Chief of Party – Democratic Republic of the Congo, Feed the Future 

DAI is recruiting Chief of Party (COP) candidates for the anticipated USAID/Democratic Republic of Congo’s Feed the Future flagship agriculture activity, anticipated award in 2024. The award, which is expected to range between $50-$100 million, has been developed based on USAID’s identification of the DRC as a Feed the Future target country, laying the foundation for a focused approach for reducing poverty and malnutrition over a five-year span in areas where USAID works. Agriculture transformation and development sits at the crux of this initiative which aims to reduce global hunger, malnutrition, and poverty through inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth while strengthening resilience among individuals, households, communities, and systems. A well-nourished population, especially among women and children, is the expected result. Poverty reduction, nutrition and resilience are higher level objectives of the Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) and are an essential part of any FtF program. Inclusion of gender, youth and marginalized populations in programming as well as opportunities for locally led and private sector-led development are important. 

Responsibilities: 

The COP will be responsible for overall project management, including field team mobilization and leadership; development and implementation of work plans, operational budgets and performance monitoring plans; coordination with the USAID mission, government officials, other donors and partner organizations; timely submission of quality deliverables; and ensuring achievement of the project results and objectives. The COP will supervise key project staff in the office and in the field and will ensure compliance with USAID rules and regulations and DAI policies. The position will be based in Kinshasa with frequent travel to the Kasai Central and Kongo Central regions. The COP will lead interventions which align with the GFSS primary objectives of inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth; strengthened resilience among people, communities, countries, and systems; and a well-nourished population, especially among women of child-bearing age and children under five

Required Qualifications:  

·       Minimum of 10 years of demonstrated experience in international development, with USAID Feed the Future experience strongly preferred;

·       At least 5 years of management and supervisory experience on complex donor-funded projects of similar scale;

·       Demonstrated track record of building and managing collaborative partnerships among diverse government, community, private-sector, and market systems actors, from the international to community level;

·       Successful experience managing teams in remote field locations and coordinating integrated multi-sector technical activities;

·       Technical expertise in one or more of the following areas: tropical agriculture (crops, livestock, fisheries, agroforestry), food security and nutrition, rural infrastructure, water, and power development, seed systems, rural livelihoods and enterprises, Market Systems Development (MSD) and resilience, small and medium-enterprise (SME) development, and capacity-development of civil society organizations and local government entities.

·       Demonstrated experience overseeing monitoring, evaluation, and continuous learning on development projects;

·       Demonstrated excellent oral, written, and verbal communication abilities in English and French, required; and

·       Significant experience working in the Democratic Republic of Congo and/or regional West and Central Africa countries, with preference given to prior experience in the Kasais and Western Congo.