Operations Director, FEWS NET 8 Knowledge Base , East and Southern Africa (ESAF)

Chemonics’ East and Southern Africa Regional Business Unit is seeking a Operations Director, FEWS NET 8 Knowledge Base 

Since its establishment in 1985, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) project aims to sustainably prevent food insecurity and famine across the globe by delivering to the U.S. Government and partners early warning on the location, causes, and magnitude of current and future food insecurity; improving the quality and timeliness of information and analysis useful for achieving sustainable food security; and strengthening innovative local, national, regional, and international capabilities to understand and appropriately address current, recurrent, and likely future food insecurity. Chemonics has been implementing FEWS NET since 2000, beginning its eights phase (FEWS NET 8) in 2024.  

 

FEWS NET 8 Knowledge Base (FEWS NET 8 KB) is a $65 million project which will create and update FEWS NET’s knowledge base about livelihood zones and market systems on which FEWS NET’s acute food insecurity early warning analyses are predicated, thereby ensuring that USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) is able to allocate emergency food assistance effectively and in accordance with humanitarian principles.   

 

The full-time DC-based (remote eligible) Operations Director for FEWS NET 8 KB will oversee a Washington, D.C.-based operations team consisting of a security manager, operations manager, and operations associate. The Operations Director will also oversee short-term field-based operations and logistics assistants that will support teams in-country and will vary in number and location based on project year. The Operations Director will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of recruitment, planning, logistics, procurement, contractual compliance, personnel management, subcontract and vendor management, security, and administrative reporting. S/he will provide operational management support and oversight in the implementation of the FEWS NET 8 KB contract.  

Responsibilities: 

• Support the Chief of Party in providing leadership in the compliant management and successful technical implementation of the KB project and support the timely completion of deliverables; 
• Lead project operational planning and implementation for the project, including overseeing US-based and local procurement, recruitment and personnel management, staff travel support, subcontract and vendor management, workshop planning, compliance, and security; 
• Supervise the KB operations manager, operations associate, and security manager; 
• Anticipate project implementation risks, implement strategies, and take steps, including those that require cross-team or Chemonics corporate-level collaboration, to lessen impact or mitigate those risks. 
• Liaise with the home office Project Management Unit (PMU) to support the management and oversight of project budget and forecasting; 
• Ensure compliance with contractual and corporate policies and regulations; 
• Ensure systems and processes are implemented effectively to support implementation of the award, including fraud and risk mitigation practices; 
• Oversee procurement efforts for the project in compliance with USAID rules and regulations, agreement/contract requirements, and Chemonics policies; 
• Oversee management of local subcontracts, procurements and vendors, including identification of local subcontracts/vendors, negotiation of budgets and agreements, and processing of invoice payments;  
• Perform technical oversight of subcontractor performance and deliverables, and draft new subcontractor task orders as neede