Chief of Party for Forest and Biodiversity Support Activity

Funded by USAID through the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), USAID’s Forest and Biodiversity Support Activity, implemented by Tetra Tech International Development (www.tetratech.com/intdev), works with environmental stakeholders in the Congo Basin to address large-scale threats to forests and biodiversity. The Activity, which runs from August 2020 through August 2025, strengthens local institutions via targeted capacity-building, improved knowledge-sharing and communications across conservation networks, and generation of new analysis and evidence to support policy reforms and greater innovation among conservation and sustainable natural resource management approaches. To implement these strategies, the Activity works closely with a broad network of institutions including civil society, media, government, and other conservation and development practitioners in the countries of the Congo Basin. The Activity is currently accepting expressions of interest for a replacement Chief of Party based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Position Description/Summary: The Chief of Party is responsible for the overall implementation of USAID’s Forest and Biodiversity Support Activity, providing technical and operational leadership for all aspects of Activity implementation including technical leadership of workstreams on improved forest, biodiversity and land management, effective enforcement of forest and wildlife crime, or inclusive markets and sustainable finance for conservation and forest management as well as grants, communications, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities. This is a full-time position based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo with some domestic and regional travel within Central Africa.

Responsibilities:

* Lead all aspects of project implementation and communications including maintaining strong relationships with the USAID COR and ensuring technical quality and timeliness

* Supervise all senior staff, as well as provide oversight to technical STTA and subcontractors, with the support of the Home Office.

* Serve as the primary coordinator between USAID, Tetra Tech, and all international and domestic subcontractors and partners.

* Oversee all technical and operational aspects of the Activity including supervision of component leads to ensure effective and timely delivery of program objectives and ensuring quality control for strategic content and written products

* Lead coordination of work planning, reporting, pause-and-reflect sessions, and other internal work management processes to ensure clear timelines and accountability are established and implemented in line with the Activity Annual Work Plan.

* Coordinate with the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP)/Operations, Home Office Project Management team, and relevant technical staff to support alignment of technical objectives with budget resources.

* Ensure that technical staff and activities comply with Tetra Tech’s management, operational and security procedures, policies and regulations, as well as USAID’s procedures and regulations.

Qualifications:

* Advanced degree in Natural Resources, Forestry, or other relevant discipline to the area of the project.

* At least 10 years of professional experience working on, designing, and/or implementing projects in at least one of the following areas: biodiversity conservation, environmental governance or policy, natural resource management, local capacity development, market systems development, sustainable landscapes, and/or protected area management.

* At least 3 years managing development projects with large teams, and engaging with government representatives and project stakeholders.

• Demonstrated experience in organizational development and in mentoring and retaining staff in complex environments.

* Demonstrated experience working with multidisciplinary teams to implement complex regional projects in forest management, biodiversity conservation or related fields.

* Demonstrated experience to work independently, make sounds decision and implement accordingly with minimal oversight.

* Prior experience working on donor funded projects in Africa; direct experience in Democratic Republic of Congo or other Central African country preferred.

* Strong writing and communications skills as evidenced by experience producing technical analyses, work plans and reports, presentations, or other communications products.

* Experience with USAID or other major donor-funded project required.

* Fluency in English and French required.

* Excellent report writing skills required.

* Experience in Central Africa region strongly preferred.

* Experience with enhancing coordination among institutional stakeholders preferred.