Implementation Director

Position

Implementation Director

Period of Performance

Life of Project

Base of Operations

Dubai, UAE / Hybrid

Position Reports to

Chief of Party

• Background
  
  

DAI Global, LLC (DAI) is implementing a new USAID-funded agriculture program which aims to reinvigorate agricultural livelihoods and catalyze private sector engagement to address food insecurity, income gaps, target populations empowerment, and communities resilience to climate change. The activity actively facilitates implementation with and through local systems actors (such as anchor firms, business development and advisory service (BDAS) providers, education and financial institutions, and local communities). This approach centers a competitive, performance-based Partnership Facility (PF) to design interventions that: incorporate local Afghan knowledge, engage target populations, and leverage resources to ensure local ownership and sustainability. Utilizing performance-based grants, DAI will partner with stakeholders to achieve the below three objectives.

Using a private sector-led, market systems development (MSD) approach, the activity is aimed at driving local system actor behavior change. In doing so, the activity endeavors to meaningfully improve Afghan lives and agriculture sector performance through the following objectives:

Objective 1: Food Security Improved Through Increased and Inclusive Resilience, Productivity, Diversification, and Stability of Agricultural Value Chains

Objective 2: Enhanced Communities Resilience to Climate Change-Induced Shocks, Specifically Water Stress

Objective 3: Target Population Economic Empowerment Strengthened

• Purpose
  
  

The Implementation Director will provide leadership, oversight and overall targeted support several functional units within WAMA. Specifically, the Implementation Director will work across the technical, communications, and grants teams in coordination with the Value Chain Director, DCOP-Technical and other related department leads. To achieve technical rigor, accuracy and to ensure compliance, the Implementation Director will actively work to ensure project implementation follows USAID/DAI rules and regulations and adherence to the project's market systems and private sector development approaches. The Implementation Director will work with the Chief of Party, Deputy Chiefs of Party, and key team members to coordinate tasks between the operations and technical teams, prioritizing activities, and working to produce a wide range of communications products as well as engaging in social media on behalf of the project, as appropriate.

This position will have direct contact with USAID and must have adequate communication and presentation skills in addressing the client. This position also requires a solid understanding of both the technical and operational aspects necessary to run a project of magnitude, with a focus on compliance.

• Responsibilities and Duties
• Operationalize and support the implementation of the vision of the Chief of Party.
• Work with Kabul and regional teams in managing partnerships and agreements with local firms, grantees, and other stakeholders, reviewing agreements and contributing to budget planning.
• Facilitate consistent collaboration and communication with internal teams including Technical, Procurement, Finance, M&E, regional teams, and external partners on the progress of technical activities against partnership agreements.
• Identify areas of improvement in internal processes and communication between functional teams to optimize implementation of activities and provide COP and management on process improvement suggestions.
• Ensure complete compliance of WAMA activities (concept notes and grants) with USAID and DAI rules, regulations and policies, including serving as reviewer in TAMIS.
• Support the production and review of project pipelines and budgeting.
• Support the development of the WAMA Annual Workplan at the direction of the COP.
• Lead ad hoc technical and partnerships activities as assigned by the COP and/or his/her designee.
• Work with the MEL & Communications Director and communications team on the development of weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports on the project's progress.
• Review and prepare any external communications and materials to ensure quality control and consistency.
• Direct regular production of project marketing materials such as success stories, presentations, social media presence and briefers, in collaboration with technical and M&E teams.
• In consultation with the Communications Team, develop and implement a Strategic Communications Calendar to capture significant events and time-bound communications submissions to USAID.
• Build a strong relationship with the USAID/Afghanistan DOC office and provide guidance to the project team on communications, branding, marking, and other relevant matters.
• Prepare any ad-hoc requests from DAI home office, USAID, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Other duties as assigned by Chief of Party.
• Qualifications
• A minimum of nine years of relevant project experience, preferably in USAID or USG-funded international development programming required.
• A minimum of seven years of staff management experience required.
• Experience developing and monitoring activity-level and program-level budgets required.
• Master's degree in a related field required.
• Experience working in agriculture, firm-level support or communications required.
• Experience in working in Afghanistan is highly desirable; work in the region and/or conflict/post-conflict regions preferred.
• Demonstrated familiarity with USAID rules and regulations, in addition to DAI processes and requirements, for contractor compliance required.
• Strong communications and presentation skills with fluency in English required. Very strong English writing, editing and proof-reading required.
• Ability to work well in a team environment and to communicate, coordinate and collaborate effectively with various stakeholders.
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships with all levels of staff and local partners.
• Ability to synthesize information and produce deliverables for different audiences.
• Ability to serve as a key liaison and project representative to project stakeholders including local/domestic enterprises and vendors, USG representatives, and other relevant groups/individuals.
  
  

This position is currently open; qualified applicants are encouraged to apply immediately for consideration.