Senior Associate, Governance and Community Resilience

Jul 4, 2016 | Creative Associates International
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The Senior Associate will be responsible for supervising and managing a Washington DC-based for activity-based projects in fragile and post-conflict environments with an emphasis on building governing systems that contribute to community resilience, countering extremism and building effective states. The Senior Associate will provide technical and administrative guidance to headquarters staff and work directly with senior members of the project field teams, to include the COPs, and will fill in for the Practice Area Director when he is traveling. S/he will also lead the Practice Area's business development pursuits in conjunction with the Division Business Development lead. The Senior Associate will also be a primary representative of the Practice Area to the other support offices within Creative, such as contracts, finance, HR, etc., and to Governance clients in the US and other governments.

Reporting & Supervision:

The Senior Associate will report directly to the Practice Area Director.

Primary Responsibilities:

  • The Senior Associate will oversee and manage the administrative, financial, contracting and procurement for all programs, adhering to operating procedures and client policies and procedures, in support of the Practice Area Director. S/he will also serve as the Acting Practice Area Director when necessary, which could require interacting regularly with Creative Senior Leadership team, U.S. Government officials and other clients. Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
  • Supervising and managing the HQ Governance and Community Resilience staff, to include the conducting of annual performance evaluations;
  • Overseeing the Governance and Community Resilience primarily in the terms of administrative, financial and procurement systems, operating procedures and client policies and procedures;
  • Contributing to the development of the Practice Area strategic plans for projects and Business Development;
  • Acting as a regular point of contact with COPs and field staff and maintaining strong relations between field and HQ staff;
  • Reviewing of Practice Area financial performance and projection charts;
  • Reviewing periodic progress reports for clients;
  • Providing technical design inputs for project development and implementation;
  • Working closely with the Practice Area Director to develop annual work plans in project proposals and on-going field programs;
  • Monitoring subcontractors' performance, including contracts, budgets, and deliverables.
  • Working closely with the Practice Area Director resolve potential problems to ensure contractual compliance and project integrity;
  • Maintaining a working knowledge of contract requirements and budgets;
  • Overseeing the preparation, tracking and realigning of project budgets; final review for quarterly financial reviews;
  • Lead the Practice Area’s Business Development efforts in conjunction with the Division Business Development lead, providing substantive input and/or serve as capture (research and development) manager for business development activities including international travel for design and program development; proposal writing; and other assistance to multiple tasks of the proposal development team;
  • Assisting in proposals outside of G & CR when technical experience aligns to another Practice Area’s proposal; and
  • Travel to field project to provide technical expertise for start-up, close out or to provide technical STTA when required.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

  • B.A. or B.S. Degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, Business, International Relations, Political Science or a related discipline and a minimum of ten (10) years of professional experience working in international development; OR Master’s degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, International Relations, Conflict Resolution, Political Science or other related discipline and seven (7) years’ professional experience working in international development;
  • More than ten (10) years of project management experience, preferably in the Development field and as a U.S. Government contractor/grantee;
  • Solid understanding of U.S. Government operational and contractual requirements;
  • Experience overseeing large and complex budgets, technical activities and work flows;
  • Proven experience in capture and proposal writing and project design;
  • Solid understanding of development in transitional and post-conflict environments as well as understanding the constructs of a resilient state;
  • Proven ability to lead and manage team efforts, supervise staff, and manage time and workloads;
  • Strong negotiation skills; and
  • Excellent speaking, writing and analytical skills.

Desired Skills & Qualifications:

  • Work experience and/or academic study in the areas of governance, countering extremism, conflict mitigation, and/or public management, with an emphasis of experience or study of sub-national and local communities;
  • At least two years of experience living and working in a conflict environment, preferably in Sub-Sahara Africa;
  • Strong interpersonal skills, particularly in multi-cultural environments;
  • Evaluation and/or facilitation skills; and
  • Verbal fluency in a second language, preferably French and Arabic.