Decentralization Technical Advisor Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI)

SCOPE OF WORK

ZAMBIA LOCAL IMPACT GOVERNANCE
DECENTRALIZATION TECHNICAL ADVISOR
SALARY GRADE 12

1. Project Background:

The five-year (2020-2025) USAID Local Impact Governance Activity (Local Impact) is helping Zambia build up a sub-national system of governance for devolved service delivery more responsive to citizen needs. The program is engaging national and sub-national authorities to expand the capabilities of partner provinces and districts to deliver sustainable development outcomes, increase effective citizen and private-sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, and improve public financial management and domestic revenue generation.

The activity is specifically working toward three objectives:

• Objective 1: Citizens improve their collective skills to effectively assess service-delivery needs and performance and constructively engage with government.
• Objective 2: The sub-national governance system becomes more responsive to citizen needs, generates, and accountably expends revenue, and improves service-delivery outcomes.
• Objective 3: The program generates learning and facilitates problem solving that supports the development of an effective, financially viable sub-national governance system for devolved services, capable of being scaled up throughout Zambia.

2. Purpose:

The Subnational Capacity Building Advisor/Objective 2 Lead (CBA) is accountable for the day-to-day implementation and accomplishment of Objective 2’s activities and strategy. This will involve providing strategic and technical leadership to the Objective 2 team comprised of experts in public financial management and capacity development. The CBA will serve on the senior leadership team and report directly to the Deputy Chief of Party for Local Impact. The CBA will collaborate closely with other members of the project’s Senior Management Team to ensure that their work aligns with the Local Impact activities outlined in the project’s contract, annual workplans, and the GRZ’s decentralization and devolution priorities.

3. Place of Performance and Reporting

The Subnational Capacity Building Advisor /Objective 2 Lead (CBA) will be based in the Local Impact Activity’s main office in Lusaka, Zambia and will report to the Deputy Chief of Party. There may be some travel to provincial offices.

4. Responsibilities and Key Tasks:

• Provides strategic technical leadership on Objective 2 activities, including 1) strengthening development outcomes through joint problem-solving by council authorities and line ministries; and 2) boosting councils’ skills in OSR and fiscal management to enable them to effectively deliver on current functions and build a foundation for devolved services.
• Lead Objective 1 and 2 teams to implement activities to improve the overall performance of Local Authorities (LA) and service delivery.
• Leads activities to improve integrated and participatory planning and budgeting and enhance service delivery functions of councils and deconcentrated sector units.
• Leads application of Local Government Performance Assessments (LGPA) to districts and develops and implements innovative solutions for addressing performance improvements tailored to the unique needs of each district.
• Oversees activities to improve financial capacity of councils and abilities to maximize revenue.
• Provides leave of absence cover for staff as required
• Escalates any issues to his/her supervisor immediately
• Prepared to travel to project provincial offices as required
• Other tasks as assigned by the Deputy Chief of Party

5. Supervisory Responsibilities:

The Subnational Capacity Building Advisor /Objective 2 Lead (CBA) will supervise the Senior Public Finance Management (PFM) Specialist, Capacity Building Specialist and provide technical advice to Provincial Technical Officers.

6. Education and Experience:

• Master’s degree University degree preferably in Local Government or Public Administration or a related field.
• At least 10 years of experience supporting participatory planning, budgeting, management, and monitoring efforts and strengthening service delivery functions of local governments.
• Record of successfully identifying, designing, and facilitating local government capacity improvements.
• Experience on USAID-funded projects, preferred.
• Knowledge of adaptive management techniques, experience facilitating and managing learning events, and understanding of how/why learning events are connected to project planning and decision making.
• Ability to respond effectively to time sensitive demands & inquiries
• Demonstrated exceptional customer relations (both internally & externally)
• Excellent organizational skills with a willingness to take initiative and be proactive
• Ability to work on multiple concurrent interventions
• An energetic, forward-thinking and creative individual with high ethical standards and appropriate professional image
• Fluency in English is required

7. Key Result Areas

• Provide strategic technical leadership objectives that result in improved On Source Revenue, fiscal management, and form a foundation for devolved services in councils.
• Deliver evidence of successful local government capacity improvement initiatives.
• Develop innovative solutions and use LGPA to improve the performance of different districts.
• Use knowledge of adaptive management techniques, facilitating and management of learning events to provide evidence of how learning events impact project planning and decision making.

8. Key Competencies for the Role

INTELLECTUAL – Strategic, Organizational skills/ Proactiveness
INTERPERSONAL – Team oriented, Stakeholder engagement ability
COMMUNICATION – Strong verbal and communication skills
TECHNICAL – Public Financial Management, Planning and Budgeting
LEADERSHIP – Coaching and mentorship, Ability to build capacity