LIFT II Technical Director (Technical Advisor II), Washington

LIFT II Technical Director (Technical Advisor II), Washington

FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in Health, Education, Nutrition, Environment, Economic Development, Civil Society, Gender, Youth, Research and Technology– creating a unique mix of capabilities to address today's interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 60 countries, all 50 U.S. states and all U.S. territories. We seek qualified candidates for the position of LIFT II Technical Director (Technical Advisor II) in Washington, D.C.
Project Description:
The primary goal of the Livelihoods and Food Security Technical Assistance (LIFT II) project is to support evidence-based, gender-sensitive programming to improve household economic strengthening, livelihoods and food security (ES/L/FS) support as a component of a continuum of nutrition, health care and support for vulnerable individuals and families. LIFT II is designed to work in close collaboration with US Government (USG) agencies, implementing partners and other key players to improve their capacity to design, implement and integrate sustainable, market-driven interventions to strengthen livelihoods, food and nutritional security. LIFT II aims to heighten the impact of work done through USAID, PEPFAR, Feed the Future, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Peace Corps, as well as national governments, civil society and the private sector. LIFT II's ultimate goal is to support the food security of vulnerable households, particularly those affected by HIV and AIDS, by improving their livelihoods and economic circumstances.
The USAID Global Health Bureau's Office of HIV and AIDS (OHA) established the LIFT II project as an Associate Award under the FIELD-Support Leader with Associates (LWA) Cooperative Agreement, managed by FHI 360. LIFT II is a five-year project (2013-2018) that draws together leading organizations with expertise in the areas of economic strengthening, livelihoods support and food security. Under LIFT II, FHI 360 partners with Care International (CARE) and World Vision (WV) as well as a robust group of resource organizations, to provide high-impact technical assistance (TA) to USG country teams and their implementing partners and to offer leadership and strategic learning to the field of livelihood strengthening and food security as a whole.
Position Description:
FHI 360 is currently recruiting a Technical Advisor II to serve as the 'LIFT Project Technical Director.' The position shall provide both technical and research leadership to LIFT II's cutting edge technical assistance in ES/L/FS. The position shall be instrumental in strengthening the evidence base and informing policy and practice on ES/L/FS; designing and leading technical assistance activities and support visits; developing technical materials, tools, and guidelines for project staff, consultants as well as technical assistance recipients; writing and presenting technical papers highlighting emerging trends; and identifying opportunities to disseminate LIFT II's technical learning and expertise.
This very senior level Technical Advisor II will also frame and contribute to LIFT's global learning leadership agenda by collaborating closely with FIELD-Support Knowledge Management (KM) team to document and disseminate project learning, building partnerships with related global initiatives and networks and leading LIFT II's technical publications such as white papers, working papers and peer reviewed articles as appropriate.
The LIFT II Technical Director (Technical Advisor II) will:
Provide overall technical and research leadership to develop LIFT II's knowledge base in ES/L/FS for vulnerable households.

• Provide technical direction to the LIFT II technical approach linking ES/L/FS with improved food security and HIV related health outcomes such as improved adherence to treatment and retention in care and support programs through NACS.
• Keep abreast of research and policy development related to ES/L/FS analyzing the evidence base and providing advice on areas of research where LIFT could substantially add to the state of practice.
• Identify areas of research and produce and oversea studies of market-driven approaches to ES/L/FS adding to the evidence base.
• Represent LIFT II and its technical capacity and approaches in relations with national governments, international agencies (e.g. WFP, UNICEF, etc.); relevant USG agencies, USAID Bureaus, USAID missions and their implementing partners exploring strategies to strengthen existing collaborations or networking amongst livelihood stakeholders.
• Strengthen relationships with key decision makers within USAID's Bureau for Food Security and Global Health Bureau to promote awareness of LIFT II as a mechanism for delivering technical assistance to Feed the Future activities and for deepening the impact of PEPFAR activities.
• Work closely with LIFT staff in Washington D.C. and in the field to streamline its approach in order to provide effective mechanisms for achieving scale and sustainability.
• Monitor field activities and ensure timely completion of objectives.
• In collaboration with LIFT II team, recruit, assemble and lead technical teams to carry out programs in LIFT countries.
• Produce and present technical papers at local, regional and international forums to share experiences and emerging best practices and disseminate LIFT II learning to donors and practitioners.
• Capture LIFT II learning, results and technical lessons. Coordinate with FIELD-Support LWA KM unit and identify opportunities to disseminate these results/products.
• Directs and guides managers, and staff with training and developing process improvement initiatives to ensure compliance with company and government standards.
• Oversee the development of technical program materials, tools and guidelines for LIFT II and technical assistance recipients; design and carry out training activities.
• Build, coordinate and chair a LIFT II Technical Advisory Committee within FHI 360.
• Provide technical support to the design of a robust monitoring and evaluation system and a research agenda in collaboration with colleagues and partners for LIFT II field activities.
• In collaboration with the Project Director, develop/produce contractual deliverables (quarterly, annual, field project evaluations, etc.) and work with other FIELD-Support team members and partners to write articles for wider dissemination.
• Work on proposals and other work as assigned by the Project Director and Director of FIELD-Support LWA.

Minimal Requirements:
Master's Degree required.
Degree Fields:
Applied Economics, Business Administration, Development Economics, Development Management, Economic Development, Economics, Finance, International Administration, International Development, International Economics and Marketing, or related fields.
15 year(s) of relevant experience required.
Specific Knowledge Requirements:

• At least 10-15 years of relevant experience leading technical aspects of economic strengthening, livelihoods and food security programs required.
• At least 2-3 years of experience working and living in developing countries.
• Experience with or knowledge of programmatic approaches used in one or more of the following areas: market-driven small and micro enterprise development; rural and urban livelihoods; orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) well-being; agricultural production, value chains and marketing; informal financial services and microfinance; and/ or food security.
• Understanding of household economics for vulnerability households and the impact of hazards and shocks such as HIV/AIDS and how to best target economic strengthening, livelihoods and food security programs to these groups.
• Thorough understanding of USAID and PEPFAR operating procedures and strategic objectives.
• Experience working with PEPFAR and/or HIV affected populations.
• Demonstrated strong mentoring experience supplemented with research, analytical and writing competencies.
• Demonstrated experienced leading peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed written publications such as white papers, working papers and journal articles.
• Experience in producing training materials and capacity building of USAID development partners, NGOs and other organizations in Africa.
• Excellent verbal and written English language skills; along with strong intercultural communication skills; French or Swahili is preferred.
• Ability to plan, organize, and use time effectively.
• Ability to influence, motivates, negotiate and work well with others.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks and responsibilities.
• Ability to coordinate diverse consortia of organizations to achieve common objectives.
• Proven ability to identify and solve problems.

Supervisory Responsibilities:
Technical Director may supervise 1 or 2 specialists in HQ and/or in the field, 1 or 2 program associates/assistants, and field teams of 4 or more staff and consultants.

• Or an equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience sufficient to successfully perform the key responsibilities of the job.

Interested candidates may register online through FHI 360's Career Center at http://www.fhi360.org/careers or through the Employment section at www.fhi360.org . Please submit CV/resume and cover letter including salary requirements. Please specify source in your application.
AA/EOE/M/F/V/D