The Implementer-Led Design, Evidence, Analysis and Learning (IDEAL) activity aims to enhance the food and nutrition security of vulnerable populations through improving the design, implementation, and overall effectiveness of development and emergency food security activities funded by USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP). In coordination with the Activity Director, the Deputy Director will manage the implementation of the IDEAL Leader Award, ensuring quality results and coordinated efforts across consortium members and intervention pathways. The Deputy Director role will also complement the Activity Director's skills in order to effectively lead the technical, financial and administrative management of this five-year grant, including the supervision of several Save the Children staff. We gave just completed the first year of the grant. Internally, this position is a level C, Director position.
The Deputy Director will support the core functions of the IDEAL activity and consortium, which include four pathways: capacity strengthening, peer-to-peer collaborative learning, small grants and stakeholder consultations. This position will oversee the small grants program, supervising a Small Grants Manager who will administer and ensure the quality of SGP activities, and will coordinate with the other project staff to market and manage this program resource. The Deputy Director will also play a significant leadership role in the application process and supervision of Associate Awards.
External Partnerships and Representation (25%):
- Together with the Project Director, represent the program to FFP and the community of practice.
- With the IDEAL Strategic Learning and Capacity Strengthening Advisor and KM team, guide the process of PVO and public consultations with FFP and USAID on new donor strategies, programs, and initiatives.
- Support effective coordination, collaboration and learning among consortium members and other key stakeholders including FFP, external experts and advisors, members of the community of practice, and collaborating partners.
Technical Leadership and Program Monitoring and Reporting (30%):
- Direct the IDEAL Program in the Project Director’s absence.
- Oversee the development and maintenance of operational systems to ensure effective information flows and smooth implementation of activities across consortium partners.
- Ensure technical and award management support needs are met.
- Oversee the development and maintenance of performance monitoring strategies that will enable IDEAL to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of proposed interventions, including capacity strengthening and knowledge exchange and uptake.
- Assist IDEAL’s Food Security Technical Advisor, Strategic Learning & Capacity Strengthening Advisor, Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Advisor and other technical staff in identifying new or alternative approaches to learning and capacity strengthening activities.
- Implement quality control systems to ensure that interventions in every programmatic pathway reflect a dedication to high quality, technically rigorous, well-designed products.
- Use adaptive management approaches that ensure functioning feedback loops and opportunities to pause, reflect and course correct activity interventions, focus content, and management to ensure that activity interventions remain appropriate, with challenges met and new opportunities capitalized on.
- Lead sustainability planning to ensure that a dedicated source of resources, capacity, motivation and linkages will sustain the work of IDEAL and the community of practice it fosters, beyond the timeframe of the award, and, to the degree possible, independent of continued FFP funding.
- Together with the Activity Director, ensure timely, high quality reporting to USAID and other stakeholders on IDEAL’s progress toward its objectives.
Human Resources Management (15%):
- Supervise the IDEAL Associate Director Award and Budget Management, Small Grants Manager, IDEAL Program Associate, and other program staff to be determined.
- Oversee all hiring for Save the Children IDEAL staff and onboarding for all new IDEAL team members across the consortium, coordinating with partners
Small Grants Program (15%)
- Provide oversight of the Small Grants technical staff member to ensure efficient solicitation, review, and funding of SGP applications in a manner that addresses the IP needs in identified content focus areas, and aligns with FFP’s Strategy and Learning Agenda.
- Develop a strategy for gathering, analyzing, summarizing and disseminating the findings and lessons learned from the SGP and monitoring their uptake among implementing partners.
Associate Awards Program (15%):
- Coordinate with consortium members in responding to Associate Award RFAs issued by USAID.
- Together with Activity Director, oversee strategic/programmatic direction of Associate Awards.
- Confer with IDEAL staff, FFP and USAID HQ/Mission senior staff, IDEAL Program Advisory Committee, and PVO implementing partners to draft strategies to promote and secure Associate Awards from USAID.
- Gather lessons learned from any Associate Awards, share them with the community of practice, and integrate them into Leader activities and future Associate Awards.
- Minimum 7-10 years of experience leading, managing and implementing large scale international development and/or emergency activities
- Substantive experience with FFP development and/or emergency food security activities
- Demonstrated experience in organizational capacity development and learning
- Strong management, interpersonal, communication, mentoring and facilitation skills
- Demonstrated experience developing agendas for strategic workshops and learning events and overseeing logistical staff
- Ability to network and communicate with a wide range of stakeholders
- Experience working overseas in low-resource environments
- Ability to work with adaptive management systems
- Collaborative work style
- Proven ability to work well with multiple stakeholders and diverse teams and to bring teams to consensus on recommendations for technical practices and knowledge management and dissemination
- Sensitivity to cultural differences and ability to work effectively across a wide variety of cultural contexts
- Strong team player – able to develop and maintain effective working relationships within diverse and dynamic teams
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
- Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree (PhD or Master’s) in a relevant field
- Aetna Medical and Dental insurance with a concierge service
- Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
- Vision Insurance
- Life insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- Commuter Benefit Program
- Vacation and Sick leave
- Paid holidays
What makes us special! Generous Retirement Savings with matching company contributions of up to 8%
- Family Leave – 10 additional days of paid time off for you to use to care for your family members
- Additional Maternity and Paternity Leave – 30 days where parents can take additional paid leave (beyond short-term disability and FMLA) at the birth or adoption of a child during that critical first year!
- Critical Child Illness Leave – We hope you never have to use it, but we will provide an additional 30 days of paid leave per year should your dependent child be faced with a critical illness.
- Pet Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Identity Protection, Home, Auto and additional Life insurances
- Summer Fun Fridays – During the summer months, early release at 1:30 pm every other Friday!
- Volunteer Day – One paid day a year to support the causes that matter to you!
- Ergonomic Options – Every employee at our HQ offices has the option of a sitting/standing desk
- Leadership and Employee Development Training, including:
- Our remarkable in-house CORE, Senior Management Development, and Leadership Development Programs
- Language learning opportunities
- Continuous Improvement skill development programs
- Brown Bag information sharing sessions
- Work hard/Play hard! We make sure there’s ample opportunity for fun, engagement, and celebration while you work, such as networking events, March Madness, World Cup, Dodgeball Tournaments, Take Your Child to Work Day, Founder’s Day, and our annual Day of Service