Resident Hire USPSC Senior Social Sector Advisor, GS-14 at USAID

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Senior Social Sector Advisor will oversee a portfolio of education activities - currently valued at more than $70 million - that directly increase access to quality education for over 100,000 children and out-of-school youth, while supporting policy reforms that strengthen the education system in Somalia.

• The Senior Social Sector Advisor will also oversee a growing portfolio of health activities – currently valued at $8 - $10 million – which include COVID vaccination and routine immunization activities, and a new activity focused on improving maternal and child health. He/she will provide the USAID/Somalia Office with strategic and technical leadership on education and health programming, serve as USAID/Somalia's point of contact in high-level education and health sector coordination fora with the Government of Somalia and other donors, and will manage aspects of the education and health portfolios, including but not limited to planning, design, procurement, implementation, and M&E. The USPSC will collaborate with other technical teams (namely Economic Growth and Democracy, Stabilization and Governance), supervise FSN(s) in implementing and approving programs and activities, and advise staff participation in meetings with GoS officials, members of international organizations and other donors, private-sector representatives, and others to discuss program/project areas and to resolve problems of mutual concern.
• Within the scope of work assigned, the USPSC will have considerable latitude in the exercise of their duties, including program/project design, management and evaluation, and the identification and resolution of issues affecting program performance within and outside of the Mission. The USPSC will report to the Deputy Mission Director and participate fully in providing guidance and overall direction of the development and execution of USAID/Somalia-financed activities related to education and health sector reforms, with particular emphasis on existing and planned new activities related to basic education, workforce development, and maternal and child health. The USPSC will be expected to work independently and with minimal oversight from the Deputy Mission Director, based on a general assignment of responsibilities.

Program Management and Related Duties (40%)

• Program and Portfolio Oversight: The Senior Social Sector Advisor will contribute to planning, designing, developing, and managing new and existing education and health programs and activities as a team member of the Social Services Office. These duties include activity design, participating in procurement processes, activity or project implementation, identifying and resolving program issues, assuring that all activities are carried out in a technically sound and cost-effective manner, and in accordance with all applicable Mission and Agency directives and requirements. S/he may serve as activity manager for programs and activities that include policy reform, local capacity development, and other areas relevant to the education and health objectives of USAID/Somalia and the Agency writ large.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: S/he supports the monitoring and evaluation of implementing partners and education and health sector activities, obtains and reports on results and possible setbacks, and initiates programmatic adjustments when necessary. The incumbent is responsible for monitoring and evaluation at both the project and activity levels, including developing project and activity-level M&E plans, Data Quality Assessments and technical evaluations, providing input into evaluations, including external impact evaluations, and evaluations conducted by the Program Office and the Third-Party Monitoring firm, and analyzing data and information sources to inform programming and design decisions. During the startup of new education and health activities, s/he will advise on the development of monitoring and evaluation plans, and the inclusion of appropriate indicators in the work plans. The incumbent reviews and validates quarterly program and financial reports consistent with USAID regulations as submitted by the implementing partners, paying particular attention to activity and financial indicators (e.g., expenditures, burn rate/pipeline analysis and congruity of expenditure against activities, and needs for incremental funding).
• Mission Performance Monitoring Plan: The Senior Social Services Advisor will ensure data is collected and synthesized for USAID/Somalia’s Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP). To fulfill this task, s/he is responsible for : 1) tracking the collection of performance data from numerous sources such as USAID/Somalia’s cooperating agencies, local partners, and other international organizations; 2) preparing inventories of current indicators, information collected, and information still needed; 3) devising more efficient methods for collecting information; 4) verifying that the data is verifiable and accurate; and 5) determining that the information gathered is in accordance with the indicators of the PMP. S/he will use partners’ reports to contribute quantitative and qualitative input into Mission’s annual reports and other reports and track performance against Development Objectives. The incumbent evaluates fully implemented activities focusing on impact, lessons learned, problem areas, and how these challenges have been overcome.
• Partner Communications: The Senior Social Sector Advisor will represent USAID in discussions and negotiations with implementing partners and line Ministry counterparts.
• Official Interaction and Association: The Senior Social Sector Advisor will be required to build and maintain productive professional working relationships with personnel and officials representing USAID/Somalia, the U.S. Embassy, the Federal Government of Somalia, the business community, and NGOs.
• Technical Specialist and Representational Duties (40%): The Senior Social Sector Advisor will provide professional technical contributions to SSO and the Mission. The incumbent will keep abreast of and analyze economic, political and other trends affecting the education and health sectors, and will keep the mission informed of these trends. The incumbent will actively contribute to the monitoring, evaluation, analysis and learning at the project and DO level. S/he will be required to maintain relationships with a wide range of senior-level contacts in government and semi-autonomous government agencies, private sectors and civil society organizations, donor agencies, implementing partners and other stakeholders related to education and health sectors, and to represent USAID and the USG with internal and external audiences as required. S/he will work to best facilitate knowledge management through exchange of technical information and ideas, to collaborate on cross-cutting issues, to provide effective collaboration among actors in the education and youth sectors, and to promote program/project synergies.
• Other Duties as Required (20%): The incumbent will be required to assist in creating a supportive work environment that values diversity, and elicits the highest possible level of performance from all team members, including accomplishment of all other duties as assigned.

