Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
The initial term of the contract will be five years, which shall include a probationary period of six months to a year. Employees who do not meet the required standards for their position during this probation period may be reassigned to another position or terminated at the convenience of the U.S. Government. Employees are expected to demonstrate qualifications and general suitability for continued employment during the probationary period. If with written justification, the probationary period may be extended for another period not exceeding six months.

Statement of Duties:
• General Statement of Purpose of the Contract The Specialist is a key member of the EYCD Office responsible for carrying out a range of responsibilities for planning, designing, managing, and evaluating youth programming across sectors.
• The Specialist serves as a technical advisor for EYCD leadership on policies and programs for vulnerable youth in Uganda, including innovations and new strategic directions.
• The Specialist has comprehensive knowledge of and experience with youth issues, with a specific focus on developing sustainable programmatic interventions that will improve the health, livelihoods, educational opportunities, and access to civic and democratic processes for youth (12-29) in Uganda.
• The Specialist will apply this knowledge and experience within EYCD and across the USAID Mission, including through participation in the Mission’s Youth Community of Practice, as well as with external counterparts in the GOU and with other donors. he Specialist is a member of the Youth and Higher Education Team in the Education, Youth, and Child Development Office (EYCD) and serves the ECYD Office’s local staff advisor and technical expert on youth in development. EYCD implements a $211 million portfolio providing basic education, youth, higher education, child protection, and PEPFAR/Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programming. USAID is renewing its Agency-wide Youth in Development Policy, while the Mission is updating its five-year Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). Youth issues remain a top priority for USAID globally and especially in Uganda, where more than 70% of the population is under 30 years old. The previous CDCS focused on the ‘14-year-old girl’ as the emblematic Ugandan citizen, based on demographic averages in-country. Under the new CDCS, the focus on youth will continue, requiring USAID/Uganda to employ significant expertise in youth issues. Within USAID/Uganda, EYCD’s programming is developed using an ‘ages and stages’ approach, recognizing that one size does not fit all, and that development programming is most effective when it meets participants where they are developmentally. EYCD therefore, tailors, activities to address the needs and leverage the skills of participants’ developmental stage.
• The Specialist will support EYCD in implementing the Agency Youth in Development Policy and the Mission’s CDCS, in alignment with the ‘ages and stages’ approach.
• To accomplish this, the Specialist will ensure that across all EYCD funding streams, the office applies a ‘youth lens’ to all programming involving young people from ages 10-29 years old. This includes promoting global best practices for working with youth, introducing innovative approaches to recruit and build youth participation in design and programming, and advocating for the best interests for youth with USAID staff and implementing partners, as well as with external stakeholders such as GOU entities and other donors
• The Specialist will be responsible for maximizing youth outcomes within EYCD’s portfolio and supporting ECYD funded youth integration in other USAID/Uganda sectors’ programs, including democracy and governance, economic growth, and health.
• The Specialist will demonstrate technical leadership on youth and collaborate with other USG agencies and donors, the Government of Uganda (GOU), and multilateral agencies on youth related programs, strategies, and activities.
• Project Management and Leadership (55%) Manage USAID-funded activities, including providing technical, financial, and programmatic oversight of grants and contracts while serving as a USAID Agreement/Contracting Officer’s Representative (AOR/COR). The Specialist will be the AOR for at least one local partner award estimated to be $10 million over five years. The Specialist will also serve as the Task Manager for the Higher Education and Youth component of the Integrated Child and Youth Development (ICYD) Activity, a five-year, $148 million activity.
• In this capacity, the Specialist will work with the Youth Team Leader on three youth-focused activities within ICYD: teacher training, accelerated youth education programs, and workforce skills development. As an AOR/COR, the Specialist will ensure that USAID-supported activities achieve USG and USAID strategic objectives, especially those related to youth; review and approve annual workplans, performance monitoring plans, and quarterly/annual reports; review quarterly financial accruals and pipelines; conduct at least quarterly site visits; and assist with monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). Analyze health, social, economic, political, and other trends affecting youth development in Uganda, and identify opportunities to address these issues through EYCD programming, where possible and appropriate.
• Increase awareness within EYCD and, to a limited extent, the Mission of the most effective interventions for improving health, education, livelihood, and civic participation among youth. Provide strategic guidance and leadership to implement the youth-focused aspects of the CDCS, including coordination and strategic alignment of education and HIV/AIDS programs within EYCD. Provide strategic input and technical expertise on proposed service delivery activities, policy initiatives, and research proposals. Contribute to annual budget planning, program reporting, briefing memos, and other taskers or required products on an ongoing basis. B. Coordination, Advocacy, and Communications (45%) Engage youth themselves in order to best map their needs, inform Mission activities, and evaluate programs in youth development.
• Cultivate and maintain a wide range of contacts with government, private sector, and voluntary institutions, as well as other multilateral and bilateral donors, to explain and advocate for USAID youth priorities across different funding streams (PEPFAR, basic education, higher education) and to ensure coordination and collaboration. Ensure that USAID positions and communications are strategic, coordinated, and reflect theories, concepts, principles, practice, and current research in youth development activities. Requires close collaboration and communication with other technical/senior advisors working in the related areas. Provide strategic and technical mentoring to USAID implementing partners and staff, when necessary and appropriate. Play a lead role in public outreach and communications for the youth activities across EYCD. Summarize information and conclusions in written and oral form, for presentation to senior USG and other decision-makers, and for incorporation into USAID/Uganda activity documents, as appropriate. Share lessons learned from youth programming and promote utilization of that knowledge across different USAID and Embassy offices, as well as external stakeholders (e.g., Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development [MGLSD], Ministry of Education and Sports [MOES], Development Partners Groups [DPGs]).
• Through close consultation with the MGLSD, MOES, and other key partners, including organizational development experts as needed, ensure USAID’s support to the MGLSD and MOES promotes and fosters their goals and objectives for supporting youth and children in Uganda. Emphasize the need for coordination, cooperation and information sharing among the different programs involving youth across sectors and within the Embassy. Foster USG leadership to advance a cross-sector youth agenda in development and diplomacy (e.g., Trafficking in Persons, Public Affairs Section annual Youth Conference, Department of Labor activities on exploitative labor). Represent USAID on interagency working groups as needed, including the PEPFAR OVC Collaborative and the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI). The contractor is eligible for temporary duty (TDY) travel to the U.S., or to other Missions abroad, to participate in the “Foreign Service National” Fellowship Program, in accordance with USAID policy. Supervisory Relationship: The Specialist receives direct supervision from the EYCD Youth and Higher Education Unit Leader. The EYCD Office Director may provide guidance and assign tasks as needed to accomplish broader Agency and Mission goals and objectives. Accomplishments are evaluated for conformance with policy and accomplishment of USAID/Uganda objectives. (4) Supervisory Controls: None, although the Specialist is expected to mentor Mission and IP staff working with youth.

