Project Management Specialist

Job Description

USAID/Nepal invites applications for employment from all interested and qualified candidates for the position of Project Management Specialist (Governance and Accountability Specialist) in the Democracy and Governance Office, under a Foreign Service National (FSN) Personal Services Contract (PSC) subject to availability of funds.

OPEN TO:                  All interested and qualified candidates

POSITION:                 Project Management Specialist (Governance and Accountability)- FSNPSC-11

OPENING DATE:       December 3, 2021

CLOSING DATE:       December 24, 2021 – 5:00 P.M. Kathmandu time

WORK HOURS:         Full-time; 40 hours/week

NOTE:  ALL ORDINARILY RESIDENT APPLICANTS MUST HAVE THE REQUIRED WORK AND/OR RESIDENCY PERMITS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION.

BASIC FUNCTION OF THE POSITION:

The Governance and Public Accountability Program Specialist, Foreign Service National (FSN) Personal Service Contractor (PSC) serves as USAID’s expert advisor on Democracy and Governance (DG) issues related to local governance, transparency, accountability, and public financial management.

The incumbent requires specific technical expertise in at least three of the following: public financial management; legal, regulatory, policy frameworks; public accountability, advocacy and oversight; local governance and service delivery; and/or gender and social inclusion. The Specialist must be highly motivated, capable of working independently and as part of a team.  The incumbent advises the DG Office (DGO) and other technical offices engaging in DG activities. S/he collaborates with other USAID technical and support offices and operates within a complex, fluid political environment and with officials at the highest levels in both the United States Government (USG) and the Government of Nepal (GON).

The incumbent manages DG programs assigned from the DGO portfolio. The Specialist leads the design of new programs while meeting USAID requirements.  The position requires the monitoring of programs’ technical assistance and capacity building and provides technical direction and leadership to the contractor/ grantee teams implementing DG programs. The Specialist ensures that these programs are effectively implemented in the field and in accordance with the USAID contract/agreement and the approved annual work plan.  S/he will also provide technical advice to other USAID Assistance Objective teams on DG as it relates to other sectors (e.g. health, education, agriculture, environment, etc).

The DG Program Specialist maintains close communication with high-level GON officials and relevant stakeholders to advance effective program management.  DGO relies upon the Specialist’s technical advice and knowledge of central ministries as well as local governments to strengthen USAID DG assistance.  The Specialist also communicates with donors, civil society organizations, universities, etc. through multi-stakeholder forums, donor meetings and other functions as appropriate to maintain current sector knowledge relevant to programs managed by the Specialist.  The Specialist must effectively engage diverse communities both within the mission and in the field to encourage inclusive project management and development results.

The Specialist must advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within programming and through his/her overall approach to internal and external engagement.

Required Qualification & Experience

1. Education: The Specialist is required to have a Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field: such as law, political science, economics, journalism, public administration, public policy, or other related social science.
2. Prior Work Experience: The Specialist must have at least five years of progressively responsible managerial, technical and/or project management experience. At least three years’ experience working in the area of providing development assistance in two or more of the following areas: public financial management; legal, regulatory, policy frameworks; public accountability, advocacy and oversight; local governance and service delivery; and, gender and social inclusion. Prior experience with writing and designing Statements of Work for donor-funded programs is preferred.  Experience with multi-stakeholder coalitions or development partner coordination preferred.
3. Post Entry Training: Online course work (Newcomers Orientation, etc.), classroom training (Programming Foreign Assistance, COR/AOR, DG Fundamentals, etc.) and in-house trainings, presentations or workshops (Automated Directive System, Mission Orders, report writing, sector updates etc.) as available
4. Language Proficiency: Fluency in both spoken and written Nepali is required. The Specialist requires at least the second highest level (4/4) scoring for English reading, writing and speaking.
5. Job Knowledge: The incumbent must demonstrate technical expertise in more than two of the following areas: public financial management; legal, regulatory, policy frameworks; public accountability, advocacy and oversight; local governance and service delivery; and/or gender and social inclusion. S/he must have strong knowledge of project or program management and organizational management. The Specialist must also possess knowledge of existing Nepali Government democracy practice and good governance related policies, procedures and regulations with a demonstrated understanding of how these policies impact other sectors. The Specialist must be able demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Specialist must be able to articulate how they have mainstreamed equity, diversity and inclusion both programmatically and within the workplace.

Skills and Abilities:

The Specialist successfully demonstrates the following skills and abilities:

• Demonstrated leadership in integrating and achieving equity, diversity, and inclusion in governance and public accountability, or similarly related programming.
• Appreciation for a workplace environment that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion and that does not tolerate harassment, exclusion, and inequality.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work independently with little supervision.
• Excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to transfer technical knowledge into project designs, project reports, policy papers, etc.
• Ability to communicate recommendations to other sectors.
• Ability to work in a team environment and across USAID offices and the US Embassy’s agencies.
• Ability to manage large, complex programs.
• Capacity to prepare technical documents in English with little editing and translate Nepali documents to English.
• Ability to develop and maintain high level contacts (GON, donors, civil society, local bodies, etc.) and productive working relationships with other counterparts.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and demonstrate extreme flexibility to manage more than one task at a time.
• Ability to conduct field visits.
• Sufficient computer skills to conduct work using MS Word, Excel and Power Point and the ability to use software and computer programs.

How to Apply