Reference No.: AID-16-01
Position/Salary Range: (Re- advertisement) Regional Program Specialist; 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: June 3, 2016
Closing: June 27, 2016
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 Bachelor’s Degree in finance, economics, business management, or a related field or equivalent and Fluency in French (Level IV) and good working knowledge in English (level III) are requirements for this position.
Basic Function of Position:
The Regional Program Specialist is a senior Foreign Service National (FSN) in the combined USAID/Democratic Republic of Congo (USAID/DRC) and Central Africa Regional Operating Unit (CAROU) Program Office. S/he provides programmatic oversight to six distinct regional initiatives, which make up the CAROU portfolio -- 1) Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), 2) Counter Lord Resistance Army (C-RLA), 3) Central African Republic (CAR), 4) International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), 5) Republic of Congo (ROC) support, and 6) regional humanitarian assistance – operating in numerous countries throughout Central Africa. S/he is supervised by USAID/CAROU Regional Program Officer (USDH). The Regional Program Specialist serves under the overall direction of the Deputy Director in charge of CAROU in collaboration with the USAID Supervisory Program Officer. The Regional Program Specialist will oversee the full range of the Program Office and Project Development Officer (PDO) functions at all stages of the Program Cycle for CAROU programs. This includes strategic planning, project design, communications, budgeting, performance management, and ensuring that all pre-obligation and annual reporting requirements (such as the Mission Resource Request, Operational Plan and Performance Plan and Report) are met. S/he will be relied upon by top Mission Management to contribute to decision-making on a wide range of policy and programming issues. S/he will also work closely with other United States Government (USG) counterparts and USAID/DRC’s bilateral programs to foster greater coordination amongst all USG strategies and programs.
Major Duties and Responsibilities:
Program Office Leadership (40% of time)
Liaises with and fosters relationships with host governments, international donors, and civil society organization (CSO) counterparts to advance objectives of Central Africa regional programs.
Helps prepare formal agreements (implementation letters, memoranda of understanding, etc.) with key stakeholders, and drafts official correspondence related to the obligation process.
Represents USAID/CAROU at high-level, cross-sectoral meetings and workshops, as required.
Advises USAID/CAROU staff (the Deputy Director, the Regional Program Officer, and technical teams) by providing strategic, financial, and programmatic guidance.
Program Implementation and Oversight (60% of time)
Co-leads activities throughout the program cycle including the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting of USAID/CAROU activities.
Provides expert advice on performance monitoring and evaluation tools, procedures, and processes.
Participates in formal evaluations and periodic field visits of ongoing activities.
Helps develop monitoring and evaluation tools and procedures.
Helps coordinate periodic portfolio reviews.
Assures full adherence to internal procedures as well as the Agency’s policies.
Co-manages reporting processes for regional activities, including the Performance Plan and Report (PPR), Operational Plan (OP), Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ), Mission Resource and Request (MRR), and other reporting requests as needed.
Reviews program work plans and budgets.
Ensures that regional programs are properly integrated with bilateral programs.
Identifies and helps develop communication strategies and outreach materials for regional activities.
Participates in the design and review of new initiatives and activities, and participates in Technical Evaluation Committees.
Contributes to the preparation of key USAID documents such as mission strategies, Project Appraisal Documents (PADs), and Acquisition and Assistance Review and Approval Documents (AARADs).
Required Qualifications at the Full Performance Level:
Education:
Completion of a Bachelor’s Degree in finance, economics, business management, or a related field or equivalent. Master’s degree preferred.
Prior Work Experience:
A minimum of five years of prior experience in program development and oversight, including project design, performance management, budgeting, communications and/or donor coordination.
Previous experience working with or for international NGO, donor agencies, foreign governments, multilateral institutions, or international corporations is preferred. Previous experience should demonstrate increasing responsibility for exercising judgement and providing solid analysis leading to sound development assistance projects.
Language Proficiency:
S/he is required to demonstrate level IV French (spoken and written). Level III in both written and spoken English is required.
Knowledge:
A thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the principles and accepted practices of projet design, budgeting and reporting, and monitoiring and evaluation is essential. A comprehensive knowledge of U.S. Government legislation relating to development assistance or the potential to rapidly acquire such knowledge is required. Must develop a thorough understanding of the goals of USAID's program in the Central Africa Regional.
Post Entry Training:
On-the-job training on USAID rules, regulations, and procedures will commence immediately upon starting. Required formal training includes: Programming Foreign Assistance (PFM), and Program Design and Management (PDM). In addition, the Regional Program Specialist will develop an individual learning and development plan with the support of his/her supervisor that will help identify additional training needs.
Skills and Abilities:
Requires excellent judgment, sophisticated analytical and interpersonal skills and strong organizational ability. Must be able to obtain, analyze, and evaluate a variety of data; organize, interpret and present it in meaningful oral or written form for varied audiences, including higher level USAID and Embassy staff; and provide solid analysis leading to sound activity management decisions. Requires the ability to draft factual and interpretive memos, providing clear and well-supported recommendations and provide objective information and advice. The ability to develop and maintain cordial, professional relationships and perform in a team environment is a must.
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 French and good working knowledge in English 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-16-01) and the Title of the Position(s) for which you are applying (Regional Program Specialist)
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: June 27, 2016
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.
