The five-year (2020-2025) USAID Local Impact Governance Project (Local Impact) is helping Zambia build up a sub-national system of governance for devolved service delivery more responsive to citizen needs. The program is engaging national and sub-national authorities to expand the capabilities of partner provinces and districts to deliver sustainable development outcomes, increase effective citizen and private-sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, and improve public financial management and domestic revenue generation.

The activity is specifically working toward three objectives:

• Objective 1: Citizens improve their collective skills to effectively assess service-delivery needs and performance and constructively engage with government.
• Objective 2: The sub-national governance system becomes more responsive to citizen needs, generates, and accountably expends revenue, and improves service-delivery outcomes.
• Objective 3: The program generates learning and facilitates problem solving that supports the development of an effective, financially viable sub-national governance system for devolved services, capable of being scaled up throughout Zambia.

Local Impact is initially working in eighteen districts in Central and Muchinga Provinces to expand the capacity of district authorities to perform core functions, including strengthening the delivery of essential services, deepening citizen and private sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, improving public administration and public financial management, and increasing locally generated revenues.  The Project is recruiting for the following positions.

Position Summary

Position: Provincial Manager
Location: Province to be determined
Contract Name: USAID Local Impact Governance Activity
Type: Long-Term Technical Assistance
Period of Performance: Subject to the availability of funds

Purpose

Through the development and facilitation of evidence-based and context-driven interventions, the province-based Local Impact team will help partner districts establish participatory mechanisms and capacity for cross-sectoral dialogue, planning, and budgeting and increasing own-source revenues. The team will support visible service improvements and ensure that core public administration and public financial management functions (budgeting, planning, management, and citizen engagement) are strengthened in partner districts. The provincial team will work closely with the Provincial Local Government Officer (PLGO) to expand the capacity of that office to embed reform initiatives for sustainability post the project.

The Provincial Manager will manage and lead the provincial team comprising one technical staff, a driver/logistician, and an office assistant to achieve the Local Impact objectives and interventions described above.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Management duties

• Build and manage relationships with province- and district-based Local Impact stakeholders, and coordinate with cooperating partner-funded programs operating at the local level;
• Assist in the development, facilitation, monitoring and evaluation of Local Impact activities that engage partner province and district civil service and elected officials. line ministry service providers, traditional leaders, private sector entities, civil society organizations (CSOs) and local citizens (including women and disadvantaged communities);
• Coordinate logistics for assessment exercises, activities and events in the partner province as needed;
• Support the Local Impact sub-contractors as needed;
• Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) district mapping activities;
• Geo-Poll provincial surveys;
• Deliver timely, detailed and accurate updates on province-based activities that inform trip, activity, inception, quarterly, annual, and final reports, the annual work plan, and other deliverables;
• Work with and support the Grants Team on proposal and budget development; the solicitation process; activity implementation; deliverable completion; and monitoring, evaluation and learning for provincial and district level grantees;
• Identify and contribute to success stories in partner provinces and districts as required by USAID;
• Ensure that quality data for the Activity, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP) is collected for quarterly and annual indicators;
• Manage a three-person team (one technical staff and two support staff) in the Local Impact provincial office;
• Oversee field office finance and operations requirements (including procurements) in close coordination with the Lusaka-based Finance and Operations Team;

Other duties

• Provides leave of absence cover for staff as required;
• Escalates any issues to his/her supervisor immediately;
• Travels to partner districts as required;
• Performs any other duties as assigned.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE AND REPORTING

• Based in a Local Impact provincial office (location to be determined.
• Reports to the Deputy Chief of Party.
• Frequent travel to partner districts in the province.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PERSONAL SPECIFICATIONS

• University degree in Public Administration, Public Finance, Social Work or equivalent. A Masters in related field;
• 10+ years of experience supporting participatory planning, budgeting, management, and monitoring efforts and strengthening service delivery functions of local governments in contexts similar to Zambia;
• Experience in working with district-level governance bodies on USAID-funded projects;
• Experience of facilitation, coaching, mentoring and a track record of supporting government staff;
• Knowledge of decentralization in Zambia, including local level;
• Service delivery;
• Citizen, private-sector, women and disadvantaged community involvement in government decision-making, including development planning and monitoring;
• Public administration and public financial management systems and processes;
• Own-source revenue collection;
• Initiatives that promote gender quality and social inclusion;
• Ability to respond effectively to time sensitive demands & inquiries;
• Demonstrated commitment to exceptional customer relations (both internally & externally;
• Excellent organizational skills with a willingness to take initiative and be proactive;
• An energetic, forward-thinking and creative individual with high ethical standards and appropriate professional image;
• Fluency in English is required.