The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. NDI has supported democratic institutions and practices in every region of the world for more than three decades. Since its founding in 1983, NDI and its local partners have worked to establish and strengthen political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. NDI will work in Zambia to support democratic institutions, including political parties, better able to engage with stakeholders and citizens on national policy, legislation development and citizen concerns and priorities.
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks a Senior Program Officer/Program Manager to aid in the implementation of programs related to support to local partners on electoral reform and election observation. The Senior Program Officer/Program Manager will provide technical expertise to local partners, oversee of select subgrants awards, aid in building the capacity of subgrantees and supervise select junior staff. While specific elections experience is a plus, it is not required and demonstration of program management and technology skills, and past positions that required close attention to detail will be highly valued. Title will be determined based on level of experience.
Essential duties:
- Manage NDI Zambia programs related to elections, including observation, legal and policy reform and emerging issues (such as e-voting and diaspora voting).
- Lead staff/subgrantee in very detail-oriented tasks related to election observation activities.
- Provide technical expertise related to election observation activities and other electoral issues (as noted above, previous election experience is a plus but not required as training will be provided).
- Provide leadership, guidance and supervision to junior staff, as required.
- Assist select NDI Zambia subgrantees with the development of proposals, budgets and related documents for awards.
- Together with select subgrantees, identify organizational and technical capacity gaps, develop capacity building plans to address the gaps and conduct trainings on issues related to the gaps.
- Identify and, with senior management assistance, contract Zambian experts to assist/train select subgrantees in various organizational and technical areas.
- Report on select subgrantee activities in NDI Zambia bi-weekly, quarterly and final reports.
- Monitor closely the timeliness of select subgrantees’ financial and narrative reports, review these reports for accuracy and completeness, and work closely with subgrantees to review and resolve queries on financial and narrative reports.
Education & Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree.
- At least 5 years work experience in managing donor-funded program activities.
- Experience in programs funded by USAID and/or FCDO preferred.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office, including Word, Powerpoint and Excel; preference for database experience.
