practices for external dissemination.
• Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, WASH and Nutrition activities. 
• Provide technical solutions to project teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening initiatives in immunization programming for staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and mentoring and coaching to project staff.
• Contribute to knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating strategic projects, assisting with measuring program impact, capturing, and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and research and internal reports.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment.
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Initiative-taking, resourceful and results-oriented

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in medicine or public health with concentration in immunization and global health required.
• Minimum of eight years relevant international working experience in an advisory or management role with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of five years working for programming interventions in international health programs
• Previous experience providing technical assistance related to infectious diseases and intervention and child immunization highly preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of USG framework of addressing childhood immunization in fragile context and familiarity with CDC policy and strategies to address childhood immunizations.
• Experience collaborating and coordinating with local and national host government agencies and aligning program activities and results with national strategies.
• Demonstrated leadership qualities, including technical, management, and evaluation expertise for complex programs in resource-constrained countries.
• Knowledge of and experience with CDC rules and regulations required.
• Strong staff supervision skills and demonstrated ability to coordinate programs with partners from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences; demonstrated ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams.
• Experience building the capacity of national non-government partner organizations to achieve CDC's goal of localization for future funding.
• Strong communication skills, including both written and oral presentation skills; proven ability to develop and communicate a common vision among diverse public and private partners.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.