Action Against Hunger is seeking a highly skilled Chief of Party (COP) for an upcoming five-year USAID-funded Urban Health Activity in Uganda. This critical role focuses on addressing key urban health challenges such as poor quality of care, overburdened health facilities, uncoordinated referral systems, weak community structures, and insufficient private sector capacity. These issues collectively contribute to suboptimal health outcomes in the urban areas of Kampala, Mukono, and Wakiso. The Chief of Party will be based in Kampala, Uganda, with required travel to other project sites.

Purpose: The COP will lead the project, providing strategic vision and robust management to improve health systems and enhance community health services. This role involves overseeing the project’s implementation, ensuring results are delivered on time and on budget, adherence to USAID guidelines, and fostering partnerships with local government bodies, NGOs, community leaders, and private sector stakeholders.

Engagement: The COP will be the primary contact for the donor as well as public, private and non-governmental actors to maintain and grow productive collaborations. The role demands proactive leadership in coordinating activities among diverse groups and integrating priorities across different health initiatives.

Delivery: The COP will ensure the delivery of an efficient and effective implementation applying sound managerial and financial procedures and adhering to, and in compliance with USAID policies, rules, and regulations.

KEY ACTIVITIES IN YOUR ROLE WILL INCLUDE

Essential Job Duties

• Lead all aspects of project implementation, including sharing how the project contributes to thought leadership of the industry. Serve as the primary point of contact to the funding agency as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders.
• Ensure that the project meets stated goals, outcomes, benchmarks, and reporting requirements, identifying and responding to issues and risks in a timely manner.
• Lead coordination among USAID and key stakeholders, including partners, government stakeholders, civil society, and other USAID projects.
• Manage and coordinate the implementation of activities including oversight of sub-recipients, as well as monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities.
• Oversee project administration, schedules, and finances, including the development of approved annual workplans and Activity budgets.
• Provides overall financial oversight of the budget over the life of the Activity.
• Represents the Activity at regional, national, and international conferences, working groups, and meetings to support USAID and Action Against Hunger’s thought leadership.
• Mentor and manage staff in a respectful and transparent manner, working with staff, partners, volunteers, and community members to build their capacity.
• Lead strategic planning, including the development of annual and quarterly work plans to meet the objectives of the urban health project.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• The COP is expected to oversee project staff, including, but not limited to all required key personnel.

Fiscal Responsibility

Maintain fiscal oversight of the project’s budget, ensuring all financial operations are transparent and in line with both donor and Action Against Hunger’s policies.

Physical Demands

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with interruptions.
• To travel to the field, the employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents.
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Working Conditions, Travel and Environment

• The duties of the job require regular job attendance at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required by contact with the missions, mission security, or other obligations.
• Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business travel as well as to the missions if appropriate. While visiting the field, 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.

Gender Equality Commitments & Zero Tolerance to Abuse

• Foster an environment that reinforces values of people of all genders equal access to information.
• Provide a work environment where people of all genders must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.
• Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, beneficiaries, and members of staff.
• Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation.
• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status.
• Value and respect all cultures.

DO YOU MEET THE PROFILE REQUIRED CRITERIA?

Required Qualifications

• A master’s degree in development studies, international relations, agriculture, nutrition, public health, business administration, or a related field and a minimum of seven years of increasing management responsibility in international development projects as a USAID-funded grant Director or Chief of Party.

Required Skills & Experience

• Must have proven leadership skills managing projects of a similar size and scope in developing countries facing complex, volatile, and uncertain contexts.
• Demonstrated prior experience effectively managing USAID development or resilience activities involving Title II , helath related grants and implementation by multiple sub-awardees.
• Demonstrated experience in managing program implementation, financial reporting, programmatic reporting procedures and systems, and staff.
• Demonstrates experience in recruiting and developing program staff, and should have prior experience working in Uganda.
• The candidate should be familiar with the Uganda’s social, political, economic, and cultural landscape, and have demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments, donors, and other stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience in adaptive management and learning techniques.
• The candidate should have proven success serving in a leadership role for a project addressing issues related to food security, nutrition, resilience, agriculture, natural resource management, livelihoods, or similar, preferably in Uganda.
• The candidate must have at least five years of field experience.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Experience with USAID and U.S. Government regulations is required.
• Local nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.