POSITION ELEMENTS

• Degree of responsibility for decision-making assigned to the position: The incumbent will use her/his own personal, well-informed judgment and ingenuity to interpret the intent of guides in devising innovative approaches to resolving technical, administrative, managerial and/or policy problems. The use of initiative, discretion, and patience is expected from the incumbent in dealing with USAID personnel as well as representatives from other USG agencies, donor organizations, and implementing partners to resolve problems that arise during the course of work for which there is often no clear or immediate solution. In addition, considerable judgment is required in working effectively with officials of the Ministries and the private sector from Somalia, coordinating efforts in support of USAID's project implementation and CDCS objectives, and in collecting, analyzing and reporting on progress of activities and recommending project design actions.
• Level of complexity for work assignments: The incumbent’s responsibilities will involve areas of uncertainty in approach, methodology, interpretation and evaluating processes due to the difficult work environment in Somalia. Additionally, there are continuing changes in program, political and security developments, unknown phenomena, or continuing requirements, and the work requires implementing new techniques, establishing criteria, or developing new information. Complexity in managing processes and programs that span across countries, U.S. Embassies (Kenya and the U.S. Mission to Somalia), and multiple host country governments (Federal Government of Somalia and five Federal Member States), will require the incumbent to be constantly in tune to, flexible, and responsive to changing political, security, programmatic and organizational demands.
• Knowledge level required: The incumbent must have a comprehensive knowledge of social sector programming, including on health and education. Knowledge of policies and best practices for addressing the challenges facing children, youth, and adolescent girls and young women (including formal and non-formal/alternative education approaches), human and institutional capacity building, and fragility and/or extremism is strongly preferred. The incumbent must show past experience in performing successfully at high levels, with minimal supervision and daily direction.
• Supervisory Controls: The Senior Social Sector Advisor will be supervised by and report to the USAID/Somalia Deputy Mission Director. The Supervisor will provide overall supervision to the Senior Social Sector Advisor. The individual must exercise independent judgment in planning and carrying out tasks, resolving problems and conflicts, and taking steps necessary to meet deadlines.
• Guidelines for the required work: The guidelines for this position are stated in general terms (e.g., ADS) but the work s/he provides is in itself providing guidance to and ensuring guidelines are enforced by Mission staff. In many instances, the incumbent will have to rely on his/her knowledge and extensive prior experience to enforce guidelines as s/he carries out his/her duties. The incumbent must be able to use excellent judgment and the ability to deal with ambiguity at all levels.
• Complexity of the work environment: The incumbent is expected to exercise a very high level of sound judgment to be able to accomplish results and ensure assigned projects are completed on time and in compliance with USG regulations and policies. The use of initiative, discretion, and patience is expected from the individual in working with USG office personnel as well as representatives from other organizations/partners to resolve challenges that arise during the course of work for which there is often no clear or immediate solution. In addition, considerable judgment is required in working effectively and coordinating election efforts in such a complex operating environment. The individual must ensure that his/her input into official U.S. Government documents is consistent with the goals of USAID/Somalia and reflects its strategic thinking.
• Scope and effect of the work performed: The incumbent’s work will involve the ability to independently plan, design, and carry-out interventions and studies, and to oversee a diverse portfolio of education and youth activities, the impact of which will improve implementation of the USAID/Somalia’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), the highest level strategic planning document for USAID/Somalia which guides all programming priorities, policies, and activities of USAID's program in Somalia. The incumbent will be expected to facilitate and guide engagement with Somalia's Federal, State, and Local governments, along with many other education and health stakeholders and often with conflicting priorities.
• Level and purpose of contacts: Contacts will be at both the highest and working levels with the U.S. Embassy’s Somalia Unit and other bilateral and multilateral donor organizations. Contact will be of a continuous nature through day-to-day meetings and periodic review sessions. The individual will represent USAID/Somalia at various meetings.
• Supervision or oversight the position has over others: May exercise full range of normal supervision over SSO’s FSN Project Management Specialists and/or Project Management Assistant, providing overall policy guidance and coordinating the work of these employees to achieve activity objectives.
• Travel Requirement: In-country travel in Somalia is a requirement of the position and the USPSC may occasionally face challenging living and working conditions while in travel status. Travel requires USG Regional Security Officer (RSO) approval.
• Support Items: The employee will be provided with the support services, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform the work. This will include a workstation that includes a desk, computer, file cabinets, network access, with the possibility for mobile computing devices based on need and Mission management approval.
• Sunday Pay: Is not authorized.
• PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The primary location of work will be on the U.S. Embassy/USAID compound in Nairobi, Kenya. No special demands are required to perform the work.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

The incumbent must meet the following requirements in education and professional experience:

• Education: A Master’s degree in an area related to international development, education, education policy, public health, and/or social/behavioral sciences.
• Professional Experience: Seven (7) or more years of experience with a USG foreign affairs agency, UN agency, international assistance organization, or non-governmental organization. Prior experience in managing USG-funded contracts and grants, particularly in the area of education or health, is preferred. Knowledge of education systems and/or health systems is strongly preferred. This may include: education sector policy reform, early childhood education, girls’ education, community participation, youth programming, maternal and child health, humanitarian assistance, with demonstrated experience in developing countries, within which there must be a:
  • Minimum of two (2) years of overseas experience working;
  • Minimum of two (2) years of supervisory experience (including mentoring, training, and guiding staff).
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: The successful candidate must demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of social sector programming. The candidate must be conversant and demonstrate experience in various education and youth programming approaches, project management, and U.S. Government federal regulations and procedures. Knowledge of policies and best practices for addressing the challenges facing children and youth (including formal and non-formal/alternative education approaches), human and institutional capacity building, and fragility and/or extremism is strongly preferred. The successful candidate must be able to represent the U.S. Government to Somali Government officials, the private sector, and citizens.
• Language and Communication Skills: Level IV fluency (written/spoken/reading) in English required