Position Description

EnCompass seeks Chief of Party (COP) candidates for a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) activity to be based in Lusaka, Zambia.

The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Platform will provide USAID/Zambia with strategic and technical support to improve performance management and advance Mission learning. The Platform will provide technical, administrative, and programmatic support services to USAID/Zambia in the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies and programs related to the Mission’s priorities.

The COP is responsible for overseeing the entire Contract, ensuring that the Platform completes deliverables, meets performance objectives, stays within budget, reports to and communicates with USAID appropriately, and remains aligned with the Activity’s objectives. This position will coordinate all activities, manage resources, and serve as the main contact for USAID. They are responsible for ensuring that the platform effectively supports USAID's development initiatives, facilitates data-driven decision-making, and fosters a culture of learning and adaptation.

We are looking for someone who can facilitate learning and build relationships, with high political acumen and strong conflict prevention and management skills. They must be an inclusive leader, who can navigate change with flexibility and emotional resilience. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience focusing on results and impact, with strong strategic vision and an understanding of systems approaches to programming. They will understand how to foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning and will maintain high self-awareness and personal improvement skills.

The position will be full-time and be based in Lusaka, Zambia with travel throughout the country.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

The COP will lead the Activity, providing technical guidance to and supervising both international and national staff and consultants. The COP will be the primary point of contact with USAID/Zambia staff, including the Contracting Officer and Contracting Officer’s Representation (CO/COR).

Essential functions:

Administration/Management:

• Serve as the main point of contact for the activity, providing vision, direction, leadership, and management for the contract.
• Provide technical, operational, and managerial oversight to all aspects of the Activity to ensure all activities, and deliverables are executed with quality and timeliness
• Establish and maintain highly collaborative working relationships with the Government of Zambia, USAID/Zambia and USAID/Washington as required, along with relevant in-country stakeholders; serve as the primary point of contact for USAID and as the principal liaison with USAID staff, institutions, and country partners to exchange information and develop professional relationships.
• Manage the country team, ensure technical capacity of staff; provide technical assistance and backstopping when required
• Ensure that all activities are undertaken in full compliance with EnCompass’ standard operating procedures, USAID policies and regulations, and national policies and laws
• Ensure documentation and dissemination of findings, impact, innovations, and lessons learned
• Ensure optimal use of human, financial, and physical resources to successfully meet project milestones, objectives, deliverables and targets

Technical:

• Responsible for the overall technical direction of the activity, ensuring quality and timeliness of all deliverables
• Promote sustainability of project activities with effective networking, linkages to other programs, capacity building of project staff, and institutional strengthening, as defined by USAID

Other:

• Engage fully as a member of the EnCompass staff team, including participating in staff meetings and other EnCompass events, and providing administrative support to other team members as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Position Requirements

Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

• Master’s degree and 10 years’ experience in monitoring and evaluation, international development, or a related field

Experience and Skills

• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in leading international development projects or comparable activities
• Five years of experience respectfully and successfully managing a diverse staff team delivering complex operations and logistical functions, ranging from technical experts to management and budget specialists and support personnel such as drivers and logisticians.
• Strong experience with evaluation standards and practices preferred
• Experience working in performance management, strategic decision-making, and project learning
• Experience building monitoring, evaluation, and learning capacities of USAID staff, implementing partners, and government counterparts highly preferred
• Experience managing complex relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including host country governments at different levels; experience mentoring staff and working with international and national consultants and staff
• Demonstrated leadership, strategic thinking/planning, management, and presentation skills required
• Working knowledge of and experience with USG-funded program management, policies, regulations and procedures
• Significant experience with USAID monitoring and evaluation policy and guidance required, including CLA practices.
• Familiarity with USAID/Zambia Mission is preferred; local / regional candidates prioritized
• Former supervisory experience required
• Excellent communication skills in English
• Ability to travel within Zambia, as necessary

How to Apply

Please submit CV and cover letter, and complete the application on the Careers & Consulting page of https://encompassworld.com.

EnCompass LLC is a progressive Equal Opportunity Employer. We promote, celebrate, and support a diverse and inclusive organizational culture and workforce. We are committed to providing all of our employees with an environment free from discrimination and harassment, where all are treated with dignity and respect. We do not tolerate, and explicitly prohibit, discrimination or harassment of any kind, at any time, in all aspects of employment. This includes recruitment, hiring, promotions, disciplinary measures, terminations, compensation, benefits, social and recreational programs, and training. EnCompass also does not tolerate retaliation against individuals who report discrimination or harassment. Our continuing commitment to the principle of Equal Opportunity Employment for all means all employment decisions are based only on the job requirements, the candidate’s qualifications, and the needs of EnCompass as a business—not on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, belief, sex (including pregnancy and related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability status, veteran status, genetic information, HIV status, family/marital/parental status, or any other status protected by the laws and regulations in the jurisdictions where we work.

For US based positions: The employer will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required of personnel so classified.

The incumbent must be able to work in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle and prioritize multiple, competing tasks and demands and to seek supervisory assistance as appropriate.