The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) is the lead USG coordinator for international disaster assistance, harnessing the expertise and unique capacities of other U.S. government entities to effectively respond to natural disasters and complex crises around the world. BHA provides life-saving humanitarian assistance—including food, water, shelter, emergency healthcare, sanitation and hygiene, and critical nutrition services— to the most vulnerable populations. The Southern Africa Regional Office, located in Pretoria, South Africa, covers 14 countries, with a regional budget of over $289 million in FY 2021. As a key member of the USAID/BHA Southern Africa Regional Office, the BHA Humanitarian Advisor will provide support and oversight of programs in 14 countries including Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. They will monitor humanitarian conditions and needs in areas of responsibility in conjunction with BHA, other USAID, and/or U.S. Embassy staff present in those countries, will recommend when conditions have been met to declare a disaster and an appropriate BHA response, as well as monitoring and reporting on ongoing BHA portfolio of emergency, risk reduction, and/or resilience activities in areas of responsibility. This position requires up to 50% of time spent in the field monitoring BHA emergency, risk reduction, and resilience programs and assessing multi-sectoral humanitarian conditions across the region.

a. HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT MONITORING (40%)                                                            

● Participates in multi-agency, multi-sector assessments of humanitarian needs, and assists in the development of funding and programmatic recommendations for BHA and USAID Missions.

● Recommends to the BHA Regional Office the appropriate response for initiating or adjusting emergency and resilience assistance programming based on field findings on multi-sectoral emergency needs.

● Identifies and reviews technical reports and documents related to humanitarian assistance and resilience to remain current about general knowledge and advances in the fields of emergency assistance and risk reduction, and others’ findings related to his/her geographic zone of responsibility, in particular. 

● Reports on all field monitoring trips and assessments. Provides information for additional reporting to the BHA Regional Director, USAID Mission Directors, and BHA Washington, as necessary.

● Builds local relationships, liaises and remains in close contact with representatives from the host governments, UN agencies, resident local and international NGOs and other local institutions.

● Regularly attends and represents BHA at humanitarian-related meetings and forums as a part of the international humanitarian response architecture to provide leadership, guidance, monitoring, and accountability of the humanitarian community in meeting the urgent needs of disaster-affected populations. Represents USAID to a wide range of government officials at the national and provincial/district level and representatives at the technical and administrative levels. Engages with beneficiaries, community members and leaders related to BHA’s emergency and resilience programs.

b. ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT (40%)                               

● Devises an annual monitoring plan outlining the sites to be visited and timeline, and conducts regular field monitoring visits, in accordance with the monitoring plan, spending at least 50% of time in the field, often in austere conditions, collecting data on the implementation of BHA programs. Advises on any issues arising that need to be addressed, including immediate reporting of any actual or suspected diversions of USG resources, missed implementation targets, and non-compliance with USAID regulations. Makes recommendations for addressing and solving any problems that are discovered.

● Lead the design and performance management of a BHA’s humanitarian activities, as assigned. Serve as Activity Manager working in close coordination with the BHA Humanitarian Assistance Officer in USAID/Washington to provide strategic management and oversight of all activities in his/her portfolio and ensure complete alignment of all BHA activities with BHA and Mission policy.

● Ensure that partners are in compliance with all relevant USAID regulations, policies, and procedures. Apply specific and in-depth knowledge of applicable USG laws, legislative directives, and regulations, particularly regarding the allowable use of BHA resources. Ensure humanitarian commodities are properly and effectively utilized as approved in program documents and that resources are distributed to the intended beneficiaries. Monitor resource utilization, pipelines, and dispatch and distribution status of activities.

● Arrange and participate in program evaluations. Review performance reports to ensure that Implementing Partners are in compliance with the performance expectations outlined in their work plans and in their contract(s)/agreement(s) and host-government agreements.

