Chiefs of Party (COP), USDA-funded McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programs

Save the Children seeks Chiefs of Party (COP) for two anticipated FY25 USDA-funded McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programs. The two specific countries for these full-time positions will be determined once the project locations are finalized by USDA.

The COP will lead strategic direction in the management, implementation, and overall quality assurance of the project. They will also provide technical leadership in school feeding, literacy, primary education, and community participation. The COP will collaborate with the Ministries of Education, Health, and other critical partners to provide high-level support for effective capacity building at the local level and sustainability of the project interventions. The COP will oversee a team of experts and support staff, prepare reports and annual operating plans, align project initiatives with in-country priorities and ensure the program is compliant with USDA and Save the Children's regulations. The project must be designed to align closely with the current objectives of the partner Government.

This is a Key Personnel position, subject to donor approval. It is also subject to project award and funding.

Responsibilities

• Lead the management of the program in line with USDA guidelines to achieve project objectives.
• Oversee implementation, ensuring achievement of project results and deliverables in accordance with project work plan and budget.
• Provide technical oversight, ensuring technical quality, and alignment with donor technical guidelines and priorities.
• Recruit, support and manage project staff, including senior managers and technical experts, ensuring effective team coordination and performance. Motivate teams to deliver results by establishing a strong team dynamic, open communication, and leading by example. Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in internal operations, management, and program implementation.
• Manage operational, financial, and administrative priorities, and direct planning and budgeting processes. Create or adapt management systems in line with Save the Children standard operating procedures, ensuring adherence to donor policies and regulations, and relevant national policies and laws.
• Oversee the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) process to ensure results-driven project implementation and adaptive management.
• Represent Save the Children with USDA, local government counterparts, partners, and other key stakeholders. Build and maintain productive working relationships.
• Submit high-quality, timely reports to the donor, capturing project outcomes, impact, and key performance indicators.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where the project team strives to achieve excellence.
• Incorporate Save the Children vision, values and Code of Conduct principles.

Qualifications

• Graduate degree in education, nutrition, development studies, international development, or a related field preferred.
• 10-12 years of senior level professional experience designing, managing, and implementing large, donor-funded international development activities related to school feeding, education, or nutrition, preferably in a program director, Deputy Chief of Party or COP role.
• In-depth knowledge of USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education approaches and regulations. Technical expertise in food and nutrition security, school feeding and education programming.
• Strong financial management, compliance, budgeting and project operations/administrative oversight abilities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively in a team.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with donors, host governments, development partners, the private sector, and community organizations.
• Familiarity with and commitment to addressing gender equality in programming.
• Creative problem-solving skills with the ability to work effectively in resource-constrained environments.
• Experience overseeing M&E systems for donor-funded projects.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Ability to produce clear and concise reports, publications, briefs and other written materials related to the project.
• Ability to travel as required and as security conditions allow.
• Commitment to child rights and to the aims and objectives of Save the Children.

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children - every day and in times of crisis - transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our work for children and their families requires that we commit-at every opportunity-to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond. As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form-in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.

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