General Summary:

Chemonics’ crosscutting practices work in partnership with other practices, project staff, new business and proposal teams, and the evidence and outreach department to implement the U.S. Government Business Line and Health and Supply Chain Business Line Growth Strategies. This mid-level position participates in development of the practice’s annual work plan and works to achieve milestones and targets to deliver development impact. In collaboration with their practice management team, the senior specialist designs and conducts activities that increase the competitiveness of our proposals, improve the performance of our projects, and enhance our technical reputation with our clients and within our industry. The senior specialist develops and implements systems, processes, and tactics to facilitate technical knowledge sharing and learning among our global workforce, so that our projects and proposals benefit from our own and others’ innovative or evidence-based approaches. Aligned with client learning agendas, policies, frameworks, and strategies, the senior specialist helps guide the execution of applied research to generate evidence of approaches. The senior specialist communicates and collaborates with Chemonics staff, including assigned UKD practice staff if any, industry experts, partners, and our client to enhance Chemonics’ performance in the technical area. The senior specialist supports the Senior Advisor or Advisor by providing daily management and oversight of routine and ongoing Practice processes and operations.

The Digital Development Practice serves as a knowledge node that provides standards, guidance, approaches, tools, and training to enrich Chemonics’s projects, proposals, and industry outreach. The Practice delivers innovative, thoughtful, and digitally enabled strategies on proposals; program approaches aligned with digital principles that lead to impact; and establishes Chemonics’s reputation as a thought leader in the digital development space.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions):

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Business Development

• Undertakes technically relevant line roles in proposal development and helps influence program design aligned with cross cutting best practices and evidence.
• Participates in strategy sessions early in capture to guide teams on the competitive landscape, client preferences, potential partners and personnel, and innovative or evidence-based approaches.
• Reviews solicitations and draft proposals, providing teams with cross cutting technical input and guidance customized to the opportunity.
• Supports relationships and engagement with clients, consultants, and partners to advance successful new business opportunities.
• Oversees data entry and record keeping to track, analyze, and share development trends and performance in the cross-cutting technical area across sectors.
• Develops demand-driven resources to address knowledge gaps identified in partnership with new business teams, based on previous proposal decisions and the forward market.

Technical Approaches

• In collaboration with the Advisor or Senior Advisor and other Practices, provides demand-driven technical support to projects upon request, such as serving as a thought partner to help solve crosscutting implementation challenges or implementation of innovative or integrated approaches.
• Supports development and delivery of demand-driven training courses, learning resources, knowledge sharing events, and ad-hoc technical discussions to engage the global workforce, leveraging technical working groups and community of practice members as leaders and contributors, as appropriate.
• Facilitates connections among Chemonics’ projects implementing similar approaches to learn from one another.
• Researches cutting-edge tools, frameworks, or approaches available within the industry for potential project use.
• Helps identify and maintain records for a cadre of staff and consultants globally with expertise in varying sub-specialties within the cross-cutting technical area.
• Collaborates with project leadership, other technical and cross-cutting practices, and evidence and learning team to design and oversee integrated applied research initiatives aligned with the client’s learning agenda.
• Captures project innovation and learning to repurpose for proposal, other project, and external use.

Industry Outreach and Client Engagement

• Supports collaborative working relationships with USAID technical staff, strategic partners, and stakeholders, and continually promotes outstanding client service and crosscutting technical leadership.
• Identifies opportunities and supports efforts to highlight the work of our global practitioners in international fora, notably including presentation development and preparation for conferences or webinars.
• Represents Chemonics at external events and industry meetings.
• Partners with new business and outreach teams to position Chemonics externally for forward market opportunities by identifying content and drafting articles, blogs, video, or audio content to publish on social and other media.
• Supports feedback or input on client’s draft policies, strategies, frameworks or technical documents, on request.

Inclusive Management

• Fosters an inclusive workplace and lives the values of creating opportunity, serving others, building trust, innovating, and exceeding expectations.
• Manages workloads of self and supervisee(s) in carrying out work plan activities and administrative and operational processes, employing adaptive management techniques to continually improve performance.
• Develops and manages practice budget in accordance with corporate guidance and performs routine reporting.
• Collaborates with Enterprise-level business functions including innovation, knowledge management, and strategic communications and oversees routine reporting and responses to ad-hoc data and record requests.
• Promotes staff development through coaching, mentoring, and facilitating professional growth opportunities.
• Supervises and evaluates performance of assigned staff.
• Communicates clear performance goals and standards and ensures staff receives regular constructive performance feedback, prompt resolution of problems, and time and opportunity to grow and develop in key competence areas.
• Supports and promotes regular collaboration with other technical and crosscutting Practices to ensure initiatives, tools, best practices, ongoing work and opportunities are efficient and optimized.
• Performs other duties and responsibilities as required, including serving as acting Advisor as needed.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty and responsibility satisfactorily. The qualifications listed below are representative of the required knowledge, skills, and/or abilities needed to perform the principal duties.

• Minimum 5-7 years of technically relevant work, including at least 5 in the field of international development required.
• Bachelor’s degree required. Advanced degree preferred, or equivalent combination of education and work experience in relevant technical competency area.
• Knowledge of client and industry trends in cross-cutting disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience supporting business development efforts for USAID or other donors.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to effectively lead meetings, give presentations, and network within the industry.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage working relationships with internal and external counterparts, including clients, partners, and technical experts.
• Willingness to travel and work abroad a minimum of 4-8 weeks per year; experience working on technical programs in developing countries preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and supervise staff.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Self-starter with entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, and demonstrated leadership skills.
• Strong knowledge of MS Office applications.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Foreign language proficiency preferred.

Apply by 11:59PM (ET) on April 10, 2023. No telephone inquiries, please. Finalists will be contacted.

Chemonics is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Chemonics is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, age, or other legally protected characteristics. Military veterans, AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and other national service alumni are encouraged to apply.

Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision
Chemonics will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by Chemonics, or (c) consistent with Chemonics legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)

COVID-19 Recruitment Information
Chemonics International is continuously monitoring COVID-19 activity around the world. The health and wellbeing of our staff and potential candidates is of the utmost importance to us and we continue to offer virtual interviews for all on-going recruits. On-boarding for new staff is offered in hybrid format through our Washington, D.C. and London, UK offices to accommodate remote workers.

COVID-19 Vaccination Information
Chemonics requires all US employees to be fully vaccinated.