Resilient Communities Activity

Scope of Work

Regional Learning Director

Project Description:

The USAID Resilient Communities Activity (RCA) builds upon the predecessor program, Central Asia Support for Stable Societies (CASSS) project, to advance local capacity in preventing violent extremist (PVE) activities across Central Asia. RCA works closely with both government and civil society partners in delivering services to the most at-risk communities, expanding engagement opportunities, and addressing existing vulnerabilities. RCA responds to developing trends and adapts strategies through learning to achieve the overall project goal of reducing risks of and increasing resilience to violent extremism (VE) in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The five-year RCA Activity will end on September 30, 2027.

Position: The Regional Learning Director (RLD) will report directly to the Chief of Party (COP) and lead activity-wide learning processes. Working with the COP, Regional Community Development Director (RCDD), Country Directors (CDs), the Program Manager (PM), Monitoring and Evaluation (M.&E) Manager (MEM), among others, the RLD will contribute to overall program and country-specific strategies while ensuring approaches are tailored to fit the communities served. The RLD will work closely with the MEM to ensure learning is captured and aligns with the RCA goal, objectives and indicators (per the Project Indicator Reference Sheet (PIRS)) and USAID-approved Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMELP). The RLD will also work closely with the Communications and Reporting Manager (CRM) to ensure learnings are properly captured in all RCA communication vehicles, e.g., quarterly and annual reports, annual work plans, success stories, etc. for both internal and external audiences. The position will be based in Almaty, Kazakhstan with no possibility of remote work.

Responsibilities:

1. Defining the learning agenda and integrating it into program work:

• Participate in mentorship and reflection/guidance sessions with the DAI Technical Advisor, including establishing the RCA Learning Plan and co-designing the program pause and reflect sessions (PRS).
• Manage RCA learning processes with support of the Technical Advisor
• Coordinate with the RCDD, and other technical staff, in grant design concepts to ensure learning is integrated into activity design and implementation.
• Support RCA M&E Manager to ensure that appropriate data is collected and stored from programming activities to capture results and lessons learned and data is easily retrievable for including into program documents.

1. Reflection and reporting:

• Produce annual programming lessons learned reports that summarize lessons from RCA regional programming (and country-specific where appropriate) with support from the M&E Manager and other RCA technical staff.
• Facilitate bi-annual pause and reflect sessions to review context monitoring findings and programming lessons learned regarding RCA programming results with marginalized populations, particularly women, youth, and ethnic minorities.
• Support the COP in the design and execution of the Annual Programming Strategy Review Sessions (APSRS).
• Work closely with the COP and Technical Advisor, among others, to design and lead author the RCA final evaluation report.

1. Collaboration.

• Work closely with the COP and support the M&E Manager to identify program successes and lessons learned for promotion to external audiences and develop success stories and highlights to share with external audiences.
• Play a leading role in the design and execution of preventing violent extremism (PVE) events, coordinating with other RCA team members and program stakeholders as necessary.
• Collaborate with the Communications and Reporting Manager in the development of external communications.
• Work closely with the RCDD and other technical staff to implement lessons learned.

1. Programming and grant development:

• Review Request for Application (RFA) and Annual Program Statement (APS) at the development stage and ensure that the terms of the competition (goal, objectives and requirements) comply with the RCA learning agenda.

• Participation in a kickoff meeting with grant recipients to explain the learning agenda at the stage of launching grant activities.

1. Capacity building of technical team:

• Initiate periodic sessions for the RCA technical team on learning and collaboration, guiding the team regarding lessons learned, methods for analyzing successes, and identifying opportunities for success, and how to effectively deal with challenges of technical work to ensure alignment with the approved cooperative agreement, annual work plan, and AMELP.

1. Other responsibilities of a reasonable nature not explicitly incorporated herein.

To apply for position: Please email your CV with the position title specified in the subject line no later than 4 PM Almaty time on May 5, 2024. Only those who send their CVs on indicated email will be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Required Qualifications:

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree and 5 years of relevant work experience managing country offices or overseeing programmatic activities for complex and largescale donor-funded programs; or a master’s and 3 years of relevant work experience. 
• A combination of additional relevant technical skills and practical experience may be considered and accepted in lieu of a degree or years of experience requirements.
• Practical experience in community development, civil society capacity-building, and/or participatory planning, community organizing, stakeholder mapping, and multistakeholder mechanisms. Previous experience with implementing of USAID-funded projects preferred.
• Proven ability to support communities and form and maintain partnerships with civil society and local government entities, international nongovernmental organizations, and donors.
• Experience conducting training for communities and other stakeholders.
• Proven ability to effectively organize, coordinate, and manage teams.
  • Ability to communicate clearly and concisely in English, orally and in writing; proficiency in speaking and writing Russian is required; proficiency in at least one Central Asian language is preferred.
  • Be willing and able to travel throughout the RCA implementation areas, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and other areas as required, in support of RCA.
  • Possess both a willingness and an ability to train and be trained.