Deputy Chief of Party, USAID Burkina Faso Health Systems Strengthening  

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.  

This Proposal Opportunity:

The USAID Burkina Faso Health Systems Strengthening program aims to enhance Burkina Faso's healthcare system over a 5-year period. Through forging strategic partnerships, the program seeks sustainable solutions to address critical health challenges and improve access to quality services. The Deputy Chief of Party will collaborate closely with the Chief of Party to ensure overall leadership and effective management of the project. This includes meeting technical objectives, harmonizing program activities, managing staff and partnering agreements, maintaining positive relationships with the government of Burkina Faso and local partners, overseeing client reporting, and ensuring high-quality service delivery.

Under the supervision of the Chief of Party (COP), the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) leads technical aspects of the project in compliance with USAID and Palladium rules and regulations to achieve project objectives. The DCOP will also regularly engage with and maintain good relationships with relevant actors. They provide support to the COP in liaising, programmatic, strategic development, and quality control duties, ensuring high-quality service delivery. With depth and breadth of technical expertise and experience, a solid professional reputation, interpersonal skills, and professional relationships, they fulfill the requirements of the activity, working closely with the COP to provide overall leadership and management of the project.

*This is a proposal position and is contingent upon award from USAID.*

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Provide strategic leadership and oversight to support the Chief of Party (COP), ensuring effective management of the activity.
Serve as a senior member of the program's leadership team, assisting the COP in overseeing project staff and activities.
Co-lead and oversee programmatic functions, including the development of work plans, budgets, and reports, to ensure the successful implementation of the program strategy.
Maintain effective and open communication with key stakeholders, including the Chief of Party, USAID, Project Director, Technical Leads, and project operations teams.
Collaborate with the Chief of Party and project staff to continuously refine implementation processes by integrating lessons learned and best practices.
Assume the role of acting Chief of Party in their absence, providing continuity and leadership to the project.
Support the Chief of Party in providing technical direction, oversight, and quality control for all program activities, ensuring integration and collaboration across all areas.
Offer technical and programmatic guidance and support for project activities.
Coordinate with USAID representatives, USG projects, and other development partners to ensure collaboration and integrated approaches.
Serve as the direct liaison with the USAID Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) in the absence of the Chief of Party.
Provide functional guidance to project staff and partners, ensuring deliverables are met within timelines and budgets.
Promote sustainability of project activities through networking, capacity building, and institutional strengthening.
Manage a diverse staff of technical leads to ensure efficient technical implementation. • Utilize analytical techniques to identify and resolve issues or problems.
Organize and support project trainings, conferences, workshops, and meetings as needed.
Represent the project in external associations, conferences, and symposia, and prepare necessary project-related reports.
Perform other duties as requested.

Key Competencies Required:

Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Administration, or related field.
Minimum eight years of managerial experience, ideally overseeing large donor projects involving multiple partners, with demonstrated skills in strategic planning, management, supervision, and budgeting.
Comprehensive knowledge of USAID contract management, policies, regulations, and reporting requirements.
Extensive experience in health systems strengthening and proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams effectively.
Demonstrated expertise with USAID planning and reporting systems, operations, and programming, including previous leadership roles.
Track record of building teams, fostering collaboration, and achieving high-quality deliverables.
Success in partnership building with diverse stakeholders, including public and private sectors, government representatives, donors, and community organizations.
Proficient in interpersonal communication, writing, presentation, organization, and computer skills (Outlook, Word, Excel).
Detail-oriented with the ability to balance multiple tasks and priorities within designated timeframes.
Responsive and adaptable to changing requirements and demands.
Fluency in both English and French is required.

Professional Expertise/Competencies Preferred:

Fluency in both English and French is required.
Burkina Faso nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.  

Should you require any adjustments or accommodation to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss. 

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.