Reference No.: AID-15-27
Position/Salary Range: Project Management Specialist (Peace & Stability); FSN-10
Additional benefits include allowances for Housing, Transportation,
Meals, Family, and Miscellaneous; 13th and 14th month bonuses;
annual and sick leave and medical coverage
Open To: All DRC citizens
Location: USAID/Democratic Republic of Congo
Kinshasa, DRC
Opening: November 5, 2015
Closing: November 27, 2015
Work Hours: Full-Time; 40 hours/week
USAID/Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an equal opportunity employer, seeks applicants for the above position.
Completion of a Undergraduate/Graduate degree in International Relations, Public Administration, Political Science, Law, International Development, or a closely related field and Fluency in English and French (Level IV) are requirements for this position.
Basic Function of Position:
Under the general supervision of the Transition Objective 3 Office (TO3O) Director, the incumbent shall serve as an integral member of the TO3 team, and shall assume primary management of up to five activities each ranging from $300,000 to $7 million/year. TO3O is responsible for a broad range of cross-cutting issues as well as for stabilization and recovery programs to help establish the foundation for durable peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. On a regular basis, the incumbent interacts with the other TO3 Team members, the Program Office, the Financial Management Office, other programmatic teams, the U.S. Embassy, donors, government and civil society counterparts, implementing partners, and the regional contracting office.
Major Duties and Responsibilities:
Program Management. The incumbent shall serve as Contracting Officer/Agreement Officer’s Technical Representative (COR/AOR) for up to five grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts with TO3 implementing partners.
Activity management shall consist of:
• Maintaining close contact with NGO or contractor chiefs of party.
• Developing work plans, Performance Management Plans (PMPs), and reviewing calendars.
• Monitoring activity implementation by means of meetings with implementing entities, site visits, analyses of partners’ quarterly and monthly reports, drafting success stories and outreach materials.
•Preparing procurement documents as required: scopes of work, action memoranda, justifications, waivers, and financial management documents.
•Preparing budget and work plan realignments when needed.
•Recommending approval of key personnel for programs.
•Performing accrued expenditure calculations and funds pipeline analyses.
•Coordinating USAID programs with other donors, Government officials and local NGOs
Strategy Development. The incumbent shall obtain background and information needed to guide USAID interventions and the development of USAID policy positions in the TO3 sector. The incumbent shall, on an as-needed basis, assist the TO3O Director in development of strategic documents which shall include: any overall Mission program strategies; annual Operational Plans; annual Congressional Budget Justifications; and other reports as required.
The incumbent will served as a key member of USAID/DRC’s Transition Objective Team by advising technical offices on cultural contexts and local perceptions of USG programs.
•Reporting on results achieved.
•Developing recommendations to enhance the impact of TO3 programs in collaboration with the USAID/Monitoring & Evaluation staff: analyze macro political and development trends, opportunities and issues that arise in the TO3 area, create linkages with other USAID teams’ partners networks as needed (for instance for dissemination of documents), devise indicators and monitoring systems for programs.
•Establishing synergies amongst the TO3 partners and between them and other partners from the US Mission, especially from USAID, and from other counterparts as necessary.
•Performing ad-hoc reports requested by Mission management and USAID/Washington.
•Working with the TO3 Team to devise out-year and multi-year strategies for new programs, coordination with other stakeholders, and reporting.
•Participate on evaluation and assessment teams.
•Draft descriptions for new programs
•Serve on technical evaluation committees to review proposals for new programs and suggested modifications to current ones
Representation: The incumbent shall, on an as needed basis, represent USAID at meetings, conferences, seminars and other events.
•Communicating USAID’s position to Government, other donor or UN organizations.
•Giving interviews to local media (to be performed in coordination with the US Embassy’s Public diplomacy.).
•Serving on sub-sector donor coordination groups, such as for security sector reform
Additional USAID/DRC Activity Support: The incumbent shall support USAID/DRC through a variety of assigned tasks. S/he will serve on Mission teams that guide the development, implementation and evaluation of USAID/DRC’s assistance and systems.
Required Qualifications at the Full Performance Level:
Education:
Undergraduate/Graduate degree in International Relations, Public Administration, Political Science, Law, International Development, or a closely related field.
Prior Work Experience:
Five year’s work experience in a relevant field in the DRC. Project/activity management experience.
