Deputy Chief of Party – Technical at RTI International Dar es-Salaam

Project Description 

Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) | East Tanzania program is a five-year project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that helps national NTD control programs for the control and elimination of five targeted NTDs: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths, and trachoma.

Position Description

Under the supervision of the Chief of Party (COP), the Deputy Chief of Party – Technical (DCOP) will be responsible for providing support to the COP in overall management of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID’s) Act to End Neglected Tropical Disease | East (Act | East) Project in Tanzania. The DCOP will work closely with Ministry of Health (MoH), partners, and sub grantees to support the program and ensure effective implementation of activities.  She/he will lead and coordinate the implementation of project activities and provides technical guidance to planning and implementation. She will regularly update the COP on implementation progress and ensure timely reporting to RTI Head Quarters (HQ). In coordination with the COP, she/he will maintain close working relationship with key sector partners, consultants, host country counterparts and stakeholders. She/he will collaborate with colleagues across RTI on technical, administrative, and strategic planning initiatives and ensures best practices and lessons learned are captured and disseminated across the project. The DCOP will be responsible for managing program deliverables including planning and coordination of all activities. In the absence of the COP, she/he will serve as a representative of the project to clients, stakeholders, and partners, providing key inputs for technical or management decisions.

This position supervises Act | East Tanzania’s Program Manager and Monitoring Evaluation Research Learning and Adapting (MERLA) Advisor.

Responsibilities

• Support the COP in providing daily management of the program and oversight of staff.
• Support the COP in providing strategic and technical leadership to the program.
• Fulfill the responsibilities of the COP in his/her absence.
• Work in partnership with the COP and senior management team in monitoring implementation of the country program to include tracking progress of program targets and deliverables, identifying issues that need to be addressed and ensuring that technical and financial reporting requirements are met.
• Support the preparation and implementation of the country program, including the preparation of annual country work plans and budgets; provision of technical oversight and supervision of all Mass Drug Administration (MDA) and survey-related activities; assistance in the monitoring and evaluation of country program activities.
• Monitor and report progress of the country program on a monthly basis to the country senior management team and keep track of all actions required in an activity timeline.
• Review budget development in conjunction with approved program work plans and identify areas of concern. Assist in monitoring budget consumption and forecast projections to ensure project is completed within budget.
• Prepare scopes of work and budgets for consultants and vendors as needed and provide follow up for their approval.
• Support preparation of technical supervision plans for districts and share these with senior management team for review and approval.
• Supervise staff as assigned, including providing regular professional support and coaching to supervisees, assessing their performance and recommending improvements they can make to achieve their annual objectives and project’s goal in general.
• Ensure smooth, frequent and consistent information flows within the technical and MERLA groups and with other departments within the Act | East Tanzania project.
• In collaboration with the COP, maintain strong relationships and partnerships with relevant institutions within the government of Tanzania, including Neglected Tropical Diseases Control Program (NTDCP) and President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), as well as USAID/Tanzania and subpartners, including WI-HER, R4D, and Save the Children.
• Support the COP in hosting high-profile visits from NTD stakeholders and ensure good representation of RTI’s activities.
• Work alongside the COP and RTI support team at home office in monitoring and providing regular updates of project activities to ensure activity planning meets relevant guidelines set by RTI and USAID
• Support the COP in ensuring an effective supply chain management, commodity procurement, logistics and distribution.
• Assist in fostering of project staff learning initiatives in consultation with RTI Regional Office Human Resource (HR)
• Work in strong partnership with Regional HR, home office HR and project staff

Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning and Adaptation

• Work with the COP and Program team to support the MERLA Advisor in developing the learning agenda for Act | East and facilitating learning and training activities.
• Together with the program team, support the MERLA Advisor in developing and updating the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP) to adequately measure and track progress and outcomes of tasks in the Act to End NTDs | East work plan.
• Support the MERLA Advisor in synthesizing qualitative and quantitative results and producing high quality reports, success stories, and manuscripts for journal publication;
• Support the MERLA Advisor in creating a vibrant knowledge exchange platform.
• Establish functional working relationships with other NTD partners to facilitate effective management of treatment data from the districts during and after MDAs.

Mass Drug Administration

• Together with the Act | East team, develop and review regional and district FAA plans and budgets. Ensure activities are in line with the approved country work plan and budget.
• Provide additional oversight of regional and district FAAs and ensure timely completion of associated deliverables and reports. Conduct supervisory trips to assist target districts with planning and implementation of control and elimination activities.
• Monitor and report on regional and district progress in completing FAA milestones on a weekly basis during MDA period.
• Work with the technical team to ensure timely review and approval of milestone deliverables.
• Work with the finance team to ensure timely financial disbursements to districts upon submission of approved deliverables.

Reporting and Communications

• Participate in the preparation and submission of semi-annual reports, biweekly updates, as required by the project.
• Support the development of and develop Success Stories for RTI/USAID and Press Releases for local media to highlight program achievements.
• As needed, develop comprehensive ‘lessons learned and recommendations’ report that takes into consideration semi-annual reports.
• Prepare monthly reports (including subpartner updates) for submission to HQ.

Qualifications

Education & Experience Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree and 15 years of experience or Master’s degree and 12 years of experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Skills & Abilities

• Strong skills in project and administrative
• Proven knowledge and experience managing an international project with international and local
• Knowledgeable and experienced with international development contracting policies and procedures, specifically USAID, DfID, or Australian Aid as
• Demonstrated managerial
• Ability to build consensus and demonstrated ability to recruit and develop high performing
• Strong leadership skills across various levels of staff and
• Strong ability to work across technical and operational areas within business group and
• Familiarity with international development systems, policies, finances and management in developing
• Excellent knowledge of MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint,
• Ability to manage multiple
• Ability to work well with
• Excellent ability in communication (verbal and written)
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability
• Ability to obtain proper security clearances as required by contract and prevailing
• Culturally sensitive and
• Proficiency in English and Swahili

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