Senior Technical Lead, State Resilience

Team Summary
Common Ground USA (CG-USA) fosters collaboration across differences to address America’s biggest challenges and build a society where everyone can belong and thrive. As part of Search for Common Ground (Search), with 40 years of global conflict resolution experience, CG-USA transforms conflict into cooperation with programming focused in the United States. At CG-USA, we believe that most Americans want to overcome the divisions we face in our society and that we all have a role to play. Engaging across political and other divides, we see disagreement as an opportunity to transform conflict into cooperation to solve our most pervasive problems. All of our work is rooted in an evidence base where we strengthen the five vital signs of peace: safety, social cohesion, institutional legitimacy, personal agency, and resourcing peace.

The Resilient States Project convenes and empowers broad-based networks of diverse leaders to build resilience and mitigate risks for division and political violence in key states, currently including Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Our networks unite diverse leaders across various sectors, ideologies, and geographies. These networks work together to transform division and risks for conflict within their states and unify their communities.

We are a dynamic, motivated, and diverse team committed to working across divides to generate locally-rooted, responsive, and sustainable solutions to the nation's most challenging issues. Our team represents different geographies, backgrounds and viewpoints, embodying our “Dignity for All” approach from the inside out.

Position Summary:
The Senior Technical Lead will promote and support CG-USA initiatives across the country, infusing the Resilient States framework, Common Ground Approach and Search/CG-USA best practices into programming. The Senior Technical Lead will serve as a primary advisor to state level leaders looking to grow CG-USA approaches and initiatives as part of the Resilient States Project, a program that empowers diverse leaders to build social health and reduce risks for political violence in their communities. The Senior Technical Lead will also promote CG-USA approaches through other avenues, including partnerships, field advising, and public engagement. The ideal candidate is a seasoned leader with: an established expertise in peacebuilding and conflict resolution in the US context; the demonstrated ability to cultivate and support the development of US leaders to engage in resilience-building and/or conflict prevention work; a deep commitment to working across differences to build a more peaceful and just America; the ability to adapt and respond to evolving challenges; and a highly collaborative working style. This position will report to the Director of Programs.

Core Responsibilities

• Cultivate and Support State Leaders in Building State Resilience :

• Develop and manage strategic processes for partner identification and management, including ensuring program quality and learning goals, as well as legal, 501c3, and donor regulation compliance, and safeguarding protocols.
• Lead coordination and partnership building with select civil society leaders looking to adopt resilience/conflict mitigation approaches in their state through the Resilient States Project. This support includes programming in Minnesota, in addition to other US states over time.
• In coordination with CG-USA team members, deliver training and other resources to support state leaders.
• In rapid response scenarios, support existing partners and new leaders in strategy and communications to reduce conflict factors.

• Represent CG-USA and promote CG-USA approaches through field advising and public engagement

• As assigned, represent CG-USA on relevant coordination bodies, working groups, communities of practice, etc.
• In coordination with CG-USA Public Engagement team, engage with local, state, and national media and on social media channels, sharing expertise through op-eds, blog posts, interviews, or other mediums.

• Contribute to CG-USA national strategic objectives:

• Collaborate closely with HQ and other state colleagues.
• Contribute to the overall vision of CG-USA as a senior member of the CG-USA Team.
• Provide inputs to strategy development and planning, including new project design. Build and adapt strategy and methods to deliver Resilient State approaches to new and varied state contexts.
• Contribute to CG-USA Objectives and Key Results (OKR) development.

Contributions

1. Program Implementation: Coach program staff and partners on utilization of codified methodologies; share best practices and offer assessment tools for program quality
2. Workplan: Draft, review, and advise project work plan, including monitoring and learning objectives.
3. Reporting: Draft, review, and make inputs to reports related to the assigned programmatic area of work
4. Project activities: Conduct training within the scope of expertise; provide technical input for the development of project activities, toolkits, resources, etc.
5. Financial management: Manage the budget under the programmatic area of work.
6. Subaward management: Provide capacity building for partners related to technical expertise and, in partnership with CG-USA team members, ensure responsible stewardship of funds.
7. Personnel management: Supervise consultants, trainers and technical experts as needed; may directly supervise program staff, if assigned. May engage in the recruitment of personnel.
8. External engagement: -----a-a. Ensure representation of CG-USA/Search in relevant coordination bodies, working groups, communities of practice, etc. b. Represent CG-USA/Search at events and in media related to area of technical expertise
9. Provide input into program quality, reflection, and learning initiatives a. Input into strategy development and planning related to technical area of work
10. Technical review of strategy, objectives, and key results (OKRs)
11. Participate in new project design
12. Draft proposal components related to areas of expertise
13. Infuses organizational values into all work
14. Other duties that are broadly in line with the above key contributions as assigned.

Qualifications, Education and Experience

• Typically BS/BA with a minimum of 11 years’ experience.
• A minimum of 2 years experience in a leadership position is highly desired.
• Deep knowledge of and relationships with civil society and community leaders across multiple states and at the national level.
• A demonstrated ability to work with partners, leaders and constituencies from different backgrounds and viewpoints.
• Experience in knowledge transfer and advising leaders at the state and national level.
• A commitment to working across differences to build a more peaceful and just America, and a commitment to CG-USA and Search values.
• A highly collaborative working style.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

1. Works collaboratively with senior managers and colleagues sharing senior expertise; builds teams for successful implementation of projects and programs.
2. Effectively influences vendors, organizations, professional associations, partners, funders, and CG-USA/Search's network of experts critical to the area of purview.
3. Makes decisions on existing information when it may not be complete.
4. Adapts to the personal style and preferences of colleagues to assess their needs and preferences; tolerates ambiguity.
5. Articulates Search/function program/project goals and objectives within and external to Search; develops program objectives, indicators, and results; and participates in strategy development for the team.
6. Provides input for standards across functions globally within Shared Services teams with the ability to create a best fit that considers international norms and compliance while supporting an organizational culture for work.
7. Overcomes obstacles, including personal biases, by following Search's ethics code in complex situations; displayed in activities as ethical principles and values that guide professional interactions.
8. Assesses risks and opportunities in a complex environment and convenes discussions to lead to a favorable outcome.
9. Establishes tools to monitor quality of work and verification of information.
10. Has knowledge of project management tools, including technology as resources and applies delegation skills to support the development of others, as well as the building of efficiency and reduction of stress.
11. Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks, acquire relevant knowledge and skills that will enable you to promote strong safeguarding practices, understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and conduct yourself in a manner consistent with the Safeguarding Policy.

Type and Nature of Contacts

1. Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact.
2. Represents, as assigned, selected programs or projects and other organizations, including donors, vendors, and international and local partners.
3. Interacts with the country office and regional staff.

Location
The candidate must be based in the United States. Standard work will take place remotely/at a home office, but will require interfacing and attending in-person events. Occasional travel to other US locations will be required, up to 25%. Primary working hours will be Central or Eastern Time.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements
Usual office environment conditions; ability to travel at least 10%.

Supervisory and Budget Responsibility
Typically manages one or more direct reports and/or consultants and/or manages one or more programmatic areas.

Search is an equal employment employer whereby we do not engage in practices that discriminate against any person employed or seeking employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other status or characteristic protected under applicable law.

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