Chief of Party I-Myanmar Agriculture and Food Security Activity

*This position is contingent on receipt of donor funding

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Job Summary:

As Chief of Party I you will provide leadership and overall management of the anticipated Agriculture and Food Security Activity USAID Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) associate award to serve the poor and vulnerable in Myanmar. Your leadership, management and technical knowledge will ensure the delivery of high-quality programming and advance the position of CRS as a leading agency in agriculture and food security fields. As a senior leader you will proactively manage security and mitigate security risks and lead adaptive management in a highly complex context.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Lead all aspects of the development, implementation and consolidation of the Agriculture and Food Security project, including sharing how the project contributes to the thought leadership of the industry. Serve as the primary point of contact to the USAID Mission in Myanmar as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders. Liaise with global F2F Leader Award leadership.
• Ensure the project is designed and implemented to meet donor expectations in terms of timely and quality results and budget, including strategies for phase out and sustainability. Ensure coordination between program and operations leads. Ensure the CRS program quality standards are adhered to per MEAL policy and procedures.
• Effectively manage senior programming and operations talent. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring. Strategically tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports. Oversee the development of staffing plans and the recruitment process of senior staff.
• Manage and mitigate risk through monitoring national and regional issues that may impact staff and programming. Lead flexible and adapt management to react to security and operational constraints. Ensure all staff understand and adhere to CRS staff safety and security policies and plans, and ensure the updating of such plans.
• Promote, uphold and model a commitment to the efficient use of agency and donor resources. Ensure compliance with USAID grants, including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, administration and reporting to USAID. Approve program expenditures, budget adjustments, and cost modification requests to donors.
• Oversee the development of communication strategies and materials, complying with donor and CRS’ branding and marketing requirements and procedures.
• Coordinate relationships with partner organizations, including organization of review/planning workshops. Contribute to coordination of the roles and activities of staff from partner organizations in implementation in line with CRS partnership principles.
• Create and maintain proper conditions for learning. Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies. Identify performance gaps and training opportunities for CRS and partner staff and ensure the design and delivery of high quality training and technical assistance.

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in international development, International Relations or a degree relevant to agriculture and food security. PhD preferred.
• 7 or more years’ relevant management and technical experience. Experience with agricultural production, market systems improvements, and resilience programming highly valued.
• 5 years’ experience managing donor funds. Strong knowledge and experience in budget management.
• 5 years of staff management experience and abilities that are conducive to a learning environment. Experience coaching senior program staff.

Required Languages – Fluency in English is required. Fluency or high level of proficiency in Myanmar language strongly preferred.

Travel– Based in Yangon, Myanmar. Must be willing and able to travel up to 30% in country.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
• Team leadership abilities with diverse/multi-disciplinary teams. Coaching skills.
• Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences.
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications

• Recognized leader in sector as demonstrated by peer reviewed publications, conference presentations etc.
• Demonstrated experience of successful program management, including management of complex, high-value, multi-activity projects, with complicated logistics.
• Experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships. Knowledge of CRS partnership strategy a plus.
• Ability to represent and present at high levels.
• Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications, and information and budget management systems.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

Supervisory Responsibilities: Direct supervision of operational and programmatic staff; provide overall leadership to project team.

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Country Representative, F2F leader award CoP and team; Head of Programming, Deputy Head of Programming, Head of Operations, Operations team, Regional Technical Advisors, Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality

External: National partner organizations, USAID Mission to Burma, UN agencies, peer agencies working in agriculture and food security, clusters and working groups for food security, private sector actors, relevant government bodies

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Disclaimer*: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.*

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

To ensure the safety of our staff, our partners, and the people we serve, CRS requires that staff be vaccinated against Covid-19. CRS complies with all federal and state laws to allow for accommodations, as needed with supporting documentation. However, accommodations may limit the roles that candidates are eligible for based on role requirements (e.g., travel, meetings with staff, partner, donors).

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.