Chief of Party (WEECAP Cote d'Ivoire)

PROGRAM SUMMARY:

The Women’s Economic Empowerment through Cashew Processing Program (WEECAP) is a five-year initiative, implemented in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, operating in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal. WEECAP is transforming the cashew sector in West Africa by aligning inclusion and competitiveness to meet global demand, attract investment, and open economic opportunities for young women and men.

WEECAP addresses bottlenecks in the sector by connecting suppliers and strategic buyers, structuring resilient and inclusive value chains, and mobilizing targeted financial solutions. At the same time, we strengthen the capacity of emerging enterprises leading to expanded economic opportunities for women and vulnerable populations, contribute to the development of robust policy frameworks, and achieve tangible results through a practical, market driven approach.

Our ambition: to make the cashew sector a regional engine of competitiveness, value addition, and inclusion.

• Create 330,000 jobs for young women and men through dynamic value chains and business growth
• Mobilize USD 150 million in new investments through innovative financial solutions and private partnerships

WEECAP acts as a catalyst — aligning supply chains, developing promising business models, deploying capital adapted to real economic cycles, and supporting policy reforms that drive sector growth. Inclusion of young women and men serves as a lever for performance and market success. Our goal is to build a modern, competitive, and inclusive industry where young women and men, people with disabilities and displaced youth play a full economic role.

WEECAP is led by Winrock International in partnership with CARE Canada, GIZ and Open Capital Advisors

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Chief of Party will be responsible for overall project management, administration, and implementation of a cashew program. S/he will maintain systems for project operations; ensure that all award deadlines are met, and targets are achieved; oversee program staff; and coordinate and maintain working relationships with project stakeholders. This includes government ministries, subgrantees and/or subcontractors, short-term technical support providers, and local training/academic institutions. S/he will lead collaborative initiatives to ensure all approaches are sustainable, gender and inclusive, cross-sectoral, and evidence-based.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

Technical Leadership

• Provide overall technical leadership for the project, including supporting competitiveness, supply chain, access to finance, policy gender and inclusion teams to design, pilot, test, and scale innovative implementation models and partnerships across the cashew value chain.
• Oversee diagnostics, assessments, and analyses to evaluate market opportunities, identify strategic partners, and inform activity and partnership design.
• Ensure effective monitoring of program performance through results frameworks and indicators and oversee evaluation of program effectiveness and impact.
• Ensure that evidence, learning, and M&E findings directly inform strategic and operational decision-making at senior management and partner levels.
• Apply an adaptive management and learning approach to continuously assess program performance, replicate and scale successful interventions, and adjust or discontinue activities that are not achieving intended results.
• Lead the preparation of annual work plans and oversee implementation; ensure timely and high-quality submission of quarterly and annual reports to the donor on progress, results, and learning.
• Accountable for achievement of program outcomes and value-for-money targets, including identification and mitigation of technical, financial, operational, and reputational risks.
• Lead scenario planning and decision-making in response to market shocks, policy changes, climate events, or security constraints.
• Champion inclusive private sector engagement models that expand opportunities for youth women- and men -owned enterprises and workers.

Coordination and Representation

• Serve as the principal liaison with the donor, consortium partners relevant government ministries and agencies, private sector stakeholders, and international and local partners, representing Winrock International at senior levels.
• Represent the program in external forums, conferences, and learning platforms, contributing to sector-wide dialogue on women and youth economic empowerment and market systems development.
• Coordinate and collaborate with private sector firms, farmers and producer groups, government counterparts, and other stakeholders to leverage resources, align incentives, and maximize program impact.
• Foster strong partnerships and coordination mechanisms across consortium members and external stakeholders to support coherent, systems-based implementation.
• Provide strategic oversight of consortium partners and key subcontractors, including performance management, alignment with technical strategy, and resolution of implementation challenges.
• Ensure clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability mechanisms across partners.

Administration and Leadership

• Provide overall oversight of project administration, including financial management, human resources, procurement, and compliance, ensuring adherence to Winrock policies and donor rules and regulations.
• Maintain close and regular communication with Winrock Home Office and the donor, including providing informal and formal updates on project progress, risks, and emerging opportunities.
• Lead, supervise, and mentor senior project staff, fostering a collaborative, high-performing team culture grounded in accountability, learning, and inclusion.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS AND BACKGROUND:

Education:    Academic degree in international development, business administration, agronomy or any relevant area. Master's degree preferred.

Experience:       

• Minimum of 5 years of experience serving as Chief of Party or equivalent senior leadership role on donor-funded contracts or cooperative agreements valued at USD 30 million or more.
• Experience leading complex agriculture, market systems development, or youth employment programs.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing interventions that effectively reach and benefit youth, women, people with disabilities, and displaced populations.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-partner programs and providing strategic leadership to large, multidisciplinary teams of technical experts and implementing partners.
• At least 10-15 years of demonstrated technical experience working in West Africa, preferably in agricultural market systems development, enterprise development, trade, or value-chain programming.
• Proven experience designing and implementing systems-based and market-driven interventions, and coaching staff and partners in their application.
• Demonstrated experience operationalizing iterative learning and adaptive management systems, including approaches consistent with Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA).
• Strong track record of developing partnerships with, and supporting, private sector actors.
• Demonstrated ability to engage credibly with senior private sector leaders, including understanding of commercial incentives, risk, and investment decision-making.
• Experience structuring partnerships that balance development outcomes with commercial sustainability.
• Prior experience advancing job creation through economic growth and private sector development initiatives, particularly through value chain development or enterprise support, would be a strong asset.

Skills/Knowledge:           

• Strong leadership and people-management skills, with demonstrated ability to supervise, mentor, and build capacity of diverse, multicultural teams and partner organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain coalitions and networks with private sector and other stakeholders to drive sustainable, system-level change.
• Ability to operate effectively in a high-level representational role while maintaining close engagement with field-level implementation and beneficiaries.
• Solid understanding of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks, performance reporting systems, and adaptive learning processes; experience with qualitative and quantitative analytical methods, knowledge management, and CLA approaches preferred.
• Excellent management, communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to produce high-quality technical and programmatic reports.
• Strong computer skills, including proficiency with word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.
• Fluency in both French and English is required; knowledge of Portuguese is an asset.

Winrock is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal treatment for all people. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by law. 

At Winrock we have a clear mission: Empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through unwavering dedication to accountability, equity, innovation, integrity and transformation.