Director of Local Partner Capacity Strengthening

Pact is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries building solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve. Founded in 1971, Pact works with partners to build resilience, improve accountability, and strengthen knowledge and skills for sustainable social impact.

Innovation - Pact has a dedicated innovation practice for finding and scaling solutions to social problems in the form of products, processes, and wider business models with a focus on human centered design. Pact has several methods to facilitate idea generation from an online Innovation Marketplace on its social intranet system called Mosaic to an in-country innovation workshop that uses Human-Centered Design (HCD) to tease out new ideas. Pact exists to help create a world where those who are poor and marginalized exercise their voice, build their own solutions and take ownership of their future. The Innovation team contributes to realizing this by: • Creating enabling environments for innovation to thrive in Pact’s country offices and HQ. • Providing technical assistance to internal departments, country offices, and projects through project development and innovation methodologies. • Building internal innovation assets: capacity building in country offices through curriculum development and implementation; sourcing internal innovations and seeking innovation funding opportunities; facilitating knowledge sharing across Mosaic and other platforms. • Business Development: contributing to pre-positioning and proposal development with the Opportunity Development team and building external innovation partnerships. • Thought-leadership; participating in the innovation in development conversation by attending events, hosting meetings, and making relationships with potential partners and donors.

Pact seeks an enthusiastic, experienced leader to manage the capacity strengthening (CS) of local partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central Africa Regional Mission countries. This will include a focus on increasing capacity to apply, receive, and better manage USAID-supported direct awards.  This position will report to the Chief of Party/Project Director and serve as a member of the leadership team on the anticipated USAID-funded DRC Localization Capacity Strengthening Support Mechanism, guiding the project’s strategy for working with a range of Congolese and regional mission partners, overseeing a team of professionals delivering capacity strengthening support, and helping ensure alignment between the project’s parallel work to strengthen USAID’s own capacity to partner with local organizations.

Please note that this position is contingent upon award of funding and that the exact position title, requirements, and responsibilities may change if dictated by USAID.

 

• Lead the development and implementation of the project’s overall CS strategy to strengthen the technical and organizational capacity of existing and potential new USAID/DRC and regional mission partner organizations, while maintaining performance and quality of local partner transition efforts.
• Ensure strong coordination of multiple project locations, staff and technical teams, to develop, modify and monitor programming elements.
• Drive and monitor implementation of CS activities by mentoring technical teams, ensuring adherence to targets, timelines, budget management, and achievement of objectives.
• Partner and network with government, civil society organizations and private sector to develop platforms for resource sharing, cross learning and innovations that yield sustainable CS results.
• Lead the technical and contextual adaptation of Pact’s CS tools and approaches to support achievement of program objectives and targets.
• Lead the development and realization of local organizations’ resource mobilization and sustainability strategies, including technical assistance for transitioning to direct USAID funding.
• Support knowledge management, linkages, and exchange of learnings and best practices across program activities and project teams, as well as with other actors in the capacity strengthening and local partner transitioning space.
• Coordinate closely with the Chief of Party and other project leaders to ensure that CS interventions are in line with program budget and outcomes.
• Lead a team of up to 4 capacity strengthening advisors who will support specific technical CS areas for the project
• Contribute to project planning (i.e., development of work plans and operating budget) and work closely with the Chief of Party to collaborate with and report to USAID.
• Provide innovative solutions to granting needs, especially concerning local partners on the cusp of receiving direct USAID funding for the first time and those already implementing USAID-funded projects that need support increasing their absorption capacity.

• Master’s degree and 9+ years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience, including 5 years of management experience or Bachelor's and 11 years of experience including 5 years of management experience. 
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working in the DRC.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with governments and civil society partners.
• Excellent facilitation and training skills in a variety of organizational development topics.Direct experience with transition awards and/or successfully graduating indigenous partners to direct donor funding.
• Demonstrated track record of successfully building and effectively managing diverse teams of employees.
• Demonstrated experience developing organizational capacity in financial and grant management, human resources, USG compliance, and related topics, with partners at various stages of organizational development.
• Fluency in English and French.