Deputy Chief of Party (USDA Food for Progress Project, Vietnam)

The Organization:

Lutheran World Relief, which is part of Corus International, has been present in Vietnam since October 2025. Corus International is the parent of a family of world-class organizations working to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to end extreme poverty once and for all. We are a global leader in international development, with 150 years of combined experience across our brands. Our nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries include IMA World Health and its fundraising brand Corus World Health, Lutheran World Relief, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, and Farmers Market Brands. In Vietnam, Corus operates under Lutheran World Relief. Our more than 400 employees around the globe are experts in their fields and dedicated to helping the world's most vulnerable people break the cycle of poverty and lead healthy lives.
At Corus we believe that good only grows stronger and we reflect that belief in our workplace culture. We value every employee's specialized area of expertise and nurture professional growth. We promote an engaging and supportive work environment, where employees feel enabled and driven to innovate, learn and collaborate. And because our subsidiaries often function as partners, our employees have the opportunity to work across our enterprise family.

Position Summary: This position will be an employee of Lutheran World Relief. The DCoP will serve as the project's deputy leader and oversee day-to-day implementation of sub-recipients, coordinate technical staff, and ensure integration across all components. S/he will manage partner relationships, ensure timely reporting, and serve as Acting Chief of Party (CoP) when required. S/he will act as the CoP's delegate when required, ensuring continuity of leadership and decision-making.
S/he will ensure smooth implementation across Vietnam Aquaculture core components, maintaining high-quality delivery and compliance with USDA Food for Progress regulations (CFR 200) and standards.

Working closely with the CoP, support work planning, budgeting, and implementation, and ensure timely reporting and adaptive management. The DCoP will foster collaboration with sub-recipients, partners, government agencies, and the private sector, while embedding digital technologies, women and youth inclusion, and sustainability into the six activities. Through proactive coordination, the DCoP will help ensure Viet Nam Aquaculture achieves its goals of strengthening aquaculture productivity, expanding U.S.-Viet Nam trade, and promoting safe, nutritious fish trade and consumption.

Responsibilities:

The DCoP will play a central role in ensuring smooth activity delivery, implementation and coordination across all components of Vietnam Aquaculture. S/he will work closely with the CoP, technical managers, sub-recipients, government, and private sector partners to deliver high-quality results. Specific responsibilities include:

1. Technical Oversight & Integration

• Supervise, provide activity guidance and monitor the timing and quality of deliverables from the ICAFIS team of seven and the ASAWISHH team of four employees and consultants in Red River Delta and in the Mekong River Delta.
• Ensures cross-component linkages (e.g., seed, feed, trade, and finance) are well integrated to maximize impact across the tilapia value chain.
• Promote innovation and adoption of aquaculture technologies.

2. Capacity Development and Coordination

• Strengthen the capacity of partners, producer organizations, tilapia association, value chain actors and field teams to effectively implement project activities.
• Guide partners in planning, implementation, reporting, and adaptive management of tilapia interventions.

3. Government & Policy Engagement

• Collaborate with the Government of Vietnam (VAFIS, DFiS, MAE) to align Viet Nam Aquaculture interventions with national tilapia aquaculture and agriculture priorities.
• Provide subject matter expertise on global best practices, regulations, and standards, contextualized for Viet Nam.
• Support policy dialogues on trade facilitation, financial services, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and food safety.

4. Private Sector Engagement (PSE) & Market Systems Development (MSD)

• Oversee the design and delivery of PSE and MSD implemented by the Technical Senior Manager (TSM), Aquaculture Production, TSM, Feed, TSM, Hatcheries, and work in collaboration with the TSM, Financial Services to strengthen private sector and public-private partnerships with feed millers, hatcheries, nurseries, traders, exporters, and financial institutions to expand access to inputs, finance, and markets.
• Support the TSMs to facilitate trade linkages between high value soy suppliers and Vietnam aquaculture feed millers and other value chain actors, in collaboration with other entities working in the feed sector.

