Country Team Leader – Liberia

BACKGROUND

The USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) Activity is designed to bolster the U.S. Government’s ability to boost trade and investment to, from, and within the African continent. The continent-wide program is USAID’s flagship effort in support of the Prosper Africa initiative and will expand and accelerate two-way trade and investment between African nations and the United States.

Driven by market demand, ATI embraces innovative approaches to achieve its goals. ATI is designed as a small, core set of centrally coordinated technical and institutional support activities, and a large, flexible performance-based subcontracting and grants under contract facility designed to support the needs and opportunities that USAID Missions and the private sector identify.

In support of Prosper Africa’s goals, USAID funding through the Africa Trade and Investment Activity, is implementing a $20 million Liberia Agribusiness Incubator and Development Activity from March 2022 to June 2026. This activity will strengthen the commercial agricultural sector by incubating new ideas from promising entrepreneurs, increasing access to finance, fostering an improved network of business service providers, strengthening agricultural value chains, creating jobs, and improving the overall business-enabling environment in Liberia.

The activity is also working with at least three existing incubators that will support and provide Business Development Services (BDS) to a targeted local agribusiness, women and youth-led business with ideas to strengthen the commercialization and performance of the Agricultural sector in Liberia.

OBJECTIVES AND DUTIES

The Country Team Lead is a key member of the ATI delivery team and will support USAID’s Africa Bureau’s ATI program in boosting trade and investment in line with USAID Liberia’s buy-in priorities. The Country Team Lead will be primarily responsible for client management, oversight of the buy-in design and implementation process and strong delivery on expected outputs, outcomes, and overall development impact. The Country Team Lead will manage an in-country team comprised of an Activity Manager, Specialist(s) and Associate(s). Tasks include, but are not limited to:

Technical Leadership & Client Relationship Management

• Manage client relationships with the USAID Liberia Mission, regional economic bodies, and other key stakeholders in Liberia to develop and oversee the implementation of buy-in activities.
• Provide technical insights to USAID programming, as requested by the Mission.
• Serve as management lead to support ATI buy-in implementation from the development of buy-in scopes of work (SOWs), to activity design, and implementation. This will involve close collaboration with ATI functional teams (i.e., grants, procurement, MEL, communications, finance/operations, systems & quality) and budget-relation negotiations with current and potential buy-in clients.
• Serve as management lead to support ATI buy-in implementation from the development of buy-in scopes of work (SOWs), to activity design, and implementation. This will involve close collaboration with ATI functional teams (i.e., grants, procurement, MEL, communications, finance/operations, systems & quality) and budget-related negotiations with current and potential buy-in clients.

Project Management

• Supervise and manage a team of ATI Activity Managers to ensure quality delivery of the technical activities within the portfolio and facilitate coordination with functional teams.
• Manage the resourcing of buy-in implementation by identifying resource needs (LTTA and STTA) to new and existing buy-in activities, in close coordination with ATI and the USAID Mission.
• Plan, assign, and direct the Activity Team’s work, including addressing and resolving problems.
• Ensure client’s satisfaction from buy-in implementation and timely delivery of deliverables and milestones in the Liberia portfolio.
• Work closely with the USAID mission and grants/partnerships team to engage a broad spectrum of private sector actors to expand programmatic interventions.
• Participate in Implementing Partners meetings convened by USAID Mission to share project updates, success stories, challenges and mitigations.
• Supervise and manage a team of ATI Activity Manager to ensure quality delivery of the technical activities within the portfolio and facilitate coordination with functional teams. Manage the resourcing of buy-in implementation by identifying resources needs (LTTA and STTA) to new and existing buy-in activities, in close coordination with project leadership.
• Support procurement and technical teams on final subcontractor SOWs and deliverable schedules, utilizing standard deliverable metrics, pay-for-performance, and catalytic funding contractual frameworks and support deliverables review in the Liberia Portfolio.
• Work with the Activity Team to provide capacity building and guidance to subcontractors and grantees in the Liberia Portfolio, as needed, to ensure that new and underutilized partners to USAID are given opportunities to build their familiarity with working with USAID effectively and advance the goals of USAID localization.

Primary Point of Contact & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the primary point of contact with USAID, government stakeholders, and other partners in reference to the activity.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including government ministries, private sector companies, and civil society organizations.
• Ensure that project activities are coordinated with other USAID projects and initiatives in the country.

Strategic Analysis and Partnerships

• Lead strategic analysis and early identification of trade and investment opportunities and develop high-impact partnerships with businesses and institutions to identify/overcome key business environment constraints hindering trade and growth.
• Lead the hosting of Agribusiness roundtables along with key government Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs) on issues impeding the growth of the sector and prepare reports of key findings for onward submission to ATI and USAID Mission.
• Support ATI leadership in planning and implementation of the project workplans, annual reports, project updates and regular communications products to report on Liberia MEL outcomes.
• Ensure that the entire regional team is focused on tangible development impact and client satisfaction.

Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA)

• Build on or develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation plan to track project progress and impact ensuring timely updates in USAID’s Development Information Solution (DIS).
• Ensure that project data is accurate, reliable, and timely, and that it is used to inform project decision-making.
• Collaborate with USAID and other stakeholders to conduct project evaluations and assessments.

Capacity Building

• Identify capacity building needs among project staff, partners, and stakeholders
• Develop and implement capacity building plans to address identified needs
• Ensure that project staff and partners have the necessary skills and knowledge to implement project activities regularly.

Project Reporting & Communication

• Prepare and submit regular project reports to USAID Mission and other relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure that all project communication materials are in compliance with USAID branding and marking requirements.
• Collaborate with USAID and other project partners and stakeholders to develop success stories and case studies.

Reporting

The Country Team Lead will report to the Regional Director West Africa or designee and the USAID Mission in Liberia.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Required:

• Advanced degree in economics, business administration, agriculture/agribusiness, social sciences or related discipline and 12+ years of relevant work experience specifically on trade and/or investment.

• Experience managing donor-funded international development programs with private-sector-led approaches in developing countries; (Regional program implementation experience is not required).

• Able and willing to work in a rapid pace/extremely demanding environment, and able to multitask.

• Experience engaging the private sector, corporations, and other strategic business stakeholders.

• Experience with grant and subcontract management.

• Experience with activity design, development, and implementation.

• Complete fluency in written and oral English.

• Excellent writing and presentation skills.

  ABOUT DAI

• DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine and project operations worldwide. We tackle fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action—action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world.

• DAI and its employees are committed to confronting racism and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work. DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner.

• DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks.

How to apply

APPLICATION LINK: https://fs25.formsite.com/DupOTo/2gtgz1d7ot/index

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Select the position in which you are interested in applying, fill out the required information, and upload your CV. Please indicate what location you are applying for. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as interviews will be conducted soon. Please note, due to the volume of applications that we receive and the urgency to fill up positions, only shortlisted applicants will receive notification on the next steps.