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Monday, August 23, 2021

Chief of Party

Country: Nigeria

Organization: Creative Associates International

Closing date: 22 Sep 2021

Overview

Creative Associates International is a dynamic, fast-growing global development firm that specializes in education, economic growth, democratic development and post-crisis stabilization. Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has a field presence in more than 25 countries with a strong client portfolio that includes the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, among others. Since its founding in 1977, Creative has earned a solid reputation among its clients and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike.

Creative is seeking a Chief of Party for the active West Africa Trade and Investment Hub Activity. The objective of the West Africa Trade and Investment Hub Activity is to improve private sector competitiveness with a focus on increasing the agricultural productivity and profitability of smallholder farmers in Nigeria and promoting West Africa’s regional and international trade. The Trade Hub is an innovative design that supports eight USAID bilateral and regional missions through buy-ins. The Activity deploys co-investment grants with U.S., African and international companies to leverage private capital. Blended finance is a key aspect of mitigating risk through co-investment grants to encourage private investment to create jobs, increase exports and improve food security. Co-investment grants are prioritized for agribusiness, financial services, fast moving consumer goods, energy and related industries. Private sector engagement and co-creation processes are fundamental to developing a robust pipeline of investments. The Activity comprises of three main components: (i) design of a grants facility that serves as a Competitiveness Fund for private sector partnerships; (ii) administration of the Competitiveness Fund to develop private sector partnerships and provide co-investment grants; and (iii) technical assistance (TA) that directly supports, coordinates, and organizes qualifying recipients (i.e., partners and grantees) to achieve USAID’s trade and food security objectives. The Trade Hub will contribute to both USAID/Nigeria’s Feed the Future objectives related to increasing the agricultural competitiveness of smallholder farmers in Nigeria as well as USAID/West Africa’s and other USAID mission objectives to increase broad-based growth and resilience. It is a five year contract. Year 3 implementation begins on October 1, 2021. There are at least 3 years remaining on this project.

The Chief of Party (COP) is the leader of the entire project team, responsible for overall implementation, results, and management. He/she is the team’s interlocutor with USAID and is responsible for establishing and maintaining constructive relations with counterparts in Nigeria and across the region, including Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, and Mali, among others. The COP is the final implementing team authority on management issues including staff, logistics, financial accounting and security.

This position is based in Abuja, Nigeria.

Responsibilities

Provide overall management and leadership of technical, administrative, operational, and logistical direction of the project for a large team of expatriates, third country nationals, and local nationals in multiple countries in West Africa and Sahel;

Serve as primary liaison with Creative HQ and USAID on management and technical work;

Foster and maintain collaborative relationships with Nigerian government officials, and senior-level national and county-level government officials across the region;

Lead coordination with USAID, key stakeholders, and other implementing partners;

Manage and supervise the work of project personnel and subcontractors.

Deliver key project deliverables on a timely manner such as QPRs, Workplans, Annual Reports, among others.**Qualifications**

At least a Masters’ degree in business, economics, or other relevant field (or, alternately, a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and 5 additional years of relevant experience);

Minimum 12 years of experience implementing agricultural development, public private partnership facilitation and implementation, investment promotion within the agriculture sector, or SME development in developing countries, of which 7 years was overseas in a senior leadership capacity of a project that involved managing a team;

Experience working collaboratively with host country governments and the local private sector, and coordinating activities with those of other donors;

Experience in design and implementation of large scale projects ($25M in value or more), including financial management experience, such as budgeting; tracking, reporting and accounting; and procurement;