Save the Children is seeking a Chief of Party (COP) for an anticipated three-year USAID/Office of Food for Peace (FFP) funded Multi-Year Emergency Food Assistance Activity in South Sudan. The program will seek add value to existing cash, voucher, and commodity resource pipelines through food security activities that increase the impact of FFP-supported famine prevention and food security efforts in the country. Hiring is contingent upon successful award of the project and USAID approval of the candidate.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

The proposed program will be an integrated, multi-sectoral food and nutrition security intervention. The COP is responsible for the overall management and representation of the activity, and is ultimately accountable for the delivery of desired program results, an effective adaptive management approach, relationships with a range of stakeholders, and management of the program team and consortium.

Key Functions:

• Lead overall program planning, putting in place team structures, technical and operational approaches, infrastructure, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and feedback loops required for program delivery and success.
• Lead partnerships within the program consortium, as well as with external stakeholders as needed, to create the team work required for program success.
• Represent the program to donor officials, host government officials, partner representatives, local stakeholders, and team members.
• Review, approve and contribute to major program strategies such as the M&E Plan, the Learning Plan, the collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA) approach, the Gender Strategy, and technical or thematic strategies. Provide oversight and quality control to the program’s thematic approaches and implementation, leading course corrections as required.
• Lead annual planning processes; monitoring implementation progress as compared to these plans.
• Ensure the quality of all program deliverables, inclusive of activities, outputs, documentation and reporting.
• Ensure sound program financial management and reporting.
• Ensure sound program logistical and operational structures and management.
• Ensure compliance with donor, host government and Save the Children policies and procedures.
• Recruit, develop and manage the program team, ensuring that adequate and appropriate capacity building plans are in place and that Human Resources policies are appropriate for team retention and high performance.
• Demonstrate a commitment to gender and youth integration in both the programmatic and operational aspects of the activity.
• Ensure that the program deploys an effective collaborating, learning and adapting approach, such that the activity is able to evolve in a changing context to achieve desired outcomes.
• Oversee the program’s security management approach, working with country office counterparts.

Required Qualifications

• A Master’s degree in a relevant field (development studies, international relations, agriculture, economics, nutrition, public health, business administration, etc.) combined with at least 10 years of progressively responsible experience leading and implementing international development or humanitarian assistance programs.
• Specific technical expertise in food and nutrition security and resilience programming.
• Demonstrated ability managing a program of a similar size and scope, preferably in South Sudan or similar complex, protracted crisis environment.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments, donors, other donor-funded projects and stakeholders, local organizations, and partners preferably in East Africa.
• Knowledge of and familiarity with USAID policies, rules and regulations preferred, especially FFP and OFDA.
• Experience working with national and local level clusters that are coordinated with UN Agencies is preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently.
• Excellent written communication and presentation skills in English.

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children– every day and in times of crisis– transforming their lives and the future we share.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom Save the Children is in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse. In addition, it is Save the Children’s policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of child abuse. All our representatives are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation. Any violations of this policy will be treated as a serious issue.

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.