Minimum Qualifications Required For this position
• Offers will be initially screened for compliance with application instructions and eligibility in accordance with the minimum qualification criteria listed below. To ensure compliance with the entire set of this solicitation instructions, the offer package must be completed and signed (hand or electronic signature) where indicated - and offerors must include in their offers information to demonstrate that they:
• have attained the required education level; and meet the experience requirements, etc. Education: Bachelor’s degree in education, child development, social work, psychology, sociology, social welfare, development, or a related discipline is required.
• Prior Work Experience: Minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible professional experience with implementing and managing programs supporting youth development is required. Language Proficiency: Level IV (fluent) English language proficiency, speaking and writing, is required.
• Knowledge of global and local best practices in youth development, including outreach, recruitment, and activity design, implementation, and MEL, is required.
• Knowledge of the Uganda youth context and key players, including relevant GOU strategies and policies, as well as the structure and functioning of MGLSD, MOES, and other GOU entities working in the youth space is required.
• Knowledge of Positive Youth Development, Youth Build, or other youth development frameworks.

Skills and Abilities:
• Track record in managing for results – including managing the technical, budgetary, and human resource aspects of grants and contracts
• within strict contracting rules and regulations in a complex, high-workload environment is required.
• Experience developing policies and procedures governing the design, implementation, and MEL of youth programs at all levels is required. Ability to develop creative approaches to new or unfamiliar problems is required. --Strong leadership, interpersonal, and communication (written and oral) skills are required. working relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including senior-level officials within the Embassy, GOU, and DPGs, as well as with implementing partners and NGOs, is required.
• Ability to present and defend USG development policies and programs and to explain and interpret host country attitudes, priorities, and concerns to senior USG officials is required.
• Ability to independently and effectively, plan, organize, and manage workload in a fast-paced, dynamic work-environment, is required.
• Experience with advancing a learning agenda by obtaining and evaluating data, then presenting it in meaningful terms to others is required.
• Ability to prepare factual and interpretive reports addressing complex subject matter is required

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure
Offers must be submitted as detailed in Section IV of the solicitation document and shall include
A typed and signed (hand or electronic signature) (around Section 6 – Declaration) DS-174 Employment Application for Locally Employed Staff or Family Member (https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds174.pdf; Version Exp. 06/2022). Cover letter (addressed to the USAID Supervisory Executive Officer) clearly indicating the position for which you are applying and describing how you meet the minimum requirements. Completed curriculum vitae/resume as detailed in the solicitation document.
Supplemental [separate] document specifically addressing each QRF as outlined in the solicitation.
Copies of Academic Transcripts. All offers must be e-mailed to: kampalausaidjobs@usaid.gov  on or before June 21, 2022:4:45 PM local time. Offers should be in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). No other file types will be accepted. All documents should be scanned into one (1) document (one (1) ATTACHMENT) which should not exceed 10MB.


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