Chief of Party II, Kenya

About the role

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is seeking a Chief of Party II for anticipated USDA Non-Emergency Food for Peace projects in Kenya. These multi-year projects aim to combat chronic and acute malnutrition, strengthen early recovery and resilience, and support communities. The Chief of Party II provides vision, leadership and overall management of large, complex projects, manages security risks and acts as the main point of contact with the donor and other stakeholders.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the development, implementation and consolidation of the project, including its contribution to industry thought leadership.
• Act as primary contact with the donor and public, private and non-government stakeholders; ensure timely, quality results within budget, including phase-out and sustainability strategies.
• Coordinate between program and operations leads to uphold CRS quality standards.
• Lead senior programming and operations staff, coach and mentor them, and oversee staffing plans and recruitment of senior staff.
• Monitor national and regional issues affecting staff and programming, and keep safety and security policies current.
• Ensure compliance with donor grants, including financial tracking, partner budget oversight, and approval of expenditures and budget adjustments.
• Publish program results, present at international events, and oversee communication materials in line with donor and CRS branding requirements.
• Manage consortium partners, including review and planning workshops, and coordinate staff from other consortium members.
• Create a learning environment, identify performance gaps and arrange training and technical assistance for CRS and partner staff.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in international development, International Relations or a relevant technical area.
• At least 8 years of relevant management and technical experience.
• At least 7 years managing donor funds, including multi-country grants, with excellent budget management.
• At least 5 years of staff management experience and experience coaching and mentoring senior program staff.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, high-value, multi-activity projects with complicated logistics.
• Established sector leader, shown by peer-reviewed publications or conference presentations.
• Fluency in English; fluency in a local language is a plus.
• Willingness to travel up to 35%.

Required skills

• Excellent knowledge of MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), web conferencing applications and information and budget management systems.
• Strategic, analytical and problem-solving skills, and strong relations and team leadership abilities.
• Preferred: Master's degree and experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships.

What we offer

• For U.S.-based staff: medical, dental, life insurance, vision and a retirement savings plan.
• Salary and benefits for staff working outside the U.S. depend on the country of employment and the in-country office.