About Organisation:

Cordaid is a Dutch international NGO, that believes in a world without poverty and exclusion. We strive for just and sustainable societies where every person counts. We stand for knowledge and talent sharing between North and South, between farmers and businesses, between activists and policymakers. Where poverty, conflict and exclusion divide societies, we connect people and communities. We stand for professionalism, expertise, and solidarity across borders. We aim at maximizing our social impact and contributing to systemic change. We operate where natural disasters strike, where conflicts tear up communities and where lack of opportunities and service delivery keep families in extreme poverty. Cordaid has been active in Uganda for over 25 years; and our programmes currently focus on three thematic areas: resilience, investments and humanitarian aid.

Job Summary: The Chief of Party (CoP) provides overall strategic leadership, high-level stakeholder engagement, external representation, overall accountability and risk management for A-GRIP. The CoP ensures that the programme is positioned effectively within the wider EKN-funded ecosystem and that its enabling-environment mandate is translated into measurable improvements in land tenure security, public service delivery and governance, thereby enhancing smallholder farmer outcomes.

The CoP is supported by a Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP), who leads day-to-day programme management and operational execution. Together with the project management team, the CoP and DCOP ensure that strategic priorities are translated into coherent delivery across all programme components, districts and partner interfaces.

This is a senior leadership / director-level role within Cordaid’s organisational structure, reflecting full accountability for a large, multi-year, multi-stakeholder programme; strategic high-level representation with government and other key stakeholders; line management of a project management team; and oversight of complex programme, operational, financial, compliance and learning functions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership, Representation and EKN Ecosystem Engagement

• Lead high-level strategic engagement with relevant line ministries and district local governments to strengthen the enabling environment for land tenure security, agricultural service delivery and natural resource management.
• Promote collaboration, joint learning and coordinated planning with EKN-funded partner projects, ensuring that A-GRIP contributes to portfolio coherence and shared results.
• Provide overall strategic direction for A-GRIP, ensuring alignment with the grant agreement, approved workplans, national priorities and EKN strategic objectives.
• Serve as the primary external representative of A-GRIP with Government of Uganda institutions, national level, political and district leadership, development partners and strategic stakeholders as well as the donor.
• Position A-GRIP clearly within the broader EKN-funded programme ecosystem, ensuring complementarity with farmer-facing partner programmes and promoting system-wide impact for smallholder farmers.

Programme Oversight, Results Delivery and Strategic Steering

• Maintain overall accountability for delivery against A-GRIP outcomes, milestones, targets, budgets, risk management, and donor commitments.
• Provide strategic oversight across technical components, ensuring coherence between land tenure, agricultural governance, natural resource management and institutional strengthening interventions.
• Lead annual and periodic, multi-stakeholder strategic planning processes, including workplans, budgets and adaptive adjustments in response to performance evidence and contextual changes.
• Ensure that programme strategies strengthen public systems and services in ways that enable and reinforce farmer-level results achieved through the wider EKN ecosystem.
• Identify and manage strategic risks, dependencies and opportunities, including those arising from coordination with government institutions and partner programmes.

Programme Leadership, Delegation and Senior Team Management

• Lead and manage the senior programme management team, including the DCOP and functional leads across technical components, MEL/data, finance, and operations.
• Lead the implementation of the land tenure component; ensure a good understanding and analysis of the challenges and opportunities to enhance land tenure security; translate these in a strategy and approach that will enhance the delivery of inclusive land tenure security; lead an evidence-based policy dialogue.
• Delegate day-to-day programme management, coordination and operational delivery to the DCOP, ensuring clear roles, decision rights, performance expectations and accountability mechanisms across the management structure.
• Provide strategic guidance to the DCOP and project management team members to ensure effective translation of programme strategy into integrated implementation across all geographies and technical areas.
• Ensure the project management team operates as an integrated structure, with strong communication, coordinated decision-making and accountability for results.
• Align organisational structures, staff capacity and leadership arrangements with programme delivery requirements, including capability development, knowledge transfer and sustainability.

