USAID Nigeria State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity
Title: Capacity Building Advisor
Location: State2StateMain/National Office, Bauchi, Bauchi, State, Nigeria
Start date: ASAP
Background:
The purpose of the five-year (2020-2025) “State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness” (“State2State”) Activity is to increase the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of selected states and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria. This will be achieved by: Increased Efficiency of Sub National Government Operations: strengthening governance systems (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation) related to the delivery of services in key sectors (basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH]); Improved Sub National Government Responsiveness to Citizen Needs/CSO Engagement**:** increasing government responsiveness to citizen needs and priorities; and Improved Sub National Capacity to Manage Conflict: improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict (through work on prevention, mitigation and reconciliation with the same sectoral partners, not stand-alone assistance to the police or judiciary). State2State will achieve this purpose by facilitating the strengthening of subnational governance systems in a sustainable manner, supporting the efforts of local reformers, and building on locally derived solutions including, to the extent possible, reforms already working in other parts of Nigeria.
Position Objectives:
The Capacity Building Advisor will support State2State’s capacity building and engagement activities across the State2State’s focal states and its three sub-purposes. S/he will address gaps in capacity through a range of technical assistance, mentoring and peer learning, ensuring sustainable capacity for implementing reforms.
Responsibilities:
The Capacity Building Advisor works as a member of the State2State National Advisory Team and will work closely with the Citizen Engagement Director & Advisory Team Lead (CEDATL). S/he will collaborate closely with other senior advisors in conflict, gender and social inclusion, public financial management, and civic engagement. The Capacity Building Advisor works to ensure best practices and best fit solutions are leveraged between states. S/he will:
- Identify and address gaps in capacity of partner states and organizations (including target individuals) through a range of technical assistance, mentoring and peer learning.
- Provide technical/programmatic support in engaging STTA consultants and subcontractors engaged by State2State in providing capacity building or assessment services to State2State.
- Facilitate and participate in periodic onboarding and or catch-up meetings (for updates on their respective consultancies) with STTA Consultants and Sub-contractors engaged by State2State to provide capacity building and/assessment services.
- Review/develop capacity building workshop training materials, including agenda, pre- and post-training tests, power point presentations slides, etc., in consultation with State2State technical/program team.
- Review capacity building training reports and/capacity assessment reports, as well as any other survey reports assigned to her/him.
- Provide periodic technical program support (in-person and virtual) to CE/CB Specialists across State2State’s six focal states.
- Review draft activity concept notes (including ToRs, where applicable) and activity reports from the CE/CB Specialists and other specialists, where applicable.
- Develop a weekly work plan (including report/reconciliation of previous week’s workplan) and harmonize it with weekly workplan of CE/CB Specialists and send to the CEDATL on a weekly basis.
- Participate in State2State weekly meetings (virtual/in-person). The meetings currently include: i) Mondays’ State Team Leads’ interstate staff meetings with Tech Team Leads, from 4:00-5:00pm; ii) Thursdays’ Senior Staff meetings, from 9:15-10:30am; and iii) All Staff Monthly meetings, held every first business/workday of each month, from 9:00-10:30am.
- Support State2State’s MEL team in planning and conducting periodic learning events of our interventions for necessary scale-up and /adaptation by other State2State partners and or non-partners for State2State’s priority good governance reforms and improved service delivery in priority sectors; basic education, primary health care and WASH.
- Ensure sustainable capacity for implementing reforms.
- Strengthen individual and institutional capacities of partners for State2State’s good governance reforms and improved service delivery in priority sectors.
- Ensure sustainable skills building and knowledge applications.
- Help states access and translate Nigeria’s latest reform knowledge to fit local conditions.
- Collect and share capacities and knowledge and link State2State staff and partners across states as they identify, test, and refine innovations for possible adaption, replication/scale up.
- Channel project support to build capacity, improve government-civil society information flows, generate reforms, and secure improvements in service delivery in basic education, primary health care, and WASH.
- Provide technical assistance to state and federal level partners.
- Build capacity of civil society organizations to manage funds; engage women and youth to develop projects, build conflict mitigation skills, and participate in local government and state planning and budgeting.
- Incorporate capacity building into State2State grant process, managing capacity building through trainings as well as applied learning and mentoring; contributing to grantee’s capacity building plans tailored to the specific needs of grantee organizations.
- Carry out any other function(s) as may be assigned by the Line Manager (CEDATL), Deputy Chief of Party and or Chief of Party.
Reporting: The Capacity Building Advisor will report to the State2State Citizen Engagement Director & Advisory Team Lead (CEDATL).
Required Qualifications, Skills and Experiences:
- A relevant degree in social sciences, development studies, or relevant field required. Master’s degree preferred.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Computer literacy in word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software (Microsoft Office).
- Fluency in English, Hausa and/or other local languages is required.
Functional Competencies:
- Experience in working for USAID donor funded program(s), or with civil society and government organizations to drive a reform agenda, preferably governance and basic service delivery in basic education, primary health care, and WASH.
- Experience in providing capacity building services for government officials/MDAs and CSOs to drive a reform agenda, especially in State2State’s governance reforms and priority sectors of basic education, primary health care, and WASH.
- Demonstrated effective training, capacity building and coaching skills, networking, interpersonal skills, creative problem solving, conflict, and ethical management skills.
- Demonstrable experience in managing capacity building aspects of governance programs, especially in State2State’s governance reforms and priority sectors of basic education, primary health care, and WASH.
- Demonstrable experience in development of capacity building materials.
- Demonstrable experience in quality review of reports and training materials.
- Strong skill set in reporting, monitoring and evaluation.
- Sound knowledge of current global practices in capacity building/development.
- Excellent communication skills and experience in working with government officials/MDAs, CSOs, short-term consultants and sub-contractors.
- Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, etc.) and other software that is used in data collection and management.
Core Competencies:
- Ability to produce high quality reports as well as other expected outputs and outcomes in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs.
- Strong organizational and soft skills.
- Ability to work effectively independently in-person and remotely.
- Excellent written and spoken English, sound judgment, strategic thinking, and the ability to manage competing priorities and people.
- Demonstrates integrity by modelling DAI’s and State2State’s values and ethical standards and fulfils all obligations using gender and social inclusion (GESI) approach.
Years of Experience:
- At least 12 years of demonstrated experience in the conducting of capacity assessments and designing appropriate capacity building programming to address the identified capacity gaps to meet project goals.
Applications from women, people with disabilities and young people who meet the above qualifications are encouraged to apply.
IMPORTANT: Please list the title of the position you are applying for in the subject line of your email.
How to apply
Please apply using this link: https://fs23.formsite.com/OLJTgx/q5j8l1jt0f/index.html