● Participate in activity and project design as needed, including the preparation of Scopes of Work and Requests for Applications, and serve on Technical Evaluation Committees. Write key portions of the above documents. 

c. TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP (20%) 

● Serve as the humanitarian technical advisor on strategies, activities, and approaches to address humanitarian crises and/or disaster risk reduction initiatives. Guide strategic and technical decision making on best use of BHA emergency resources, with a focus on vulnerable populations.

● Prepare humanitarian technical and program documentation, such as briefing papers, fact sheets, letters, cables, and memos for information and action, staying abreast of host government and donor priorities in the field of disaster response.

● Provide strategic guidance on best practices and approaches for humanitarian assistance and disaster risk reduction in chronically vulnerable settings.

● Organize and host training workshops, providing technical, implementation, and training support to BHA, USAID staff, and implementing partners on best practices and innovations on disaster response programming.

● Complete BHA trainings and certifications as necessary to participate in Response Management Teams (RMT) and Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART) as assigned

• Post Entry Training: The Specialist is expected to possess the necessary technical skills/abilities required to perform the duties and responsibilities required of the position. Post

entry training will, therefore, be focused primarily on the Agency-specific established policies, procedures, and regulations. Courses include: Introduction to the Program Cycle, Contract/Agr eement Officer Representative (COR/AOR) and courses as required by USAID and BHA.

• Supervision Received: The Specialist reports to the BHA/Southern Africa Regional Director, or his/her designee. The Specialist is supervised on a day-to-day basis and independently oversees the portfolio and advises BHA/Southern Africa and BHA/Washington.

• Supervision Exercised: The direct supervision of other staff is not contemplated.

• Available Guidelines: Guidelines include Agency regulations and Bulletins, funding regulations, BHA Guidelines, among others. The Specialist provides guidance and ensures guidelines are enforced at all levels. The Specialist must be able to use excellent judgment and deal with ambiguity at all levels. The Specialist must rely on their knowledge and prior experience to enforce guidelines in carrying out duties.

• Exercise of Judgment: Maintaining strict confidentiality on BHA matters, as appropriate, is required. The position requires a great deal of independence during travel and use of personal judgment, and at times will require the Specialist to represent USAID in unplanned situations. The Specialist must be able to work independently, accurately representing BHA guidelines, requirements, and policies, and exercising judgment in interpersonal skills and relationships developed with various organizational contacts or government agencies. 

• Authority to Make Commitments: The Specialist serves under administrative discretion of the BHA/Southern Africa Regional Director or their designee but directly and independently oversees BHA activities across Southern Africa, as assigned. As such, they have wide latitude in decision-making on humanitarian technical issues, and in providing recommendations to BHA/Washington for technical direction. The Specialist is not authorized to independently commit USG funds but is expected to exercise informed judgment in recommending actions related to the technical area of expertise. The Specialist makes recommendations for commitments to the AOR/COR, generally based in Washington, DC. The Specialist serves as an activity manager for multiple awards.

• Nature, Level, and Purpose of Contacts: The Specialist collaborates and coordinates closely with program management and technical colleagues based in BHA/Washington and bi-lateral USAID Missions in Southern Africa. To ensure sound operations for BHA activities, they must maintain high level contacts and communication with internal and external stakeholders including USAID, US Department of State, and other USG officials, host country government officials at all levels, leads of UN country programs, leads of NGO activities, senior government officials including heads of ministries and country governments. They also represent USAID positions related to disaster assistance in working group meetings, and meetings with mid- to high-level United Nations (UN) staff, engage with NGOs at a senior level including Chief of Parties and key NGO implementing personnel to discuss issues related to the effective targeting, direction of programming and distribution of humanitarian resources.

• Time Expected to Reach Full Performance Level: One year

V.      EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. The CO reserves the right at any point in the evaluation process to establish a competitive range of offerors with whom negotiations will be conducted pursuant to FAR 15.306(c). In accordance with FAR 52.215-1, if the CO determines that the number of offers that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the CO may limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated offers. The FAR provisions referenced above are available at ***url***/browse/index/far.

