Chief of Party, USDA-Funded Food

Overview

POSITION TITLE:

Chief of Party (COP)

LOCATION:

TBD

GROUP:
Agriculture, Resilience, and Water

Winrock International (Winrock) is a leading non-profit organization that works around the world to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment. Winrock strengthens the capacity of local partners including civil society organizations and private businesses to participate in sustainable development and positively impact society.

The Agriculture, Resilience and Water (ARW) group partners with rural communities, businesses, and local leaders to develop market-oriented agricultural solutions at scale that increase food production and profitability, expand market access, secure natural resources, and build resilient livelihoods. Using a systems approach, we apply local and global expertise to advance sustainable economic opportunities.

Winrock is seeking a Chief of Party to lead a dynamic team in implementing an anticipated $10-$30M USDA-funded Food for Progress project that will assist producers, private firms, and the public sector to increase the production and bi-lateral trade of agricultural products.

The position is contingent upon receipt of donor funding.

The Chief of Party will provide strategic, technical and operational leadership for the project. The COP will be accountable for achieving results related to expanded trade and agricultural productivity, while ensuring high-quality implementation, adaptive management, and strong engagement with private sector partners. They will maintain systems for project operations; ensure that all award deadlines are met and targets are achieved; supervise project staff;

and develop and maintain strong working relationships with project stakeholders, including government ministries, private firms and industry groups, subgrantees and/or subcontractors, other projects, technical experts, and local institutions. They will lead collaborative initiatives to ensure all approaches are sustainable, cross-sectoral, and evidence-based.

Strategic Leadership

• Work in close partnership with the funder to ensure alignment with strategic goals and objectives for agricultural productivity and expanding markets and trade, and application of program-wide learning and collaboration.
• Coordinate and collaborate with host government programs and other projects to leverage resources and maximize results.
• Serve as primary liaison to the funder and senior government counterparts, representing the project in high-level technical and policy forums.

Technical

• Execute, lead and adapt the project’s technical approach to support increased use of sustainable and scalable agricultural production and post-production practices and technologies, expand markets and market access, and increase trade of agricultural products.
• Ensure achievement of project impact targets through project performance monitoring.
• Apply adaptive management and learning to evaluate program results and impact. Institute adjustments to replicate and scale successful activities and course correct activities as needed.

Administration and Management

• Provide administrative and technical direction to project staff, consultants, and partners.
• Drive a culture of accountability and proactive risk management, ensuring compliance with Winrock administrative procedures and applicable USG regulations. Oversee work planning and execution, tracking progress against targets and adjusting execution as needed to meet or exceed funder expectations.
• Maintain close communication with Winrock home office and USDA to provide ongoing, formal reporting and informal updates on project progress.
• Other duties as assigned.

Team Leadership

• Build and lead high performing teams by promoting a positive, productive and accountable team culture.
• Execute a one-team approach to consortium operations and team dynamics.
• Identify and respond to training and mentorship needs.

Education: Academic degree in international development, business, finance, management, or other relevant fields. Master’s degree preferred.

• Minimum 10 years of experience managing complex food and agriculture programs.
• Senior level management experience on donor-funded programs is required.
• Experience developing partnerships with private sector actors aligned around shared value.
• Experience designing, implementing, and coaching project staff and partners on systems-based interventions required.
• Experience with adaptive project management and/or continuous improvement frameworks.

• Experience managing $15M+ budget programs.
• Past experience working with USG (e.g. USDA, USAID, DOS).
• Experience with trade facilitation, agribusiness, value chain, or market system development projects, or equivalent private sector management experience is preferred.

• Ability to lead and develop high performing teams and coordinate activities with partners from a broad range of backgrounds and…