Deputy Chief of Party

Jhpiego seeks a Deputy Chief of Party to provide vision, leadership and direction to ensure the operational and programmatic integrity for a USAID-funded health activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The purpose of the Activity is to advance and sustain improved health outcomes for Congolese in four provinces: Sud-Kivu, Lomami, Tanganyika, and Kasai Central. The focus of this Activity will include but is not limited to: children under five, pregnant and postpartum women, youth, and especially adolescent girls, and hard to reach communities. The Activity seeks to advance the Government of DRC’s provincial goals of improving maternal and child health; decreasing maternal, infant, and child morbidity and mortality; improving the nutritional status of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and children under five; decreasing malaria-associated morbidity and mortality; improving access to and use of family planning and reproductive health services, including for healthy spacing and timing of pregnancy; and increasing uptake of key behaviors that drive improved health outcomes. This Activity will support efforts to improve the availability of, equitable access to, demand for, and use of quality, integrated health services. The project is expected to operate over a five-year period.

The position will operate under the leadership of the Chief of Party (COP) and with the senior management team and will oversee and ensure the operational and methodological soundness of all project activities. In collaboration with project team and partners, the position will support the design and implementation of programmatic strategies and approaches based on scientific evidence and best practices. The post holder will also deputize for the COP in their absence.

This position is contingent upon award from USAID. Congolese nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Provide operational oversight of Activity implementation, strategic direction of project activities, and a robust operational approach to the technical interventions, ensuring the Activity achieves its goal and fulfills its reporting requirements;
• Support the COP to ensure the effective and proper management of the activity;
• Ensure effective operationalization of all aspects of implementation of technical activities;
• Ensure implementation is in accordance with USG regulations and procedures and the specifications determined in the Cooperative Agreement, including ensuring all procurement processes are fair and transparent, reviewing financial compliance, and monitoring the Innovation Fund and subcontract implementation;
• Work with local government health institutions/ authorities to strengthen their capacity to plan, budget, and monitor health service delivery under their remit;
• Improve capacity of local government health authorities to conduct evidence-based and epidemiological analysis of local health systems for decision-making to inform strategic and programmatic direction;
• Work with healthcare providers, local authorities, community members and project team members to identify health service delivery issues that impede access to care and uptake of services, and kickstart solutions to address issues, including developing and testing different innovative models of service delivery for public and private sector;
• Provide mentoring and capacity building to individuals and to local partners in specific areas of expertise including but not limited to local organization capacity development;
• Provide operational oversight to sub-partners to ensure they are able to deliver on project scope.
• Actively participate in relevant technical advisory/working groups and professional forums representing the activity;
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with USAID and Government of DRC Ministries, e.g. Ministry of Health and related Ministries; public health partners, member organizations and professional associations (public and private health care providers), and local civil society organizations;
• Identify training and capacity needs for local government and healthcare providers and assist in the design and implementation of measures to address those needs;
• Collaborate with local stakeholders and implementing partners, to ensure that all activities conform to the requirements and regulations;
• Document successes, lessons learned and challenges in implementation as well as reports of project activities and results to the project and donor, including routine quarterly and annual reports and other reporting requirements as requested;
• Supervise technical and program staff and manage performance and provide timely feedback;
• Maintain excellent relationships with USAID and in-country stakeholders and develop rapid responses;
• Provide operational leadership to the development the project strategic plan, work plan, and project monitoring, in close collaboration with USAID, Government of DRC, and partner organizations, and stakeholders to ensure timely implementation and compliance with the requirements and regulations of the award;
• Work with finance and project staff to develop and track project budgets;
• Coordinate efforts with the country team lead to ensure alignment with organizational strategy, mission and goals.

• Master’s degree or other advanced degree (e.g., MD) in public health; health systems strengthening; health finance and budgeting; and relevant fields such as development studies, social sciences, management, and relevant fields;
• Minimum ten years’ experience managing large, complex, and integrated health system strengthening and health service delivery programs of similar scope;
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with government, donors, the private sector, and community organizations to advance health objectives;
• Recent experience working in DRC (target regions are a plus) with intimate understanding of local health and government system and gaps and opportunities in the above-mentioned technical areas, and preferably with established relationships with relevant stakeholders;
• Strong leadership skills, and project management skills;
• Previous experience working on USAID-funded projects, matched with an in-depth knowledge of USAID regulations, compliance and reporting requirements;
• Experience working with sub-/grantees, local and international and knowledge of capacity development approaches for locally-led development;
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills and ability to translate data into action, and communicate results to wide ranging audiences;
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge in establishing project systems and overseeing project start-up and close-out;
• Experience hiring and supervising personnel and ensuring they acquire the necessary training and skills to meet evolving project needs;
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with USAID, host-country counterparts and representatives from other key stakeholders such as NGOs and CSOs. 

• Excellent skills in facilitation, team building, and coordination;
• Excellent verbal, written interpersonal and presentation skills in English and French (professional proficiency);
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity of technical staff;
• Ability to travel nationally and internationally

Deadline for applications is 11th October 2024

Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate, is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, other legally protected characteristics or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. Jhpiego promotes Affirmative Action for minorities, women, individuals who are disabled, and veterans