Deputy Chief of Party THRIVE WASH Project

• Kigali, Rwanda
• Contract
• Contract type: National employment contract

Company Description

SNV Netherlands Development Organization is a not-for-profit international development organization founded in the Netherlands in 1965; and currently maintains a global presence in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  As an organisation, SNV focuses on the Agriculture, WASH, and Energy sectors and maintains the belief that no one should have to live in poverty; and that all people should have the opportunity to pursue their own sustainable development. SNV contributes to programming within the Agriculture, WASH and Energy sectors by strengthening the capacities of targeted partners and communities at the field level; in order to realize increased skill sets and sustainable performance; reduce poverty levels, expand employment; improve food security; while paying special attention to gender equity, social inclusion of marginalized groups and stakeholder accountability.

Context and Purpose of the Job

SNV has been present in Rwanda since 1980, and currently implements projects in agriculture, WASH, and Renewable Energy. The Country Program has around 50 staff and implements its projects through local and international partners, with strong coordination/collaboration with Government of Rwanda structures. The FY20 program value is approximately $5 million.

A proposal-based position, as Deputy Chief of Party I you will provide programmatic leadership and overall staff management of the five-year USAID THRIVE WASH program pending a successful bid for the award. Your leadership, management, and technical knowledge will ensure the delivery of high-quality programming and advance the position of SNV as a leading agency in WASH programming.

The Deputy Chief of Party (DCoP) will oversee the development, management and implementation of the anticipated WASH project. The project is aiming to improve access to, and utilization of, safe drinking water and sanitation services in ten districts in Rwanda. The Deputy Chief of Party is expected to lead a team to;

 1) strengthen decentralized WASH governance, including improving District WASH Boards performance and increasing public funding for the WASH sector;

2) Improve Rural Drinking Water Services, including improving the capacity of district WASH services regulator, provision of reliable water services, and increasing funds for operations and maintenance, and;

3) improve rural sanitation services through increasing user’s willingness to pay for sanitation services and products and availability of sanitation services and products.

Job Description

Project Set-up and Design

Lead all aspects of the implementation and management of the WASH program, including sharing how the project contributes to the thought leadership of the industry.

Ensure the project is designed and implemented to meet donor expectations in terms of timely and quality results and budget, including strategies for phase out and sustainability. Ensure coordination between program and operations leads. Ensure SNV program quality standards are adhered to the monitoring and evaluation policy and procedures

Project Management

Effectively manage programming and operations talent. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring. Strategically tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports. Oversee the development of staffing plans and the recruitment process of senior staff.

Project Quality Assurance

Identifies and proposes technical process improvements to the project team. Acts on improvement areas within the local internal organization and processes and gives feedback. Ensures lessons learned are applied in daily practice.

Manage and mitigate risk through monitoring national and regional issues that may impact staff and programming.

Oversee the development of communication strategies and materials, complying with donor and SNV’ branding and marketing requirements and procedures.

Contract Management & Project Accounting

Manages and accounts for full compliance of administrative, finance, and HR components of the project with SNV internal procedures and requirements specified in the donor-, sub-grant-, sub-consultancy-, partner-, consortium- and Local Capacity Builders contracts.

Ensures that approval for, coding, and booking of all expenditures is done according to the relevant procedures and authorisation levels. Prepares, accounts for, manages, and reports on project budget (and revisions thereof). Discusses and obtains approval of donor for contract / budget deviations. Ensures security and (financial risk) mitigation (incl. due diligence). Fully understands procurement and comply with requirements and contracts.

People Management & Team Leadership

Create and maintain proper conditions for learning. Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyse, and respond quickly to deficiencies. Identify performance gaps and training opportunities for SNV and partner staff and ensure the design and delivery of high-quality training and technical.

Guides, develops, coaches, and motivates team members and prepares resource estimation based on the forecast in order to attract and recruit (SNV staff, consultants, and/or Local Capacity Builders).

Advises HR and country management on contract conditions for consultants and Local Capacity Builders, within guidelines and project budget.

Business development

Coordinate relationships with consortium partner organizations, including organization of review/planning workshops. Contribute to coordination of the roles and activities of staff from other consortium member organizations in implementation in line with SNV partnership principles.

Analysis & Reporting

Ensures collection, consolidation, and review of project information, according to SNV’s monitoring and evaluation guidelines. Analyses and provides advice to management how to incorporate the new insights/best practices into the organization’s policies and practices.

Knowledge Development

Contributes to internal and external knowledge development, by full documentation and sharing of project insights and results. Develops knowledge by attending workshops and conferences. Ensures lessons learned are shared and applied in daily practice. When applicable can be appointed as (national) focal point of an expertise network.

Know How

• Professional Project Manager, with strong knowledge of project management procedures, administrative systems, relevant platforms, and finance processes; but not limited to the following;
• 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.
• Presentation and facilitation skills.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions oriented and results oriented.

Complexity

Provide project management within moderately complex setting: project approach involves considerable new developments, complex (interdependent) requirements (e.g. contracts), and/or an unstable political and unsecure situation within the country/countries. A lot of coordination is required.

Supervision

Work is not closely supervised and governed by standardized work routines. Room for initiative.

Impact

Direct impact on multiple country project delivery through project management, requiring proficiency and support.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

• Master’s degree in specialized/ relevant technical field with 6 or more years’ experience in development work and project implementation or technical field
• Prior experience as a Deputy Chief of Party or comparable senior leadership position.
• Demonstrated experience of successful program management, including management of complex, high-value, multi-activity projects with WASH
• Experience engaging partners (local organizations, private sector, government, etc.) and strengthening partnerships.
• Ability to represent and present at high levels.
• Excellent Communication in English both written and verbal.

Leadership

The ability to provide direction and guidance to a group of people and to encourage cooperation between team members in order to attain an objective.

Planning and Organizing

The ability to determine goals and priorities and to assess the actions, time and resources needed to achieve those goals.

Decisiveness

The ability to make active decisions or to commit oneself by speaking one’s mind and taking position.

Conceptual thinking

Having and gaining insight into situations, problems, and processes. Deconstructing problems and systematically investigating the various components. Having a complete picture of the context and overview of the whole problem.

Result orientation

The ability to take direct action in order to attain or exceed objectives.

Focus on quality

Setting high quality standards and striving for continuous improvement and quality assurance.

Key Working Relationships

Internal: Country Director, Chief of Party, WASH Sector Lead, Programming staff, Country Finance Manager, Global WASH Sector Head for SNV

External: Donor, government agencies, partner INGOs, and local NGOs

*This position is contingent upon award of the funding opportunity and the USAID’s approval of the DCoP candidate.

Additional Information

Deadline for Submission

Closing date is November 17th, 2020.

NB: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted