Regional Program Coordinator

Project Background

The Feed the Future Policy LINK project works to strengthen the capacity of local actors and institutions to enable them to efficiently lead and manage the agricultural transformation process and contribute effectively and collectively to improved, broad-based food security policy outcomes.

Specifically, the program aims to strengthen food security policy systems by investing in and reinforcing productive human and social capital and developing strategic partnerships that help bring these innovations and capacity investments to scale in order to achieve a critical mass of local actors with the ability and opportunity to effect positive policy change through collective action.

Policy LINK’s general approach is grounded in facilitative leadership and collaborative governance, which emphasize engaging stakeholders from civil society and public and private sectors in consensus-oriented decision-making, collaborative problem-solving, and adaptive learning.

Policy LINK in Ethiopia

C4FS is a five-year activity with the overall objective of supporting the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) and other actors in two main sub-activities: A). Strengthen agricultural and food security policy systems to make them more inclusive and evidence-informed. Specifically, this sub-activity will facilitate the transition towards a policy development paradigm driven by multiple stakeholders. B). Support better partnerships and collaborations amongst actors involved in resilience building in selected lowland areas. This sub-activity should lead to better integration, layering, and sequencing of activities with project sites.

In delivering its work, C4FS works collaboratively with multiple stakeholders including academia, financial institutions, the judiciary, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector representatives from the national, regional, and local levels. This approach is underpinned by Policy LINK’s overarching theory of change focused on increasing human and social capital, engaging system actors in collaborative processes, and developing mechanisms for collaborative governance and dynamic learning systems and platforms to sustain collective action.

The Objective of the Position

Policy LINK is seeking three Regional Program Coordinators for its current regions of implementation in Oromia (Addis Ababa), Amhara (Bahir Dar), and SNNPR-Sidama (Hawassa). The Regional Program Coordinator is an integral member of the C4FS team in Ethiopia. The Program Coordinator will be based at the regional capital of the region where they are posted and will work closely with Regional Program Managers to oversee the implementation of activities within the region, especially facilitating the planning and execution of tasks, stakeholder engagement, and reporting.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

The Regional Program Coordinator is expected to work within activity teams, supporting the Regional Program Manager to implement and track progress on the regional work plan. S/he is expected to embody Policy LINK’s core purpose and principles and ensure all decision-making is rooted in the purpose and principles. S/he will contribute to a learning environment in which personal and team growth is supported, with a shared understanding that the “team” always comes before the “individual.” Specific duties and responsibilities include:

1. Actively engage in and contribute to the preparation of regional annual work plans, activity descriptions, concept notes, and activity trackers.
2. Participate in and in many cases lead the execution, monitoring, and follow-up of program activities to ensure tasks and deliverables are implemented according to approved activity descriptions, work plans, budgets, principles and procedures, and other compliance requirements.
3. Collaborate with Operations and Finance teams to organize and facilitate regional stakeholder engagement activities such as workshops, training, seminars, and dialogues. Tasks may include ensuring the venue, required equipment, and materials, managing RSVPs, and travels arrangements.
4. Support and maintain effective networking, communication, and relationships with regional stakeholders on matters regarding program activity, expectations, logistics, deliverables, timelines, and compliance requirements.
5. Support the Regional Program Manager in the preparation of periodic performance reports, success stories, and/or case studies.
6. Ensure activity team minutes, resolutions, and action plans are compiled, shared and actions followed up.
7. Ensure proper documentation of relevant program activities, data, and records, including the accurate compilation of activity descriptions, work plans, tools, minutes, conference reports, M&E reports, and other activity records and materials required for MEL, financial, and program compliance.
8. In collaboration with the Regional Program Manager, collect event and activity-related monitoring data (such as participant records) and share with the MEL team. Provide quality assurance for event and activity-specific data (cleaning, verifying) before sharing with the MEL team.
9. Perform any other duties as required in consultation with the Regional Program Manager and other C4FS staff.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Minimum bachelor’s degree in agriculture, Rural Development, Development Studies, Economics, and other food security-related fields from a recognized university.

Work Experience

• Minimum six years of work experience in management and/or technical assistance on agricultural development, resilience, livelihood, and food security programs, preferably in international development organizations or private companies.
• Good understanding of resilience and humanitarian work, policy systems and programs, value chains, or market-based approaches in the agriculture and food security sectors in Ethiopia.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholder groups within a development program context
• Knowledge of the region of assignment (either Oromia, Amhara, or SNNPR-Sidama)
• Prior work experience on donor-funded agriculture and food security programs (USAID preferred).
• Demonstrated monitoring, data compilation, and report writing experience.
• Strong and demonstrated stakeholder management experience.

Skills

• Attention to detail, ability to balance competing priorities and duties.
• Proficiency in using Microsoft Office suite, and other relevant software.
• Excellent organizational skills with a willingness to take initiative and be proactive.
• Excellent interpersonal and intercultural communication skills.
• Professional fluency in English and working language(s) of the region of assignment.
• Should be able to speak, read and write English, Amharic, and the local language of the region

Reporting

The Regional Program Coordinator will report to the Regional Program Manager

Supervisory Responsibilities

The Regional Program Coordinator will not have any supervisory responsibilities.