Niger: Deputy Chief of Party - Voices for Peace

Equal Access International (www.equalaccess.org) is a dynamic communications for social change non-governmental organization that combines the power of media with community mobilization to address the most critical challenges in the developing world. Each year we reach more than 90 million marginalized individuals and families with a variety of media and direct community engagement activities. Headquartered in San Francisco, our work spans the globe, with country offices in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameron, Cambodia, Chad, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen. Equal Access’ priority areas of impact are Media Strengthening, Youth Life Skills & Education, Agriculture & Economic Development, Health, Peacebuilding, Women and Girls’ Empowerment, Civic Participation & Governance and Human Rights.

The Voices for Peace (V4P) project is a 5-year, USAID-supported media messaging and communications cooperative agreement that will cover Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger, with an expansion to Cameroon at the end of the year. A continuation of EA’s ongoing peace and tolerance work in these countries, the goal of the anticipated project is to amplify moderate voices of peace and tolerance as part of a broader effort to reduce vulnerability to violent extremism in the Sahel. Specific objectives include:

1. Strengthening positive local narratives.

2. Increasing dialogue and exchange on CVE and peace concepts.

3. Expanding access to information.

4. Promoting citizen/government dialogue.

5. Enhancing regional collaboration among media actors.

The Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) will be based in Niamey, Niger and travel frequently to the other three program countries. This individual will oversee the implementation of all operations, including compliance, finance, monitoring & evaluation, budget management, sub-grant management, procurement, human resources, logistics, and security across the four countries in accordance with the work plan, activity monitoring & evaluation plan (AMEP), USAID policies and guidance, and Equal Access’ own policies, as well as oversee long-and short-term operations staff and all consultants and partners. The DCOP will report to the Chief of Party (COP).

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Overall Management & Leadership

· Supervises and manages finance/admin, procurement operations, and sub-grants, in accordance with organizational policies and applicable laws.

· Contributes to relevant technical deliverables, including but not limited to, work plans, activity M&E plan (AMEP), and technical documents and reports.

· Provides operational leadership to help COP ensure technical activities are delivered in accordance with the above plans and that they meet associated targets and goals within budget and in compliance.

· Represents project with donor, partners, national authorities and other key stakeholders in the West African media sector.

· Provides overall project management for finance, accounting operations, and administration activities, supervising the Regional Finance Manager (RFM) and Regional Procurement Manager (RPM).

· Manage the project’s sub-grant agreements.

· Fills in as Chief of Party when the Chief of Party is absent; will occasionally fill in for country directors on a short-term basis in case of absence.

· Supports recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, and mentoring new operations staff.

Finance, Procurement, Compliance, & Administration

· Ensures compliance with USAID requirements, Equal Access’ internal regulations and local laws and practices across project offices in Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and later Cameroon.

· Reviews and oversees the preparation of timely and accurate financial reports, including preparation of monthly financial reports and donor reports in accordance with donor guidelines, with QuickBooks and NetSuite software.

· Develops and manages project budget. Conducts budget forecasting in collaboration with senior project staff.

· Oversees all project procurement and contracting, ensuring compliance with USAID requirements and Equal Access protocols.

· Supervises RFM’s efforts to ensure that expense reports are properly submitted, and that all expenses are reasonable, allocable and conform to financial principles and guidelines.

· Supervises RPM’s efforts to ensure that all project procurements are undertaken in accordance with Equal Access procurement manual and any applicable USAID rules and regulations.

· With input from appropriate project staff, maintains cash forecasting system to ensure adequate funds are available to execute project activities.

· Oversee all operations, instituting and managing systems and policies across the whole project.

Coordination

· Liaise with HQ finance and program staff to ensure project success, including the Vice Presidents of Finance & Operations and the VP of Programs, Africa support team, Director of Innovation & Learning, Finance Director, and Director of Compliance.

· Cultivates and strengthens relationships with local partner organizations, other media sector and development programs, private sector partners and national authorities.

· Coordinates all regional and international travel.

· Provides relevant programmatic and financial data and analysis to inform results-based programmatic decision-making.

· Develops and oversees maintenance of a project filing system for financial and administrative documents in both soft and hard copy.

Qualifications

· 10+ years of experience managing public or private sector media, peace promotion, countering violent extremism or governance related programs, preferably including previous experience in West Africa. Relevant experience as a media practitioner considered.

· Degree in management, administration, international studies, communications, social sciences, or related field(s).

· Previous management, including both operations/finance and program, experience on a USAID or other donor-funded projects in West Africa.

· Demonstrated understanding of USAID and other approaches to media development, in particular those focused on gender integration and sustainability.

· Experience interfacing with local partner organizations, other media sector and development programs, private sector partners and national authorities.

· Experience managing and building the capacity of staff and local beneficiaries and groups.

· Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated pro-active approach to problem solving.

· Excellent written and oral communications skills; fluency in English and French required.

To apply, please send a cover letter indicating your reasons for interest in the position and a resume to: jobs@equalaccess.org with "DCOP-V4P" in the subject line of the email. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Please apply by September 30, 2017, but note that interviews will begin and a candidate may be chosen prior to this date.