Deputy Chief of Party / Technical Lead

Job Description

• Job Title:  Deputy Chief of Party / Technical Lead
• Job-Family: USDA Food for Peace Non-Emergency Activity
• Reports To: Chief of Party

The USDA Food for Peace Non-Emergency Activity seeks to improve food security, resilience, and self-reliance among vulnerable households and communities in Ethiopia. Through an integrated Graduation through Agriculture-led Development approach, the activity will strengthen agricultural livelihoods, market systems, resilience capacities, nutrition outcomes, social protection linkages, and local systems. The project will support sustainable pathways out of chronic food insecurity while strengthening community resilience to recurrent shocks and stresses.

FH Heartbeat

At FH, we operate under a set of guiding principles we call “The Heartbeat.” This includes our Values, Vision and Purpose, which serve as the explanation of who we are and how we work as an organization. Together we follow God’s call responding to human suffering and graduating communities from extreme poverty.

Job Summary

The Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP)/Technical Lead will work under the supervision of the Chief of Party to support strategic leadership, management, implementation quality, and achievement of project objectives. The DCOP/Technical Lead will assist the COP in the technical, administrative, financial, and managerial functions necessary to ensure effective implementation and timely delivery of project results.

The DCOP/Technical Lead will serve as the project’s senior technical leader and will oversee the design, integration, and quality assurance of all technical components, including food security, agricultural livelihoods, resilience, market systems development, social protection, nutrition, natural resource management, and food assistance programming. Working closely with technical teams and partners, the DCOP/Technical Lead will ensure interventions are evidence-based, responsive to community needs, aligned with Government of Ethiopia priorities, and contribute to sustainable improvements in household resilience and food security.

The DCOP/Technical Lead will promote integration across sectors and strengthen the use of adaptive management, learning, and data-driven decision-making throughout implementation. S/he will build and maintain strong relationships with government counterparts, consortium partners, private sector actors, community institutions, and donor representatives to support program effectiveness, local ownership, and long-term sustainability. The DCOP/Technical Lead will serve as Acting Chief of Party in the absence of the COP.

Principal Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Technical Oversight

• Provide strategic technical leadership and vision for all project interventions, ensuring activities contribute to improved food security, resilience, self-reliance, and sustainable graduation outcomes.
• Lead the development, refinement, and implementation of the project’s Theory of Change, technical strategies, implementation approaches, and learning agenda.
• Ensure effective integration of agriculture, livelihoods, nutrition, resilience, social protection, market systems, natural resource management, and food assistance interventions.
• Guide technical teams in identifying innovative, evidence-based approaches that strengthen household resilience and reduce vulnerability to recurrent shocks.
• Ensure technical approaches align with USDA requirements, Government of Ethiopia priorities, FH standards, and international best practices.
• Promote collaboration, learning, and adaptive management across project components to strengthen implementation quality and impact.

Program Management and Quality Assurance

• Support the COP in providing overall leadership and management of project implementation.
• Oversee development and execution of annual work plans, implementation schedules, performance targets, and technical deliverables.
• Monitor program performance and implementation quality to ensure timely achievement of results.
• Lead regular technical reviews, reflection workshops, and strategy adaptation processes.
• Identify implementation risks and bottlenecks and support development of effective mitigation strategies.
• Ensure strong collaboration between technical, MERL, operations, finance, and grants management functions.

Government, Partner, and Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a primary technical representative of the project with government ministries, technical working groups, donor representatives, consortium partners, research institutions, and private sector stakeholders.

• Strengthen collaboration with national and regional government structures responsible for food security, agriculture, livelihoods, nutrition, and social protection programming.
• Promote local ownership and sustainability through engagement with local organizations, community institutions, and implementing partners.
• Support strategic partnership development to strengthen program impact and influence.

Learning, Evidence, and Adaptive Management

• Champion the use of monitoring, evaluation, research, assessments, and learning activities to inform decision-making and improve program quality.
• Ensure learning and evidence are systematically integrated into program planning and implementation.
• Support generation and dissemination of technical learning products, case studies, best practices, and success stories.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, accountability, and knowledge sharing across the project.

Staff Leadership and Capacity Strengthening

• Directly supervise senior technical staff and provide matrix oversight to technical teams and partners.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, mentoring, and professional development of project staff.
• Strengthen technical capacity of consortium partners, local organizations, government stakeholders, and community-based structures.
• Promote an inclusive, collaborative, high-performing, and accountable team culture.

Other Responsibilities

• Serve as Acting Chief of Party when delegated.
• Represent FH and the project in external meetings, technical forums, donor engagements, and strategic planning processes.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of successful project implementation.

Job Level Specifications

• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic leadership and technical direction for large, complex, multi-sector international development programs.
• Strong program management, organizational, and leadership skills with the ability to effectively oversee multiple technical sectors, cross-functional teams, and implementing partners.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and foster collaboration across technical, operational, financial, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning functions.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing integrated approaches that address food security, livelihoods, resilience, market systems, social protection, nutrition, and community development objectives.
• Strong understanding of systems strengthening adaptive management, collaboration, learning, and evidence-based decision-making approaches.
• Proven ability to establish and maintain productive working relationships with government institutions, donors, consortium partners, private sector stakeholders, and community-based organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex challenges, identify strategic opportunities, and adapt program approaches in dynamic operating environments.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, representation, and negotiation skills, including experience engaging senior government officials, donor representatives, and external stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of capacity strengthening approaches and experience supporting organizational and institutional development of local partners and government counterparts.
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting safeguarding, gender equality, inclusion, accountability, and community-centered approaches throughout program implementation.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, work under pressure, and consistently deliver high-quality results within established deadlines.
• Proven ability to mentor senior technical staff, build high-performing teams, and foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Strong written communication skills, including experience reviewing and contributing to donor reports, strategic documents, technical deliverables, and external communications.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly to project implementation areas and work effectively in challenging environments as required.

Education/ Experience

• Master’s degree in Agriculture, Economics, Food Security, Rural Development, International Development, Public Policy, Social Sciences, or a related field. Equivalent combinations of education and experience may be considered.
• Minimum ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience managing complex international development programs.
• Minimum five (5) years in a senior leadership role such as Deputy Chief of Party, Technical Director, Chief of Party, Program Director, or equivalent position.
• Experience leading multi-sectoral teams and managing complex consortium partnerships.
• Experience working with USDA Food for Peace, USAID Resilience Food Security Activities, PSNP, Feed the Future, or similar donor-funded programs strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience working with government counterparts and influencing policy, systems, or institutional strengthening efforts.
• Strong experience in adaptive management, collaboration, learning, and evidence-based programming.
• Previous experience in Ethiopia or the Horn of Africa strongly preferred.