Assistant Country Director Program Quality – CARE USA – DRC

CARE, we seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live with dignity and security. This is the vision of CARE, and has been since our founding 70 years ago, when 22 American organizations came together to rush lifesaving CARE Packages® to survivors of World War II. Today, CARE is a global leader within a worldwide movement dedicated to eradicating poverty. In 2015, CARE worked in 95 countries to reach more than 65 million people with 890 life-saving poverty-fighting programs, including maternal and child health, education, food and clean water and more. CARE is about enabling the human-to-human connections that affirm the dignity of every person on this planet. CARE puts women and girls at the center of its programs both because they are disproportionately impacted by poverty, something we cannot overcome until all people have equal rights and opportunities.

The Assistant Country Director Program Quality [ACD-PQ] will provide leadership to projects and program implementation and implementers. He or she will be responsible for the programmatic coherence of all planning and fundraising efforts within the CARE mission in DRC. S/he will contribute actively to project design & financial viability of the country office portfolio. Will determine appropriate implementing mechanisms to achieve Program/projects’ strategic goals, having authority for decisions relating to projects activities and Program staff in the country office. S/he will serve as the liaison for donors, partner organizations and other stakeholders on programmatic and content issues. The ACD-PQ leads and consolidates a team consisting of the project managers the advocacy advisor and the M&E coordinator to converge evidence gathering, advocacy, impact and quality implementation into a coherent program approach, core business focus and accountability framework. Manages teams in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and in both the Kivus.

The ACD-PQ will be based in Goma and will undertake frequent field, occasional international, regular regional travel. As a member of the Senior Management Team the ACD-P supports the development of an organizational culture that reflects CARE’s mission and vision, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation; provides strategic direction and plays a major role in the development of the annual operating plan. Participates in conceptualizing and designing cost effective, innovative and high quality programs to address underlying causes of poverty through women’s empowerment and emancipation and the corresponding organizational structure. Contributes to the overall management and leadership of the DRC country office.
The ACD-PQ reports to the Country Director and coordinates continuously with the Assistant Country Director Program Support and Financial Director.

Primary Responsibilities: ​

​Program quality, development and management

Business development and external relations

People management, efficiency and compliance

​Primary Skills:

​Master’s degree in related field

Fluency in French is a must, proficiency in English highly desirable

Minimum of seven (7) years in a senior management in a similar organization/position

Program Management

Demonstrated experience in leading strategic and operational planning

Demonstrated leadership and management skills in a very complex international setting

Extensive conceptual skills including strategic analysis

Demonstrated experience in program design, implementation and evaluation + Experience in emergency related activities

People/Relationship Management

Demonstrated leadership and interpersonal skills

Ability and interest to coach and develop staff

Experience with performance management

Strong representation and negotiation skills

Demonstrated use of positive coping strategies in stressful environments

Demonstrated cross cultural communication skills

Able to work in and lead a team in inclusive manner

Financial Management

Knowledge and experience with financial management as demonstrated by:
Ability to manage a complex budget

Follow-up on internal and external audit recommendations

Donor compliance and reporting

Information/Knowledge Management

Ability to establish a learning culture within the CO
External Relationships/Fundraising

Experience in successfully managing institutional partnerships with national and international NGOs

Experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with donors and government counterparts.