The full solicitation for this position can be found at: https://www.usaid.gov/kyrgyz-republic/vacancy-announcement/202020-senior-democratic-development-specialist
The incumbent serves as the Senior Democratic Development Specialist in the USAID/Kyrgyz Republic Mission and reports to the Democracy and Governance Office (DGO) Director. S/he serves as a Mission expert providing technical leadership and support for a range of democracy and governance issues related to the ongoing democratic consolidation in the Kyrgyz Republic. The incumbent provides substantive input in the design, implementation and monitoring of projects in these areas, involving a full range of project and program design, management, oversight, activity monitoring, data collection, political analysis and evaluation of the democracy and governance portfolio in the Kyrgyz Republic.
In this role, the Senior Democratic Development Specialist must be able to employ his/her knowledge of political, social and cultural developments in the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as possess a background in diverse democracy and governance programming, including experience in two or three sub-sectors such as rule of law, human rights, media, civil society, parliamentary systems, local government, elections, political party development, conflict mitigation, countering violent extremism, youth, trafficking-in-persons, and gender development. The incumbent must demonstrate the judgement necessary to successfully navigate politically sensitive programming considerations in order to meet USAID objectives. The Senior Democratic Development Specialist must be able to effectively develop and cultivate cooperative working relationships with local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and implementing partners, international donors, and government partners in the Kyrgyz Republic. In addition, the employee coordinates closely with interagency partners at the U.S. Embassy Bishkek.
The Senior Democratic Development Specialist also supports rapid response requests from the Ambassador and others related to USAID programs and program areas and serves as a key advisor to Embassy staff and leadership on democracy and governance issues. The Senior Democratic Development Specialist, together with the Supervisory Democracy Officer, provides mentorship and feedback on performance for five FSN staff.
- Statement of Duties to be Performed
S/he will serve as a high-level decision-maker and provide guidance and recommendations to senior USAID and U.S. Embassy staff. The incumbent will take part in all parts of program life, from concept development to implementation, evaluation, and close out.
Program Development and Management, and Technical Advice 75%
The Senior Democratic Development Specialist plays a leading role in the design, oversight, and management of assistance activities to achieve those USAID/KR Development Objectives and Intermediate Results described in the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) to which the democracy and governance portfolio contributes. In fulfilling these duties, the incumbent develops, oversees, manages, and evaluates democracy and governance development activities. S/he will serve as Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR) and/or activity manager for selected politically sensitive activities. The Senior Democratic Development Specialist provides guidance and direction for proposals and implementation of grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. S/he assists implementing partners to ensure understanding of the performance monitoring system and their role in the process and advises them on specific measurement techniques appropriate for their programs.
The incumbent develops concept papers, project authorizations, and project amendments, in line with agency regulations and guidance and will lead or be a key member of technical selection committees for the award of procurement instruments. Designing programs in line with the USAID/KR strategy requires the incumbent to monitor, analyze, and report on political and social conditions in the Kyrgyz Republic to assess assistance needs and priorities. The incumbent provides support for monitoring and evaluation of democracy and governance activities, including by planning and designing evaluation instruments as needed to make informed program design and management decisions. S/he conducts or leads data gathering, research and analysis, and dialogue with counterparts necessary to inform program design decisions. The incumbent also evaluates the costs, benefits and effectiveness of projects.
The Senior Democratic Development Specialist also supports the development of the Democracy and Governance sections in the Operational Plan, Performance Monitoring Plan, and other key documents and works with the Supervisory Democracy Officer to ensure that all DGO written materials (e.g. all planning and performance reporting documents, memos, briefing checklists, press releases, official/informal communications) are of high quality.
The Senior Democratic Development Specialist will provide expertise to USAID and other USG agencies on democracy and governance development issues in the Kyrgyz Republic and will actively foster and facilitate USG interagency collaboration and cooperation. In particular, the Senior Democratic Development Specialist leads USAID or USG discussions related to specific DG sub-sectors in the Kyrgyz Republic. The focus sub-sectors will depend on the professional experiences and preferences of the selected candidate and the needs of the DGO, but could include national or local governance, rule of law, human rights, civil society, media, youth, electoral and political processes, trafficking-in-persons, countering violent extremism, or other areas. The incumbent will participate in regular and ad hoc donor and government coordination meetings and will provide expert technical advice to all stakeholders on some subset of these sectoral issues as well as advising USAID and U.S. Embassy senior management on appropriate actions. The incumbent will represent USAID as a technical advisor to a variety of formal and informal coordination groups, including but not limited to the Development Partners Coordination Council (DPCC) and Government of Kyrgyzstan technical working groups. As needed, s/he may be asked to represent USAID at meetings with other donors and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.
When required, the Senior Democratic Development Specialist will also prepare technical white papers, implementation and action plans, progress reports, press releases, public speeches, and professional correspondence on democracy and governance topics. The Senior Democratic Development Specialist will conduct research and advise other sector teams to inform strategy and program design and management. S/he will work with other offices within the Mission to generate synergies and complementary activities.
Leadership, Mentorship, and Teambuilding 25%
The incumbent will work together with the Supervisory Democracy Officer to lead the DG Team to continuously assess and strengthen the performance of its activities. To this end, the incumbent will drive the DG Team's continuous learning and improvement, through analysis of performance information, consideration of relevant development literature and other information about alternative approaches, and seeking to establish linkages between USAID activities. A crucial piece of the incumbent's job will be mentoring local staff. In addition to the two assigned FSN Project Management Specialists s/he will directly supervise, the incumbent will advise, train and otherwise support the career development of all professional staff responsible for managing democracy and governance activities. S/he will contribute to and oversee the development of sub-sectoral technical competencies among DGO staff in strategy and activity development and program monitoring and evaluation. S/he may also be asked to serve as Acting Office Director in the Office Director's absence.
Supervisory Relationship: Senior Democratic Development Specialist provides mentorship to DGO Team and supervises two Project Management Specialists (FSN-10).
Supervisory Controls: Senior Democratic Development Specialist receives general supervision from the Senior Democracy Officer, USAID/KR/DGO Office Director.
How to apply:
SUBMITTING AN OFFER
Submission of a résumé alone IS NOT a complete application. This position requires the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described in this section. Failure to provide the required information and/or materials will result in your not being considered for employment. All application packages are to be submitted via email to: centralasiajobs@usaid.gov and/or almatyhr@usaid.gov citing the Solicitation number and the Position title.
Interested individuals meeting the Minimum Qualifications above are required to submit the following:
Complete and submit the offer form AID 309-2, “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals,” available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.
Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted to the Point of Contact in Section I.
Offeror submissions must clearly reference the number of this Solicitation to ensure the offer is for the position in this Solicitation.
Cover letter and current résumé/curriculum vitae (CV). The CV/résumé must contain sufficient relevant information to evaluate the application in accordance with the stated evaluation criteria. Broad general statements that are vague or lacking specificity will not be considered as effectively addressing. Ensure the application covers the evaluation and selection criteria, as outlined in Section III of this solicitation.
Applicants must provide a minimum of three references within the last five years from the applicant’s professional life, namely individuals who are not family members or relatives. Ideally, references should be from direct supervisors who can provide information regarding the applicant’s work knowledge and professional experience. Applicants must provide e-mail addresses and/or working telephone numbers for all references.
To ensure consideration of offers for the intended position. Offerors must prominently reference the Solicitation number in the offer submission.