Language Proficiency:
Requires level 4 French and level 4 English (both verbal and written).Oral fluency in local Congolese language (Kiswahili preferred).
Knowledge:
Knowledge of international development concepts, principles and activity implementation. Knowledge and experience in peace and stability programming and/or public administration.
Skills and Abilities:
Demonstrated high-level analytic, activity management and written and oral presentation skills. Ability to work well on teams, demonstrated ability to take initiative and be pro-active, and strong interpersonal skills.
Evaluation Criteria and Weights:
Education/Weighted 20% based on initial application review;
English Language Skills/Weighted 20% based on application review, written assessment and interview;
Prior Work Experience/Weighted 20% based on application review and interview;
Knowledge/Weighted 20% based on written assessment and interview; and
Skills and Abilities/Weighted 20% based on written assessment and interview.
How the selection will be made:
The successful candidate will be selected based upon
A preliminary review of the applicant's submitted package to establish that minimum educational and English writing fluency requirements are met.
Tests to include an English writing skills test, a Microsoft Office proficiency test that might include any of the following: Word, Excel, PowerPoint; and any technical skill test that might be deemed appropriate.
A personal or telephone interview.
Reference checks.
USAID/DRC’s Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) and Human Resources Section will perform the preliminary review (Step 1 above) to eliminate those applications that do not meet the minimum educational and written English language requirements.
The TEC will review each of the applications which meet the minimum qualifications against the established evaluation criteria to develop a shortlist of applicants to be tested and possibly interviewed. Applicants will be contacted for testing (Step 2) and interviews. Based on the results of the tests, however, an applicant otherwise identified for interview could be dropped from the interview list.
Following the interview (Step 3) during which the applicant will be evaluated against the established criteria, the TEC will make a preliminary determination of candidates to be considered for employment and forward that list to HR.
HR will conduct and document the reference checks (Step 4) prior to advising the TEC of the results of these checks. Please note that references may be solicited from current as well as former supervisors in addition to the references you provide in your application package.
References will only be solicited for those interviewed applicants who are being considered for ranking.
Based on this final input, the TEC will make its final decision on which candidates to rank order, prepare a Selection Memo for review and approval by the Contracting Officer, after which an offer of employment will be made to the successful candidate, and unsuccessful candidates who were interviewed will be contacted and advised of their non-selection.
As positive medical and security clearances are a condition of employment, the selected candidate will undergo stringent investigation prior to employment with USAID/DRC.
USAID/DRC reserves the right to hire an applicant who does not meet the required experience level at a trainee level. However, an applicant who does not meet the minimum educational requirements cannot be hired at either a trainee or full performance level.
Compensation:
The position will be compensated in accordance with the U.S. Embassy’s Local Compensation Plan (LCP). The successful candidate’s salary level will be based on prior job-related experience and salary history.
To Apply:
ONLY applicants who meet the minimum educational and fluency in English and French requirements as stated in the solicitation document will be considered. Interested applicants who do not meet these requirements are encouraged NOT to apply since these applications will not be considered.
A complete application package consists of the following:
Application for U.S. Federal Employment, DS-174 - Job Application Form. The form can be found in the US embassy website (http://kinshasa.usembassy.gov/opportunities/jobs.html)
A cover letter demonstrating how prior experience and/or training address the minimum qualifications and selection criteria,
A current resume or curriculum vitae (CV), and
Names and contact numbers of three professional references.
Ensure that all communications (including your Cover Letter) include the Announcement Reference Number (AID-15-27) and the Title of the Position(s) for which you are applying (Project Management Specialist- Peace & Stability)
Submit the complete application package via email, to [email protected]
Failure to comply with these instructions may result in your application being considered “non responsive” and eliminated from further consideration.
Point of Contact:
Sandra Kiyanga: [email protected]
Only short-listed candidates will be acknowledged.
DEFINITION:
Foreign Service National (FSN): A host country national employed at a U.S. Mission abroad, who is not a U.S. citizen, nor a family member of a direct-hire Foreign, Civil, or uniformed service member under Chief of Mission authority.
Closing date for this position: November 27, 2015.
The U.S. Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo provides opportunity and fair and equitable treatment in employment to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, marital status or sexual orientation. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also strives to ensure equal employment opportunity in all personnel operations. Women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.
