USAID Project Management Humanitarian Assistance Specialist Jobs in Kenya

USAID Project Management Humanitarian Assistance Specialist Jobs in Kenya

General Statement of Purpose of the Contract

USAID’s regional Office of Food for Peace and Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in Nairobi came together under a unitary team under the new Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) in June, 2020. Together, BHA supported approximately $4 billion of food and non-food humanitarian assistance in Fiscal Year 2022, partnering with public international organizations and non-governmental organizations on relief, nutrition, livelihoods and resilience-oriented activities.

Staff in the office monitor the regional and country-specific emergency situation; directly oversee food and non-food assistance programs in countries where there are no BHA staff present; provide technical support to USAID Missions in countries that have BHA staff in-country; represent BHA in regional coordination forums; provide formal and informal training and mentoring for BHA staff in the region; provide surge capacity to respond to new emergencies or cover staffing gaps; and provide program logistics and commodity management support.

The BHA Office works closely with other offices within the USAID/Kenya and East Africa mission, particularly the economic growth and health offices, to ensure that programs are coordinated and effective. Staff also regularly liaise with inter-agency partners such as the State Department and U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as other humanitarian donors, and United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.

The PMS/HA will work under the direction of the BHA Director, or his/her designee, such as the BHA Kenya Team Leader for his/her area of responsibility. This position requires regular coordination with other BHA team members, representatives from other USAID offices, the humanitarian donor community, and the UN, and therefore requires a highly collaborative work style.

Statement of Duties to be Performed

The PMS/HA responsibilities will include the following:

Program/Project Management and Related Duties (80%)

Devises, in collaboration with BHA colleagues, an annual monitoring plan outlining the sites to be visited and timeline, and conducts regular field monitoring visits, in accordance with the monitoring plan, spending approximately 40% of time in the field, often in austere conditions, collecting data on the implementation of BHA programs.

Advises on any issues arising that need to be addressed, including immediate reporting of any actual or suspected diversions of USG resources, missed implementation targets, and non-compliance with USAID regulations.

Makes recommendations for addressing and solving any problems that are discovered, provides feedback to the implementing partner and concludes with follow-up to ensure improvements.

Identifies and reviews technical reports and documents related to humanitarian assistance and resilience to remain current about general knowledge and advances in the fields of emergency assistance and resilience in general, and others’ findings related to his/her geographic zone of responsibility.

Participates in multi-agency assessments of food security, nutrition, markets and emergency assistance and other humanitarian needs, and assists in the development of funding and programmatic recommendations for BHA and USAID Missions.

Recommends to the BHA team the appropriate response for initiating or adjusting emergency and resilience assistance programming based on field findings about food and nutrition needs, environmental concerns, health and WASH issues, market conditions, transportation requirements, and the cultural and political situation.

Reports on all field monitoring trips, assessments, etc. Provides information for additional reporting to the BHA Director, USAID Mission Director, and BHA Washington, as necessary.

Technical Specialist and Representational Duties (20%)

Represents BHA in working group meetings and other fora with UN,

NGOs, and other humanitarian donors.

Represents USAID to a wide range of government officials at the provincial/district level and representatives at the technical and administrative levels.

Engages with beneficiaries, community members and leaders related to BHA’s emergency and resilience programs. All representation is performed in line with the overall direction of the BHA/Nairobi office and specific country team.

Exchanges information with Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) and reviews and provides feedback on FEWSNET reports prior to their release.

The PMS/HA will be required to assist in creating a supportive work environment that values diversity and elicits the highest possible level of performance from all team members, including accomplishment of all other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Relationship

The incumbent will report to the Kenya Team Leader, or his/her designee. Supervisor will set overall objectives and will work with the PMS/HA to determine deadlines and work priorities. The incumbent is expected to take the initiative, act independently, and perform duties.

Minimum Qualifications Required for This Position

Any application that does not meet the minimum requirements stated below will not be evaluated.

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in a discipline pertinent to humanitarian assistance, resilience and program management, such as agriculture, nutrition, or agricultural economics.

Prior Work Experience:

Minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience related to emergency and/or resilience program management, including at least one (1) year of on-the-ground field experience in humanitarian needs assessment and assistance and one (1) year in implementation of humanitarian and/or resilience programs.

This experience must show significant engagement with rural communities and the application of qualitative and/or participatory methods of inquiry.

Language Proficiency:

Level (IV) English and Kiswahili Level 4 fluency.

Job Knowledge

The incumbent must have operational level understanding of humanitarian assistance programs and modalities, qualitative monitoring methods, and reporting information systems.

Skills and abilities

The incumbent must have excellent verbal and written communication skills in both English and Kiswahili and a strong working knowledge of MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and be able to manage databases. The incumbent must also have:

Good interpersonal skills

Ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of staff and representatives.

Ability to review, evaluate and apply complex policies and regulations.

Ability to provide rapid, concise, accurate reporting, both verbally and in written English.

Ability to grasp and theorize the complexities of humanitarian assistance and food security, the wide variety of dynamic influencing factors and the potential influence of international assistance.

Experience collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to assess the complexity of factors contributing to food security.
Ability to work cooperatively in a multicultural team.

Willingness to regularly undertake extensive field work assignments, spending weeks at a time in often austere conditions, and routinely spending approximately 40% of the time in BHA project areas.

A solution-seeking attitude


How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; USAID Project Management Humanitarian Assistance Specialist Jobs in Kenya

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