Deputy Chief of Party

Chemonics seeks a Deputy Chief of Party for the anticipated USAID/Value-chain Opportunities for Indigenous Conservation Enterprise (VOICE) Activity. The $10-15M VOICE Activity seeks to partner with Indigenous and Maroon communities in the Amazon to promote inclusive, sustainable, and community-driven development by supporting conservation-oriented bioeconomy models. VOICE will cover Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Suriname as core countries, but also potentially include Bolivia, Guyana, and Colombia as well. VOICE prioritizes environmental stewardship, social equity, and respect for Indigenous rights and cultures, while creating sustainable economic opportunities. VOICE also focuses on strengthening regional conservation efforts by protecting forests, promoting sustainable resource management, and enhancing local governance, ensuring the long-term ecological and economic health of the region.

The Deputy Chief of Party will:

• Provide overall program, managerial, and technical support to the COP and act on behalf of the COP as the principle point of contact for VOICE’s technical activities.
• Oversee technical implementation of VOICE’s objectives, including supervising staff and subcontractors to ensure effective, impactful, and sustainability implementation of VOICE’s interventions while complying with USAID rules and regulations.
• Ensure that all assistance provided is technically sound and appropriate to meet VOICE’s objectives.
• Build partnerships with key stakeholders, including local implementing partners, government officials, and USAID across VOICE’s target geographies.
• Oversee annual work planning, performance management, and strategic communications. Ensure successful collaboration between project technical staff that design strategy and achieve activity-wide goals and objectives.
• Ensure that lessons learned from project implementation are across components and are fed into quarterly reports, annual reports, and the annual work plan.
• Review and comment on draft reports and deliverables prepared by technical staff.
• Manage technical oversight of Program partners in their technical activities.

Qualifications include:

• At least 8 years of relevant experience in international development work managing Indigenous conservation, environmental sustainability, climate change, bioeconomy and enterprise development activities in complex programs of similar scope in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
• A Bachelor’s degree in international development, environmental sciences, Indigenous studies, business administration, biodiversity conservation, or a related field. Master’s degree preferred.
• Prior experience as DCOP or similar position managing a team of 10 or more staff in a complex, multi-disciplinary, and regional activity preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in Indigenous conservation enterprise development, including competitiveness, value chain development, market strengthening, product diversification, or similar fields.
• Demonstrated expertise in leading, coordinating and convening broad stakeholder groups, particularly those composed of international development partners, including familiarity with USAID and USG policies and regulations.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with culturally diverse staff.
• Fluency in English and Spanish (written and spoken) required; knowledge of Portuguese and Indigenous languages of the Amazon is highly preferred.

Location of Assignment:

The operations director will be based in Peru.