Chief of Party

Chemonics International seeks a Chief of Party for the $38 million USAID Nigeria Lagos Urban Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (LUWASH) Activity in Lagos, Nigeria. Now in its third of five years of implementation, LUWASH aims to increase the availability, quality and use of safe water and sanitation services and improve the governance and sustainable management of associated sector institutions in Lagos, Nigeria. Through an integrated, market-based approach, LUWASH works across the value chain of WASH services to bolster supply and manage demand within a strengthened framework of sector governance, financing, and regulated services. The activity aims to catalyze sector transformation and generate WASH service improvements for at least 4 million people in low-income communities and build a foundation for continued progress beyond LUWASH.

The Chief of Party (COP) will provide strategic and technical leadership for LUWASH, overseeing technical implementation, operations, and performance to ensure quality, responsiveness, and adherence to USAID regulations and Chemonics policies. The COP will manage all program activities, ensuring the achievement of required results furthering USAID’s objectives as outlined in the MOU with the Lagos State Government (LASG), coordinating programmatic activities and ensuring quality of deliverables while fostering collaboration and learning among stakeholders. As the primary representative of Chemonics in Lagos, the COP will liaise with high-level USAID and Nigerian government officials, partner organizations, and businesses, shaping the technical direction of the Activity. This position will be based in Lagos, Nigeria, and requires a leader with a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Key responsibilities:

• Provide overall vision, leadership, management, and technical direction for the Activity, ensuring an integrated technical vision and overall technical approach to achieve all required results for improved WASH performance in the target areas;
• Guide program activities to ensure high quality standards of technical assistance to stakeholders.
• Build, manage, and maintain effective working relations with senior Government of Nigeria stakeholders, international organizations, private sector partners, NGOs, civil society, and U.S. Government agencies;
• Apply understanding of development assistance in urban WASH services, regulation, market systems strengthening, essential services strengthening, pro-poor access to services and/or sector governance in order to effectively lead and inform the Activity’s technical implementation.
• Supervise and strengthen capacity of technical and operations staff, subcontractors, and consultants to achieve expected results;
• Serve as primary liaison to and build effective relationships with USAID, service providers, counterparts, and stakeholders, maintaining productive relationships to ensure effective collaboration, coordination, and engagement;
• Provide strategic guidance to project team on advancing core components in the MOU between USAID and the LASG;
• Oversee and manage the implementation of the workplan and provide direction to staff and subcontractors to ensure coordination;
• Communicate clear expectations to project staff and establish an operating environment that encourages integrity, honesty, open communications, and commitment to compliance with local laws, USAID rules and regulations, and Chemonics’ policies and procedures;
• Provide general oversight of the project, including overall responsibility for the project’s operations, strategic vision, fiscal integrity, quality and timing of deliverables, and coordination with partners; and
• Supervise six direct reports to include the Deputy Chief of Party, Compliance Director, four Component Leads, and the Monitoring, Evaluating, and Learning (MEL) and Security Advisors and oversee performance management across the Activity.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in engineering, water and natural resource management, public administration, management, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience in a related field;
• A minimum of 8 years of senior-level experience in managing donor funded projects required, with experience in urban WASH, WASH infrastructure and financing, WASH services strengthening, WASH governance, market-systems strengthening, utility reform projects, water resources management projects, or related fields preferred.
• At least five years of progressively responsible international development experience in managing and implementing and achieving results in large, complex, donor-funded projects. USAID experience strongly preferred;
• Experience facilitating community/private sector partnerships to expand safe and affordable services to the communities in most need;
• Extensive project management leadership experience, including human resources, procurement, subcontracts, accounting/finance, as well as MEL, documenting project performance, evaluating subcontractor and grantee activities, and providing overall direction;
• Proven track record managing multi-disciplinary development programs and teams, engaging effectively with stakeholders (including national-level governments), fostering collaborative learning and adaptive management, and addressing gender equality and social inclusion;
• Experience working in Nigeria or other West African countries, highly desired, but not required;
• Strong communication skills, both interpersonal and written, to fulfill the technical and managerial responsibilities;
• Strong analytical skills and demonstrated ability to solve complex problems;
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity;
• Fluency in English required (speaking, reading, and writing).