Chief of Party: Musasa

Deadline: 20 May 2021

Location: Harare

Musasa is a national NGO that was established in 1988 and focuses on Violence Against Women (VAW). Musasa mainly focuses on direct support to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), public education and awareness raising on Violence Against Women as well as the nexus between GBV and HIV. Musasa is seeking applications for a Chief of Party (COP) for an anticipated USAID/PEPFAR DREAMS project in Zimbabwe. The focus of the project will be to Prevent new HIV infections among Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) using the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) approach. This position is contingent upon USAID funding and approval.

Job Description

• The Chief of Party will have overall responsibility for coordination of all project activities and staff. S/he will have primary responsibility of serving as the key liaison with USAID, the Government of Zimbabwe, implementing partners, and other stakeholders. S/he will have the leadership qualities, technical expertise and experience, management experience, interpersonal skills and relationships to fulfil the requirements of the program description.
• The incumbent will provide overall vision and leadership for the successful implementation of the project encompassing: Acting as liaison between the DREAMS project and USAID/Zimbabwe, Government of Zimbabwe stakeholders, donors, and all other relevant stakeholders and client country partners; Being responsible for managing the implementation and monitoring of DREAMS activities and ensuring achievement of project deliverables;
• Managing development of, and monitoring work plans and budgets; ensuring appropriate levels of technical assistance in program operations; Overseeing and coordinating sub-contractor deliverables in program implementation;
• Ensuring appropriate program monitoring and reporting;
• Providing appropriate levels of technical assistance in program operations;
• Coordinating partner efforts in program implementation as well as ensuring appropriate program monitoring and reporting; Managing project staffing levels and supervising project staff;
• Other tasks as may be assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• The candidate should have: Demonstrated experience and knowledge of the DREAMS Project; Demonstrated capacity to build and maintain productive working relationships with government officials, civil society partners, donors, and donor-funded implementers;
• Familiarity with U.S. Government-funded programming, rules, and regulations;
• Demonstrated knowledge of USAID policies, procedures and approaches related to program design/implementation, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation;
• 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;
• Demonstrated effectiveness in developing and maintaining unbiased and professional working relationships with government officials, civil society partners, donors, and donor-funded implementers;
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Qualifications and experience

• Fifteen years of demonstrated successful leadership in managing large, complex, donor-funded programs within non-governmental organizations or private sector in a developing country context;
• Previous experience as COP on a PEPFAR-funded project;
• Demonstrated leadership in fostering successful partnership approaches and relationships among a variety of organizations/institutions including government, private sector, local NGOs, and community-based organizations;
• Master’s degree in public health or other relevant degree related to project’s outcomes;
• Candidate must demonstrate recent, practical experience in managing large HIV/AIDS programs; Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing; and Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with senior-level government officials, donors, and multilateral organizations.