The following factors, and points for each, will be the basis for the evaluation of applications meeting the required minimum qualifications. All applications will be evaluated based on the documentation submitted with the application. USAID reserves the right to contact your previous employers for relevant information concerning your performance and may consider such information in its evaluation.

1. Work Experience (30 points)

2. Abilities and Skills (30 points)

3. Job Knowledge (30 points)

4. Education (10 points) 

How the Selection will be made:

The successful candidate will be selected based upon the following:

A preliminary review of the applicant's submitted package (which includes the cover letter and CV) to establish that minimum educational, work experience and English writing fluency requirements are met.

Assessments to include English writing skills, and Microsoft Office proficiency that might include any of the following: Word, Excel, PowerPoint; and any technical skill test that might be deemed appropriate. 

A personal face to face interview; and

Reference checks.

USAID/SA’s Human Resources Section will perform the preliminary review (Step 1 above) to eliminate those applications that do not meet the minimum educational and written English language requirements before forwarding the rest to the Technical Office or Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) for further review and assessment.

The TEC will review each of the forwarded applications against the established evaluation criteria to develop a shortlist of applicants to be tested and possibly interviewed. Applicants will be contacted for testing (Step 2) and/or possibly interviews. Based on the results of the tests an applicant may be dropped from the interview list.

Following the interview (Step 3), during which the applicant will be evaluated against the established criteria, the TEC will make a preliminary determination of candidates to be considered for employment and forward that list to HR. The TEC Chairperson will conduct and document reference checks (Step 4) and advise the TEC members of the results of these checks. Please note that references may be solicited from current as well as former supervisors in addition to the references you provide in your application package. References will only be solicited for those interviewed applicants who are being considered for ranking. 

Based on this final input, the TEC will make its final decision on candidate ranking, prepare a selection memo for the review and approval of the Contracting Officer, after which an offer of employment will be made to the successful candidate. Unsuccessful candidates who were interviewed will be contacted and advised of their non-selection. As positive medical and security clearances are a condition of employment, the selected candidate will undergo stringent investigation prior to employment with USAID/SA.

Submitting an Offer:

All interested and eligible candidates should visit USAID.pnet.co.za to apply. Applicants with P-net accounts can log-in from the above website to apply and first-time users will be required to register on the site before they can apply. 

Kindly note that when you apply via cellphone you are not able to complete the required questionnaire. And if you do not complete the required questionnaire for the position, you will automatically be eliminated from further review.

For an application to be considered complete, please include a high-quality cover letter, explaining why you are qualified for the position and a CV of no more than 4 pages.  Failure to comply with these instructions may result in your application being considered “non-responsive” and eliminated from further consideration.

Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I.

To ensure consideration of offers for the intended position, Offerors must prominently reference the Solicitation number in the offer submission.

The U.S. Mission in South Africa provides opportunity and fair and equitable treatment in employment to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, marital status or sexual orientation. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also strives to ensure equal employment opportunity in all personnel operations.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Applicants who do not follow the application instructions may be dropped from further consideration.

Points of Contact: 

Engeline Sebego, Telephone: (012) 452-2188

Thabang Mothupi, Telephone: (012) 452-2198

Heather Franklin, Telephone: (012) 452-2028

Lavinia Denation, Telephone: (012) 452-2054

Seja Matlakala, Telephone: (012) 452-2358

Carol Masemola Telephone: (012) 452-2058

Odessa Sifora Telephone: (012) 452-2112

Applicability:

This position is open to South African citizens and South African permanent resident permit holders. USAID Southern Africa management will consider nepotism/conflict of interest, budget, need for continuity, and residency status in determining successful applications. Current USG employees on probationary status (i.e., within their first year of employment) are not eligible to apply.

The EEO complaint procedure is not available to individuals who believe they have been denied equal opportunity based upon marital status or political affiliation. Individuals with such complaints should avail themselves of the appropriate grievance procedures, remedies

for prohibited personnel practices, and/or courts for relief.

