Chief of Party, I- Small Town WASH at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Req Number: I4710
Location: Adamawa, Nigeria
Position Type: Full Time
Position Status: Regular

Job Summary

• The Chief of Party (COP) will have overall responsibility for the USAID/Nigeria Small Town WASH program.
• Responsibilities include meeting program objectives and deliverables while providing overall leadership in technical, administrative, operational, and management aspects.
• The COP will act as the primary relationship manager for the program with USAID/Nigeria, Government of Nigeria, partners and external stakeholders.

Specific Job Responsibilities

• Provide overall strategic guidance, leadership, management and general technical oversight of the entire program, with a strong focus on achieving defined results.
• Act as the key liaison with the USAID AOR, Government of Nigeria, all implementing partners and stakeholders involved with the program.
• Represent the program and present its work nationally and globally to CRS leadership, the donor, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Lead, manage, supervise and mentor program staff and consortium partners.
• Ensure high-quality monitoring and evaluation of program impact and timely submission of donor reports and deliverables.
• Ensure compliance with CRS and USAID policies and requirements
• Ensure coordination between program and operations teams; and ensuring CRS program quality standards are adhered to as per MEAL policy and procedures.
• Oversee compliance with USAID regulations, including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, administration and reporting to USAID.
• Create and maintain proper conditions for learning. Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies. Identify performance gaps and training opportunities for CRS and partner staff and recommend trainings and technical assistance.

Key Working Relationships:

• Supervisory: DCoP / WASH Engineer and Institutional Capacity Development Manager
• Internal: Consortium Partners, CoPs and Program Managers of other CRS programs, Director of Early Recovery and Resilience, Support Departments including Operations etc.
• External: Government Ministry Agencies (MDAs), UN agencies, Peer agencies (NGOs) and Community Representatives.

Agency Wide Competences (for all CRS staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results:

• Serves with Integrity
• Models Accountability and Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning
• Committed to Continuous Improvement and Innovation
• Has a Strategic Mindset
  

Qualifications and Skills

• Masters' Degree in Engineering, Water Resource Management, Water and Sanitation, Administration, Management or other relevant field.
• At least ten (10) years of management experience on USG-funded activities.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of management experience on water and sanitation projects
• Track record of managing large and diverse teams.
• Demonstrated experience in institutional strengthening, capacity building and market-based approaches to WASH services.
• Capacity to build and maintain relationships with host governments, donors, other donor-funded programs and stakeholders, local organizations, and partners.
• Experience managing programmatic and financial reporting requirements.
• Experience with USAID rules, regulations and requirements.
• Experience working in sub-Saharan Africa required. Prior experience in Nigeria preferred
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of office applications.

Personal Skills:

• Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
• Team leadership abilities with diverse/multi-disciplinary teams. Coaching skills.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented.

Required Foreign Language:

• English fluency, including excellent oral and written skills, required. Proficiency in Hausa or Kanuri preferred.

Required Travel:

• To field locations in Nigeria

Work Environment:

• Office environment; preferably in the North East States.