Senior Technical Director, Peace & Stability

Management Systems International (MSI), a Tetra Tech Company, is a Washington, D.C. metro area management consultancy with a 40-year history of delivering results for our clients. Our expertise is in the fields of monitoring and evaluation; democracy and governance; peace and stability; rule of law and accountability; education; gender and inclusion; strategic communications; and leadership and organizational development. MSI has implemented projects in 90 countries around the world such as Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Ukraine, and works domestically. We support clients ranging from the U.S. Government (e.g., the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Departments of State and Labor, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation) to large bilateral and multilateral donors (e.g., the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program). We also work with national and local governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, foundations and universities. For more information, please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com.

**Please note: U.S. work authorization is required for this position.**

Position Summary:

The Senior Technical Director (TD) will work within MSI’s Peace & Stability (P&S) practice area, with a primary focus on proposal technical design, direct proposal writing, and business development-related thought leadership and strategic positioning. When not engaged directly on proposals, the Senior TD will serve various functions within the P&S practice area across projects, proposals, and thought leadership and market development work, and based on the Senior TD’s interests and technical expertise. The Senior TD will provide technical guidance for proposals, project implementation, and project design, and contribute substantially to positioning MSI as an industry leader through thought leadership and client-focused technical work. The Senior TD will be responsible for ensuring that the solutions we present to our clients are innovative, high quality, cost effective, and responsive to client needs. Depending on the P&S portfolio needs, the Senior TD will also be called upon to provide project backstopping and project management support to MSI’s field programs. The Senior TD will be supervised by the Practice Area Leader, but will regularly work in the context of teams, projects, and business development efforts that span multiple practice areas, including Governance & Accountability (G&A) and Justice & Security (J&S). The preferred location for this role is in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area.

Responsibilities:

Business Development

• Serve as lead technical writer and/or technical lead (“honcho”) for MSI responses to USAID peace and stability and related solicitations.
• Ensure effective coordination with MSI’s Business Development Unit during the proposal preparation process as the honcho.
• Work with the honcho to develop overall strategy as the lead writer.
• Provide technical expertise and oversight in the design, development, drafting, and review of project proposals.
• Conduct field-based reconnaissance, recruitment, and research in support of proposal preparation.
• Identify and track potential business development pursuits to effectively position and prepare MSI for anticipated bid solicitations.
• Provide technical support to bid solicitations in other technical areas in the event there is a business need.

Technical Work

• Provide both short- or long-term technical assistance to clients, as required in the context of MSI contractual mechanisms, including stand-alone projects and IDIQ mechanisms.
• Stay abreast of developments in the peacebuilding, conflict transformation and political transitions fields.
• Extract lessons learned, best practices and tools developed during project implementation and facilitate the packaging of experience for both internal use by MSI staff through existing knowledge management systems, and external audiences to advance thought leadership and market positioning.

Thought Leadership

• Organize and participate in industry conferences, expert panels, committees, and events to develop contacts and foster professional relationships that will raise MSI’s profile as a prominent player in core P&S practice programing areas, including peacebuilding, conflict and violence prevention, conflict transformation, political transition, preventing and countering violent extremism, and stabilization, as relevant to the candidate’s specific technical expertise.
• Prepare publications, such as articles, papers, blog posts or tools, and/or facilitate events that serve to position MSI as a thought leader on issues relevant to the P&S practice area.

Project Management

• Provide technical support and oversight from Headquarters on all technical issues impacting project design, development, and implementation, in consultation and coordination with field teams and other members of the headquarters project team.
• Contribute to and oversee client reporting requirements.
• Ensure submission of quality deliverables and overall client satisfaction.
• Provide technical input on the financial and operational requirements of the project, including the design and management of the budget as it relates to technical implementation.
• Conduct regular field visits to projects to provide technical expertise as needed, attend high profile events, meet with project staff and local partners, and establish direct relations with key donors including USAID and others, as part of overall technical management and oversight.
• Provide mentorship and professional development opportunities to mid-level staff, including Technical Managers, Technical Associates, and Program Managers, in accordance with corporate mentorship initiatives.