References:

Three (3) references, who are not family members or relatives, with working telephone and e-mail contacts. The references must be able to provide substantive information about your past performance and abilities. USAID reserves the right to contact your previous employers for relevant information concerning your performance and may consider such information in its evaluation of the application.

VI.     COMPENSATION

This position will be compensated in accordance with the U.S. Mission for South Africa’s Local Compensation Plan (LCP). The successful candidate’s salary level will be based on prior job-related experience and salary history.

VII.   REQUIRED FORMS FOR CCNPSC HIRES

Once the Contracting Officer informs the successful Offeror about being selected for a contract     award, the CO will provide the successful Offeror instructions about how to complete and submit the forms.

VIII.  BENEFITS

          The plan includes basic salary, miscellaneous allowance, pension fund and medical aid subsidy.

IX.    TAXES

Every CCNPSC staff member in the Mission regardless of agency affiliation is required as a    condition of employment, to pay their taxes to the South African Government.

X.      USAID REGULATIONS, POLICIES AND CONTRACT CLAUSES PERTAINING TO CCNPSCs

USAID regulations and policies governing CCNPSC awards are available at these sources:

USAID Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR), Appendix J, “Direct USAID Contracts With a Cooperating Country National and with a Third Country National for Personal Services Abroad,” including contract clause “General Provisions,” available at ***url***/sites/default/files/documents/1868/aidar_0.pdf

Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at ***url***/forms will be used for this contract.

Acquisition and Assistance Policy Directives/Contract Information Bulletins (AAPDs/CIBs) for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals available at ***url***/work-usaid/aapds-cibs .

Ethical Conduct. By the acceptance of a USAID personal services contract as an individual, the contractor will be acknowledging receipt of the “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” available from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, in accordance with General Provision 2 and 5 CFR 2635. See ***url***/web/oge.nsf/OGE Regulations .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Education: Education: A Bachelor’s degree in nutrition, food security, agriculture, economics, community organizing, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, social sciences or technical fields relevant to humanitarian or resilience activities is required. 

Prior Work Experience:  Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience overseeing or implementing humanitarian and/or disaster risk reduction activities is required. Significant relevant experience must include working with vulnerable populations in low-resource environments, humanitarian activities, including but not limited to experiences with related private sector entities and/or research entities, USG, other donor organizations, NGOs, and/or host governments. At least two years of the Specialist’s professional experience must be in a technical or program management capacity within the field of humanitarian assistance. This must include experience within the sectors of maternal and child health and nutrition, food security, livelihoods, protection, public health, agriculture, or WASH in humanitarian contexts. 

Language Proficiency: Fluency in English (Level IV speaking / Level IV reading) is required. d. 

Job Knowledge: Comprehensive knowledge of the humanitarian landscape in Southern Africa, including government and United Nations humanitarian systems and how they operate. Multi-sectoral technical expertise in the fields of nutrition, food security, WASH, complex emergencies, protection, and livelihoods as related to humanitarian settings. Demonstrated understanding of the political, social, and economics of Southern Africa. Evidence-based strategies for targeting disaster-affected households.

Skills and Abilities: Personal Initiative, responsibility, and accountability:

The Specialist must demonstrate a high level of personal initiative, have strong organizational and interpersonal skills, and be able to work well in a team as well as independently with limited direct supervision, especially on field visits. The Specialist will maintain regular contact with BHA colleagues and the BHA Regional Office leadership and maintain standard organized files for documenting activities they are assigned in line with USAID policies and procedures.

High-quality productivity:

The Specialist must be able to work calmly, tactfully, and effectively under pressure and must be able to adapt to changing plans and circumstances. They must be able to work independently and productively in a fast-paced environment with quick-turnaround deadlines, and under remote team and management structures. In this environment, they must demonstrate strong critical thinking skills on independently assessing situations, recommending actions, and synthesizing information.

 Interpersonal skills:

The Specialist must have strong interpersonal teamwork skills, an ability to work effectively with a range of interlocutors, such as host government officials, U.S. Ambassadors and others, excellent ability to listen to, interact with, and communicate clearly with people from diverse