Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) at Pact

BACKGROUND

At the heart of Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow. A non-profit international development organization founded in 1971, Pact works on the ground in nearly 40 countries to improve the lives of those who are challenged by poverty and marginalization. We serve these communities because we envision a world where everyone owns their future. To do this, we build systemic solutions in partnership with local organizations, businesses, and governments that create sustainable and resilient communities where those we serve are heard, capable, and vibrant.

Pact is a recognized global leader in international development. Our staffs have a range of expertise in areas including public health, capacity development, governance and civil society, natural resource management, poverty, fragile states, monitoring and evaluation, small-scale and artisanal mining, microfinance and more. This expertise is combined in Pact’s unique integrated approach, which focuses on systemic changes needed to improve people’s lives.

Pact with Funding from USAID is implementing a 5 years REFRESH project. The purpose of REFRESH project is to conserve the freshwater biodiversity of Lake Malawi to restore the natural fisheries productivity, which largely underpins the food and nutrition security of the rural and urban populations by targeting the lakeshore districts of Karonga, Rumphi, Likoma, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Salima, Dedza and Mangochi. Its sub-purposes are a) the targeted Lake Malawi’s aquatic habitats are healthy and well-managed b) the endemic fish populations of targeted parts of Lake Malawi are healthy and self-sustaining and c) the fisheries in the targeted parts of Lake Malawi are managed sustainably by 2024.

Primarily, the REFRESH activity will aim to achieve the following outcomes;

1. Fisheries governance and regulatory framework strengthened.
2. Fisheries ecosystem-based management improved.
3. Decentralization of fisheries management strengthened.
4. Commercialization of conservation enterprises to counter unsustainable fishing catalyzed  and supported
5. CDCS priorities for integration advanced.

Pact seeks a Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) to support the project implementation of United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) flagship biodiversity project in Malawi, titled Restoring Fisheries for Sustainable Livelihoods in Lake Malawi (REFRESH).

Deputy Chief of Party (Salima)

The Deputy Chief of Party is a senior management position responsible for working with the Chief of Party (COP) and the technical and operational team on daily implementation of the project including providing direct technical support to staff and partners. The DCOP will assist the COP with the development and implementation of the project’s vision, strategy, and technical direction, ensuring timely progress against schedules, achievement and quality of deliverables, and quality of results. S/he will support the project team to meet the project’s technical objectives, manage project staff and financial resources, and liaise with project stakeholders and partners. The DCOP will supervise and coordinate the technical and field activity implementation team and will serve as the secondary institutional liaison with USAID.  The DCOP will also lead the project’s Strategic Approach (SA) five “Build constituencies for effective, accountable, and transparent ecosystem-based fisheries management.” This will be a full-time position based in Salima with project-funded travel to other regions in Malawi. This position will report to the Chief of Party.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure high-quality technical programming in natural resource management, fisheries management, biodiversity conservation, community and enterprise development, governance, and livelihoods through technical leadership, hands-on staff supervision, and partner support.
• Contribute to project planning, including the development of annual work plans and budgets; help guide and oversee the alignment of the budget to expected results.
• Ensure the cost-effective use of resource, including thorough review of budgets.
• Assist the COP with strategic and operational planning, including work planning.
• Lead drafting project performance reports, including quarterly and annual reports to USAID, and other required project reporting.
• Management of deadlines, drafting of reports, maintenance of records, and monitoring achievement of benchmarks in the contract.
• Build excellent working relationships, networks and alliances with government institutions, other projects, private sector, partners, and other stakeholders.
• In coordination with the COP and key personnel integrate learning, communications and policy development across relevant donor, government, and other stakeholder networks.
• Supervise and ensure the strong performance of the country office and partner staff dedicated to the project and responsible for coordinating all activities and providing technical assistance and capacity building support to project staff, grantees, and stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with HQ and donor reporting and financial requirements, policies, and regulations.
• Develop approaches for advocacy that garner support from external stakeholders across government, private sector, civil society, and academia, to advance policies and regulations that enable the implementation of inclusive participatory ecosystem-based fisheries management.
• Coordinate the dissemination of successes and lessons learned to secure financial support from existing and new relationships with governments, policymakers, donors and multilaterals.
• Represent Pact at conferences, working groups, and meetings to support Pact’s thought leadership.
• Establish appropriate monitoring mechanisms to ensure that activity progress and specific implementation concerns are regularly and promptly reported and that project objectives are met.
• Coordinate and contribute to all quarterly performance reports, contribute to monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) activities, and lead select activities aimed at fostering project learning and adaptive management.
• Serve as Acting COP in the COP’s absence.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• All other duties as assigned by direct supervisor.

Basic Requirements

• A Master’s degree or higher in one of the following fields: natural resource management, freshwater fish ecology, biodiversity conservation or other relevant international development field with bias towards capture fisheries management, natural resource governance and decentralization processes and private sector engagement.
• At least 9 plus years of demonstrated technical and managerial experience in freshwater fisheries management and conservation, natural resource management – preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• At least 5 years of demonstrated excellence in a management position, preferably in an international development context, including direct supervision of professional and support staff, quality evaluation of staff performance and deliverables, and contract/grant management.
• Experience in managing and implementing fisheries, biodiversity conservation, fisheries decentralization and governance and must provide a key leadership role, supporting both the technical direction of the program and overseeing programmatic operations projects.
• The DCOP must be the incumbent must serve as the Fish Ecologist which is one of the subject matter specialists of the activity.
• Experience supervising and leading teams and monitoring staff performance.
• Experience integrating gender and private sector engagement into development programming is preferred.
• Strong communication and coordination skills required.
• Demonstrated experience in overseeing projects or components of projects which include climate change adaptation components.
• Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills and ability to motivate staff to be accountable for project outcomes.
• Demonstrated organizational skills and strong track record in meeting deliverables and deadlines and ability to provide oversight of financial and operational aspects of projects.
• Experience interacting with government agencies, host‐country government partners and counterparts, and international donor agencies.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are required.
• The proposed candidate’s experience and education are complementary to those of other proposed candidates.
• Ability to work independently and produce timely and high-quality results.
• Ability to live, work, and travel within Malawi.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of USAID rules and regulations.
• Experience working on US Government-funded projects.
• Experience with personnel, budget, and program management.
• Fluency in Malawian local languages for day-to-day communication.

Pact is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.

Method Of Application

Direct applications to: The HR/Operations Officer, PACT Malawi, PO Box 1013, Lilongwe, Email: infomw@pactworld.org or hand delivered at PACT Malawi offices, Amina House not later than 30^th December, 2022