Research Director/Chief of Party at International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. (IBTCI)

IBTCI seeks a Research Director/Chief of Party (RD/COP) for USAID’s Peace through Evaluation, Learning, and Adapting (PELA) Task Order (TO) in Ghana. The purpose of this activity is to support USAID/West Africa (USAID/WA) to be a more effective, efficient and adaptable operating unit in achieving the development objective of strengthening systems of non-violent conflict management in West Africa. The activity will strengthen USAID’s effectiveness implementing its projects; coordinating its activities; learning from its experiences; and serving as an information, communication, and thought leader regarding peace promotion and countering violent extremism (CVE) in the West Africa region. This position is based in Accra, Ghana with a period of performance of approximately 16 months.

Essential Duties/Tasks and Responsibilities:  

• Leads the PELA field office with management support from the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP);
• Provides vision, leadership, and guidance on PELA under the direction of the Project Director;
• Provides technical expertise (research, writing, training, and facilitating) in CVE, in strengthening systems of non-violent conflict management and peace promotion, and other related topics;
• Assumes overall responsibility to ensure that Task Order objectives are successfully met and that all deliverables are completed on schedule;
• Meets weekly with the PELA Home Office team;
• Ensures compliance with U.S. Government rules and regulations;
• Serves as the primary point of contact (meeting routinely) with USAID for activity design and implementation and management, with support from the DCOP;
• Manages the preparation and presentation of PELA work plans and all reports (including quarterly and annual reports), with support from the DCOP;
• Works closely with the DCOP in implementing the Activity, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP);
• May be required to travel to and in West Africa and internationally to implement select PELA activities, such as training events, pause and reflect workshops, field studies, etc.
• Performs all fiduciary duties in a responsible and professional manner;
• Reports to the PELA Project Director;
• Provides quality control, ensuring that all products delivered under PELA are technically sound and of publishable quality; and
• Supervises the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) and the work of the Research Coordinator

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Experience working on or managing USAID-funded contracts or cooperative agreements and demonstrated knowledge of relevant USAID reporting requirements, policies, and regulations;
• Demonstrated knowledge of Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) programming;
• Experience establishing and supporting networks;
• Ability to work well under limited supervision and to work with a virtual team;
• Articulate and professional, able to communicate in a clear, positive fashion with clients and colleagues, both verbally and in writing;
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail;
• Ability to be flexible and adapt to shifting client tasks and priorities;
• Oral and written proficiency in French;
• Ability to successfully manage and mentor/develop staff in a multi-country setting; and
• Previous experience working in cross-cultural settings strongly preferred.

Minimum Requirements:

• At least 10 years of experience successfully conducting or managing donor-funded analytic research and learning activities; MERL; CLA, and/or program support mechanisms;
• At least 4 years of direct program/subject matter experience in CVE, peace promotion, or non-violent conflict management;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English, including experience preparing high-quality reports and presentations.
• Education: Master’s degree in political science, sociology, monitoring and evaluation, public administration, international relations, conflict resolution and peacebuilding or related field required. PhD preferred.

Working Environment:  Work is typically performed in an office environment.

Physical Requirements:  This is largely a sedentary position that requires the ability to speak, hear, see, and lift small objects up to 20 lbs.

Supervisory Responsibility:  This position does have supervisory responsibilities.

Travel:  Travel to other countries in the West Africa region is required up to 30 percent of the time.