Project Director, Education for Development

Overview

Creative seeks a Project Director (PD) for the Education for Development Division with a passion for development, commitment to results and offers intellectual curiosity in designing effective solutions. The PD responsibilities include both project management and new business development leadership. The PD will be responsible for performing complex work within the project area. Project Directors assume responsibilities for management of projects typically of $20M+ in funding, depending upon variables such as the complexity, projected timeline of the projects, and geographic location of the work. The PD is responsible for technical, financial, compliance and accountability for the performance of assigned projects. The PD supervises project HQ support staff and field staff to ensure quality programming, and achievement of financial targets and contractual outcomes. The PD will also carry responsibility for leading and participating in new business development initiatives for the division, further described below. Business development involvement is estimated up to 50 percent of functional responsibilities. The PD is expected to travel internationally to perform many of the functions of the role for both project and new business development support.

This position may be considered at a lower or higher career level, depending on candidate qualifications.

Responsibilities

Project Leadership

• Oversees assigned project staff;
• Ensures that Projects under PD oversight achieve contractual deliverables with technical distinction, meet fiscal targets, are well planned and resourced;
• Represents Creative before projects; communicates regularly with client representatives, i.e. CORs and AORs;
• Tracks aspects of project performance; oversees project implementation of approved activities, monitoring of timelines, tracking budgets, and supporting subcontract performance and financial management;
• Resolves issues in project start-up and close-down; manages project backstopping, key field personnel support, consultant agreements; processing of project finance transactions, approval and handling of all travel and related logistics, and grant management implementation;
• Ensures compliance of project-related documentation including work plans, staff records, communications, and transactions ensuring they are properly documented;
• Elevates risks and opportunities to senior management;
• Reviews, and may prepare, project reports, and other material such as success stories, interventions and innovations;
• Participates in project learning and data driven adaptation; and,
• Serves as a liaison with Creative’s support units, including HR, Finance & Contracts, Procurement, Field Operations, Communications, etcetera.

New Business Development

• Leads and / or contributes to the Education Division’s strategy development for the MENA / Asia regions;
• Contributes to the new business pipeline through networking, monitoring, and sharing leads for new programming or additional funding for existing programming for the MENA / Asia regions;
• Gathers and shares business and competitive intelligence for the MENA/Asia regions, as appropriate;
• Leads and / or contributes to capture planning and proposal development, ensuring effectiveness of capture and the proposal process;
• Works directly with Proposal Managers and others in the Business Development Division, the Education Division, HR, Cost / Pricing, among others, to design and develop robust technical, management, partnering, recruitment, and cost strategies in a timely manner prior to solicitation release;
• Serves as a subject matter expert, contributing to customer focused and forward-thinking program design and ensuring lessons learned and best practices are embedded in proposal program design;
• Liaises with additional subject matter experts to both conceptualize and design proposals;
• Supports the facilitation and identification of strategic partnerships, including developing SOWs for pre-teaming and teaming agreements;
• Mentors and coaches junior staff in supporting new business development efforts;
• Participates in bid staffing interviews, as appropriate;
• Supervises and guides consultants contributing to business development efforts, as assigned;
• Supports technical writing and drafting sections of proposals; and,

• Fulfills other duties as needed and appropriate.**Qualifications**

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field and twelve years of relevant experience or Master’s degree in relevant field and ten years of relevant experience;

• Field experience implementing projects at an operational level;

• Supervisory experience;

• Demonstrated ability to assume responsibilities for projects typically totaling $20M+ in funding, depending upon the complexity, projected timeline of the projects, and geographic location of the work;

• Considerable knowledge within their project area and experience in coaching or mentoring others in project implementation;

• Experience in working with field staff, providing technical and financial oversight on projects to include budget realignments;

• Experience in reviewing & approving project procurements, grants and purchase order agreements;

• Experience in a relevant education technical area such as, systems strengthening, curriculum develop, teacher training and/or reading and math across the curriculum (primary to secondary);

• Experience in quickly producing results on a range of assignments in diverse country and programmatic contexts; in developing/monitoring proposal and project budgets;

• Experience in leading project start-ups and close-outs;

• Skill in managing teams, decisive evidence-based decision-making, handling tight deadlines; ability to travel internationally on short notice;

• Skill and experience in U.S. government donor relations and client management;

• Knowledge of USAID Programs and Regulations;

• Excellent oral and written communication skills to include, experience in making formal presentations to clients, peers and other groups; and

• Knowledge of the competitive market for education across the MENA / Asia regions

• Prior experience supporting and writing winning USAID proposals above $10M highly preferred; and,

• Demonstrated experience leading or substantially contributing to capture and proposal development for USAID solicitations; experience with other U.S. Government (USG) agencies and/or non-USG donors is a plus.

• Second language fluency required, preferrably Arabic

PI143404599

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