USAID Job Vacancy: OTI Country Representative - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The OTI Country Representative– Malaysia is a full-time Personal Services Contract (PSC) position at the GS-14 equivalent level and located in Malaysia. Applications for this position are due no later than November 1, 2018 at 1:00pm Eastern Time.

INTRODUCTION:

The Country Representative is a member of the DCHA/OTI Asia Regional Team, reports to the OTI Asia Regional Team Lead or designee, and is based in Malaysia. The Country Representative’s principal responsibility will be development, oversight, and management of DCHA/OTI's Malaysia country program. The incumbent will be called upon to represent OTI’s mission and programs to Embassy colleagues, Malaysian government officials, in-country visitors, senior officials from other international organizations, bilateral donors, and local government officials.

The OTI Malaysia program supports the U.S. Government’s larger objective of assisting Malaysia in transforming the momentum generated by its recent, historic election into meaningful, lasting reforms and a strengthened democratic system. In May, Malaysians elected a multi-racial, multi-party opposition coalition led by former Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad, in alliance with longtime opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The vote was an extraordinary and unexpected rejection of the corrupt and increasingly autocratic regime of Najib Razak and marked the first time since Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957 that the Barisan Nasional coalition had lost. The new Malaysian government now faces the challenge of meeting the high expectations of its supporters while addressing the rampant corruption that characterized the previous government. In close coordination with Embassy colleagues and other USG actors, the OTI Malaysia program will support key government actors working to introduce key reforms, address corruption, and improve transparency as well as media entities seeking to increase public awareness, understanding, and engagement in the reform process. OTI’s rapid and targeted programing addresses emerging issues and empowers local partners to leverage timely and locally driven activities that enhance engagement between government and citizens in addition to promoting norms of tolerance, coexistence, and dialogue.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

At the GS-14 Country Representative level:

Note: Duties and responsibilities are listed in order of importance for this position

• Manage a high-profile program in a dynamic environment and provide programmatic, operational, and strategic guidance to OTI’s implementing partners (contractors and/or grantees) ensuring that activities are contributing to OTI’s program objectives and are within the partner’s scope; 
• Conceptualize and design program strategies and objectives in close coordination with OTI staff, U.S. Embassy, Host Country government, and local civil society officials based on political analysis and U.S. Government policy.
  
• Communicate and coordinate OTI’s in-country activities between OTI and its implementing partners, USAID, the U.S. Embassy and other donor organizations;
  
• Design and review staffing plans to meet overall program objectives as well as recruit, train, supervise, and evaluate the performance of in-country OTI staff;
  
• Monitor local and regional political developments and regularly brief OTI and partner staff on their potential programmatic impact;
  
• Analyze and report on current political developments, security concerns, and other pertinent information required to achieve OTI’s program objectives;
  
• Provide recommendations to the Washington-based Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and/or the Regional Team Leader on implementing partner performance, the appropriateness of the partner’s scope to OTI’s country objectives, partner’s budgets, and modifications thereto;
  
• Provide USAID concurrence on all implementing partner activities, including final approval of grantees for grants under contract, in accordance with the USAID’s Automated Directives System (ADS);
  
• Ensure the use of OTI systems and procedures to maintain effective and efficient management of funds, programming, as well as monitoring and evaluation;
  
• Ensure that OTI’s programs and activities are monitored and evaluated and that lessons learned are applied to ongoing or future activities;
  
• Prepare and maintain OTI program budgets for field operations;
  
• Serve as OTI’s primary liaison with USAID Mission personnel, U.S. Embassy staff, Host-Country Government Officials, UN Organizations, Indigenous and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other pertinent organizations. Develop and maintain collaborative relationships to ensure close coordination at the field level, identify the widest range of potential local partners and opportunities, and achieve maximum synergy with other programs;
  
• Prepare operational plans in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, including logistics and property use guidelines, closeout and hand-over, security procedures, and contingency and evacuation plans;
  
• Ensure that all OTI and partner field staff adhere to in-country security guidelines set by the U.S. Embassy Regional Security Officer and other organizations such as the United Nations or host government;
  
• Articulate program strategy, as well as communicate and coordinate OTI’s in-country activities between OTI and its implementing partners, USAID, and other donor organizations; prepare and disseminate programmatic, financial and periodic reports to the USAID Mission, OTI/Washington and other organizations as appropriate.
  

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• A Master’s Degree with seven (7) years of work experience;

OR

• A Bachelor’s Degree with nine (9) years of work experience;

AND

• Minimum of six (6) years of recent project management experience with a USG foreign affairs agency, international assistance organization, or non-governmental organization, in community development, stabilization programming, economic development, mediation/arbitration, conflict resolution, democracy and governance, international law, human rights activities, and/or political analysis; 
• Two (2) years of overseas field experience working in one or more developing countries; 
• Three (3) years of supervisory experience (including mentoring, guiding, and/or training staff).
  

Please direct questions about this position or the application process to the OTI Recruitment Team at otijobs@usaid.gov.

How to apply:
Please direct questions about this position or the application process to the OTI Recruitment Team at otijobs@usaid.gov.

Closing Date: 01 November 2018

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