United States of America: Senior Program Officer - SENIO01293-00001

THE ORGANIZATION

If you have a passion for making the world a better place and want to have a front row seat to the world stage, USIP is the place for you.

We are a nonpartisan institute chartered by Congress to tackle the world’s toughest problems. Working in conflict zones around the world, our staff advise and support community leaders, government officials, and the military – to promote knowledge and practices that prevent, mitigate and resolve violent conflict. To learn more about USIP programs and job openings go to https://www.usip.org/about/careers. The Institute is headquartered in Washington DC with staff working in 22 different countries, at any given time up to 20% of the staff could be deployed working in the field.

JOB BRIEF

The Senior Program Officer, based in Erbil, provides overall support to USIP’s program in Iraq that aims to enable the voluntary return of internally displaced communities from Nineweh Plains and Western Nineweh. She/he will lead a coalition of national partners and manage development and planning, and financial management, as described in the following sections. The incumbent will also perform other duties as assigned. This position reports to the Iraq Country Manager.

MAJOR DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead coalition of 5 national partners, while being responsible for project team management, planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation;
• Lead implementation of project activities in line with established goals, objectives, and partnership agreements;
• Develop and maintain stakeholder relationships critical to the successful implementation of all activities;
• Oversee and deliver monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting for both internal and external project stakeholder, including responsibility for the development, editing and timely submission of any donor progress reports as required, coordinating with HQ and/or regional counterparts;
• Lead research on related thematic areas as needed and develop reports, analysis, etc.;
• Coordinate meetings with U.S. government partner agencies and key national and international stakeholders;
• Ensure the highest level of communication and cooperation with relevant USIP departments/teams;
• Contribute to USIP’s understanding of returnee/stabilization issues;
• Support efforts to represent the project and USIP Iraq programs in internal and external events and meetings, disseminate information about USIP projects, findings, and subject matter expertise;
• Ensure all project staff follow USIP policies and procedures in terms of security, finance, administration, and operations;
• Oversees the overall monitoring and evaluation strategy in coordination with other team members;
• Identify and evaluate problem areas or constraints that may inhibit attainment of program objectives;
• Support the Regional Security Coordinator with local security updates and maintain a high level of security awareness at all times;

• Oversee the implementation of the monitoring and evaluation plan;

• Lead the development, coordination, planning, monitoring & evaluation for the above-mentioned project (e.g., assisting the design of the program; developing program’s plan, goals, objectives, and approaches; obtaining appropriate resources required to support program goals and objectives, assist etc.);

• Builds and manages a support network (e.g., leads a team of staff supporting the implementation of programs, is responsible for meeting project goals and objectives, develops and presents on the status project goals and objectives, etc.);

• Serves as the senior expert on the project (e.g., conducts research; presents at conferences and workshops; provides advice and counsel to other public and private organizations; develops publications, training courses, workshops, training and educational programs and materials; conducts training courses and lectures);

• Manages the program budget to ensure that the program is operating within its budget limitations in order to meet its goals and objectives;

• Builds strategic partnerships and cultivates contacts with subject matter experts and a wide variety of external organizations to leverage resources and combine efforts to promote USIP program initiatives and goals;

· Performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Masters degree in international relations or related field or equivalent experience required.
• A minimum of 5-7 years of relevant professional experience required.
• Management and supervisory experience
• Demonstrated experience with Iraq.
• Strong research and analytical skills.
• Excellent writing and communications skills, as well as cross-cultural skills, media skills, and the ability to deal with counterparts on every political, social and economic level.
• Prior experience working with and extensive knowledge of USIP and USAID is required.
• Relevant knowledge of Project and Personnel Management and Mentoring processes, and familiarity with USIP programs in the Middle East.
• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Familiarity with drafting and negotiating proposals and writing reports for USG agencies such as INL, DRL and USAID.
• Knowledge of Technical expertise relevant to the region such as IDPs, stabilization, resilience, reconciliation, and capacity-building approaches.
• Professional fluency in English language is required. Knowledge of Arabic or Kurdish is a plus.

HOW TO APPLY:

To be considered for this position, please submit a complete application package by November 15, 2018 consisting of:

1. Cover letter
2. Resume

Only those applicants that are selected for further discussions will be contacted.

USIP is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy and practice of USIP to offer equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, age, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, HIV/AIDS status, political affiliations or belief, pregnancy, or any other characteristic protected by law.

To apply for this position, please use the following URL:
https://ars2.equest.com/?response_id=0dafd7a508ece1abfb55bc885b7daa1f