Deputy Chief of Party at Corus International April 2025

Position: DEPUTY CHIEF OF PARTY – Kuku Biashara (Poultry Value Chain)

Lutheran World Relief, which is part of Corus International, has been present in Tanzania since 1961. Corus International is the parent of a family of world-class organizations working to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to end extreme poverty once and for all. We are a global leader in international development, with 150 years of combined experience across our brands. Our nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries include IMA World Health and its fundraising brand Corus World Health, Lutheran World Relief, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, and Farmers Market Brands. In Tanzania, Corus operates under Lutheran World Relief. Our more than 600 employees around the globe are experts in their fields and dedicated to helping the world’s most vulnerable people break the cycle of poverty and lead healthy lives.

At Corus we believe that good only grows stronger and we reflect that belief in our workplace culture. We value every employee’s specialized area of expertise and nurture professional growth. We promote an engaging and supportive work environment, where employees feel enabled and driven to innovate, learn and collaborate. And because our subsidiaries often function as partners, our employees have the opportunity to work across our enterprise family.

Corus is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in our worldwide workplace, and we believe that social justice and respect for the human dignity of every person are fundamental to all we do as an organization.

Job Brief:

This position will be an employee of Lutheran World Relief. The Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) will co-lead a five-year $35M USDA Food for Progress project in Mbeya, Tanzania. The Kuku Biashara project is designed to increase poultry production and competitiveness across the value chain and raise the productivity and trade of sustainable, safe and high-quality poultry products. Developing and using evidence-based Good Animal Health Practices and Standards, the project will boost trade of poultry products through four co-dependent components: strengthening the feed sector and incorporating climate smart technologies; improving animal health management practices; building capacity in agricultural finance services; and strengthening the extension and service providers.

In collaboration with Chief of Party, the DCOP serves as the primary liaison with project technical leads, local implementing partners, LWR’s headquarters, and project stakeholders. S/he fosters collaborative working relationships and leads the direction of the project team with an integrated vision and applies effective leadership and strategic planning skills.

Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership, management and strategic direction to achieve successful project results and to ensure compliance with USDA rules and regulations by working closely with staff across all teams.
• Provide technical leadership on poultry productivity and processing, poultry feed, access to finance, private sector investment, and business model development for small-scale entrepreneurs.
• Coordinate with key stakeholders and implementing partners, including government institutions and representatives, the private sector, and civil society partners to ensure agricultural transformation interventions contribute to outcomes in line with regional and global best practices.
• Ensure cost effectiveness and successful project implementation of all project management systems including grants, technical, MEL and finance and administration.
• Liaise with donor, partners, and implementing partners, Government of Tanzania and private sector stakeholders, to ensure coordination of and harmonization with relevant poultry or livestock response mechanism, public and private sector engagement, and project activities in Tanzania.
• Lead technical teams to ensure program tasks, deliverables, and responsibilities are met including staff management, hiring, supervising, mentoring, training and capacity building.
• Oversee project deliverables, taking a lead role in contributing to, and coordinating with the team, on the preparation of annual work plans, project activity reports, project updates, grants management, and other project-related communication and reporting materials.
• Support MEL team on developing strong monitoring, evaluation and learning mechanisms, program monitoring tools, and efficient systems to ensure high quality implementation.
• Collaborate with MEL Lead and MEL team to review performance monitoring plans; manage effective monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems to achieve results; and liaise with internal and external program evaluation technical staff and consultants.
• Define strategy, iterate, and ensure sub-recipient partner buy-in and adherence to the overall technical approach and implementation; and manage the performance of sub-recipient partners and grant recipients’ technical activities in coordination with the project technical team, COP and the Grants and Compliance Senior Manager.
• Represent the project in public and professional circles and during donor and other high-level visits (especially by USG and private agencies), through meetings, conferences, and presentations; support written correspondence to the donor as needed.
• Serve in an acting COP capacity when needed.

Supervisory:

• MEL Lead
• Financial Services & Training Lead
• Feeds and Animal Health Lead

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Livestock, Animal Sciences, Animal Health & Production or related field; and a minimum of 8 years’ relevant experience required. Master’s degree preferred.
• Experience must include the implementation and management of USG-funded programs in poultry practices, livestock, and value chain and market systems development.
• Experience in a leadership role, ideally a DCOP, for USG-funded projects required.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and maintaining strong relationships with institutional donors, preferably USDA and/or USAID.
• Experience in building capacity and collaborating and coordinating with local and national host government agencies and non-government organizations to achieve USG’s goal of localization and aligning program activities and results with national strategies.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated leadership and management qualities, including leading and motivating a multidisciplinary (technical, management, and evaluation experts) team for complex programs in resource-constrained countries.
• Strong staff supervision skills and demonstrated ability to coordinate programs with partners from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences; demonstrated ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams.
• Knowledge of and experience with USG rules and regulations required.
• Deep knowledge of the political, social, and economic context of Tanzania required, with experience working in Tanzania and/or East Africa.
• Strong communication skills, including both written and oral presentation skills; proven ability to develop and communicate a common vision among diverse public and private partners.
• English fluency with professional proficiency in writing required; knowledge of Swahili essential.
• Ability to travel to project sites as needed within Tanzania.

Physical and Mental Requirements

• The physical requirements that may be needed to execute responsibilities may include bending, standing, and walking, etc.
• The mental requirements that are essential to satisfactorily executing the responsibilities outlined in this job description include, but not limited to: learning new tasks, comprehending, and retaining information, completing tasks independently, effectively communicating verbally and in writing, demonstrating proficiency in using computer software to perform assigned tasks.

Other Duties:

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of activities, duties or responsibilities for the position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. All positions are required to perform any additional tasks assigned by the supervisor. Global positions that are bound by contracts will not be changed without notice and approval.

Working Conditions, Travel and Environment

• LWR has an in-person work policy, with all employees reporting to the office Monday through Friday; 5 days/week minimum 40 hours in the office is required]. The employee must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required.
• This position must be able to travel as required for international business purposes. While performing the duties of this job in different locations, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high-security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.
• If applicable, must have authorization to work in Tanzania