5. Capacity Building & Training

• With ICAFIS jointly oversee the Technical Manager (TM), Training and Extension in the design and delivery of training modules for farmers, small and medium enterprises, government officers, and other stakeholders.
• Ensure training content reflects the best international practices, aligns with the Vietnam government aquaculture departments, and incorporates women and youth considerations.

6. Monitoring, Learning & Representation

• Collaborate with the TSM, Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation (MEL) to ensure technical activities are timely and effectively monitored, and lessons learned are applied for quick adaptive management.
• Represent Vietnam Aquaculture in high-level technical and policy forums with government, private sector, donors, and civil society.
  Ensure compliance with USDA Food for Progress regulations and standards while fostering visibility of project achievements.

Supervisory and reporting:

1. Mekong Delta Region Manager
2. Aquaculture Production Expert
3. Technical Senior Manager, Feed
4. Technical Senior Manager, Hatcheries
5. Technical Manager, Training and Extension
6. Four (4) Technical Officers (includes 2 from ASA/WISHH and 2 from ICAFIS)

Education & Experience:

• A Masters in Agricultural Economics, Business, International Development, Aquaculture or Fisheries, or other relevant field with at least 8 years of relevant professional experience in managing progressively complex aquaculture/ agriculture programs or equivalent combination of education and experience. Preferably in one or more of commercial agriculture, aquaculture value chains, food security, adaptive agriculture, traceability systems, financial services, and economic growth, with an emphasis on development of aquaculture and agriculture market systems and associated products and services.
• Experience in working in Viet Nam and with USG and/or international donor programs is essential, with preference for USG experience.
• Expertise in aquaculture in the private or public sectors is desirable but not essential.
• Proven track record of working effectively with government counterparts at various levels, in Viet Nam including at ministerial levels.
• Substantial Viet Nam country context experience, combining market systems, private sector engagement and value chain strengthening and government engagement.
• Previous experience building capacity and/or mentoring on these topics in Viet Nam.
• Experience with USDA Food For Progress rules and regulations required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of USDA Food For Progress rules and regulations required.
• Demonstrated leadership, management and analytical qualities, including leading and motivating a multidisciplinary (technical, management, and evaluation experts) team for complex programs in resource-constrained countries, in the development assistance sector.
• Demonstrated leadership and management skills and ability to lead, influence and motivate multidisciplinary, multi-organizational and multicultural teams.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with sub-recipients, USDA, ministry officials, private sector, and other development partners.
• A proven, successful record of achieving results.
• Strong staff supervision skills and demonstrated ability to coordinate programs with partners from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences; demonstrated ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams.
• Deep knowledge of the political, social, regulatory and economic context of Vietnam required, with experience working in Viet Nam in relevant projects or positions.
• Excellent communication skills, including both written and oral presentation skills; proven ability to develop and communicate a common vision among diverse project staff, public and private partners.
• English fluency with professional proficiency in writing in English and Vietnamese required.
• Ability to travel to project sites as needed within Viet Nam.

Physical and Mental Requirements:

• The physical requirements that may be needed to execute responsibilities may include bending, standing, and walking, etc.
• The mental requirements that are essential to satisfactorily executing the responsibilities outlined in this job description include, but not limited to: learning new tasks, comprehending, and retaining information, completing tasks independently, effectively communicating verbally and in writing, demonstrating proficiency in using computer software to perform assigned tasks.

Working Conditions, Travel and Environment:

• LWR Viet Nam has an in-person work policy, with all employees reporting to the office Monday through Friday (at least 5 days/week). The duties of the job require regular attendance of at least 5 days/week. This position must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business purposes. While performing the duties of this job in different locations, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.
• Must have authorization to work in Vietnam as a citizen or other documentation.
• This position will be based in Can Tho City with frequent travel to Mekong and Red River Delta provinces.

As a member of the Corus Family, each employee is expected to:

• Foster a work environment where everyone feels valued and included.
• Support employees' evaluation and promotion processes based on skills and performance.
• Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all members of Corus family, stakeholders in general, and particularly for the communities we serve.
• Follow Corus Code of Conduct helping to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment, sexual abuse and exploitation, and trafficking in persons.
• Adhere to the Organizational Core Values.

Corus International prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability status, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by U.S. or International law.