Performance Management, MEL, Learning and Adaptive Management

• Champion a culture of results, learning, adaptive management and continuous improvement across the programme.
• Ensure MEL and performance management systems are used to track progress, assess contribution to outcomes, inform strategic decisions and support timely course correction.
• Lead structured programme review and reflection processes with the DCOP, project management team and partners, ensuring data, evidence, field insights and stakeholder feedback inform management decisions.
• Ensure A-GRIP learning is shared with EKN and relevant partner programmes to strengthen portfolio-wide understanding of how governance and systems strengthening enable smallholder farmer results.
• Oversee high-quality donor reporting and performance communication, including clear articulation of A-GRIP’s contribution to the wider EKN-funded ecosystem.

Compliance, Accountability and Resource Stewardship

• Ensure full compliance with donor requirements, grant agreements, Cordaid policies and applicable laws and regulations.
• Maintain oversight of financial, operational and administrative controls, ensuring transparent, accountable and effective use of programme resources.
• Ensure programme risks, safeguarding, safety and security considerations are appropriately managed and escalated where required.
• Promote accountability to communities, government counterparts, the donor and partners through transparent communication, responsible decision-making and strong internal controls.

Integrity

• Showcases integrity standards as outlined in Cordaid’s integrity policies. Fulfils integrity responsibilities as outlined in Cordaid’s Integrity Framework and Standard Operating Procedures.
• Actively contributes to a safe environment within their scope of influence by encouraging dialogue, trust, as well as understanding and adherence to Cordaid’s integrity standards and procedures.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The Chief of Party is a seasoned senior leader with strong strategic, programme management and structured high-level stakeholder engagement capabilities.
• The role requires demonstrated experience leading large, complex, multi-stakeholder programmes and the ability to position initiatives within broader donor and partner ecosystems, including effective high-level engagement with senior government and donor counterparts.
• The successful candidate combines strong leadership and team management skills with the ability to delegate effectively while maintaining oversight of programme performance, risk, compliance and results.
• S/he brings a solid grounding in results-based approaches, governance and systems strengthening, and are committed to learning and adaptive management, using data and evidence to inform strategic decision-making and continuously improve programme impact.
• Excellent communication, partnership-building and judgment are essential, along with the ability to operate effectively in complex and dynamic environments.
• Master’s degree in fields related to land governance, public administration, international development, governance, public policy or a related field.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible senior leadership experience managing large, complex development programme in land tenure, argriculture, governance, rural development or public service delivery.
• Demonstrated experience with, and knowledge of the land tenure sector, preferably in Uganda.
• Demonstrated experience working with donors, government institutions, district structures, development partners and multi-partner coordination platforms.
• Experience with results-based financing, performance-based approaches, log frame and data driven management and/or complex results frameworks is an advantage.
• Demonstrated experience and capacity to work on sensitive policy areas, and the capacity to translate political-economy analysis into operational activities.
• Fluency in written and spoken English; ability and willingness to travel regularly within Uganda.

Competencies

• Strategic leadership and influence: sets direction, anticipates risks and opportunities, and influences at senior levels.
• Partnership and ecosystem engagement: builds coherence, complementarity and accountability across diverse stakeholders and partner programmes.
• Programme delivery and accountability: maintains focus on results, quality, compliance and responsible resource stewardship.
• Leadership and team management: leads senior teams, delegates effectively and fosters a high-performance, collaborative culture.
• Learning and adaptive management: uses evidence, reflection and feedback to guide decisions and improve programme performance.
• Communication and high-level representation: communicates clearly, deliberately and credibly with government, donor, partner and internal audiences.

Others/Extra Details

• Cordaid is fully committed to provide a safe and welcoming workplace to its employees, and to maintain respect and dignity of everyone that comes into contact with Cordaid.
• Therefore, Cordaid participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.