Overview

Strengthening Host and Refugee Populations in Ethiopia (SHARPE) is an initiative funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID). The aim is to create inclusive economic growth for, and increase the economic agency of, host and refugee communities in three regions in Ethiopia, namely Gambella, Dollo Ado and Jijiga.

SHARPE utilises a Market Systems Development (MSD) approach to partner with private and public sectors players to facilitate investment and innovation in key regional markets, namely cereals, horticulture, livestock and small ruminants, dairy, poultry, fisheries, financial and business services and the regional labour market. Because humanitarian assistance constitutes a significant transfer of goods and services in these regions, SHARPE also support efforts which enable this assistance to strengthen the regional economy by flowing regional economic channels. 

Investment and innovation should result in regional market systems and the host and refugee communities participating in these to become more productive and resilient, and experience increases in employment opportunities, income and savings. Joint economic participation in growing economic sectors should also facilitate win-win scenarios (mutually beneficial exchanges) for host and refugee communities and contribute to the integration of refugee communities in the regional economy, in line with Ethiopia’s Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF, i.e., the ‘Nine Pledges’).  

SHARPE is expected to last for 3.5 years, from September 2019 to March 2023.

Assignment Objectives

The Technical Lead is responsible for the technical direction of SHARPE, in close coordination with the Team Leader. S/he will ensure the quality and relevance of SHARPE’s overarching Portfolio Strategy, and oversee the identification, development, design and delivery of all SHARPE interventions. S/he will provide technical support and guidance to the SHARPE team, ensuring they have the right mix of skills and tools to achieve their goals, including the identification of additional human resource requirements. S/he will identify the need for specialist technical support and recruit and manage short-term technical advisors on an as-needs basis. S/he will also ensure all SHARPE programmatic frameworks are fully integrated into the portfolio - Monitoring, Results Measurement and Learning (MRL); Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI); Resilience and Value for Money (VfM). The role will coordinate closely with the SHARPE Senior Management Team to ensure that the portfolio, learning and research are delivering against, and support, the logframe indicators and targets.  

Reports to:  Team Leader

Duration: 3 years

Key Responsibilities

• Provides technical leadership and oversight of programme development and delivery. Advises the Team Leader on all technical aspects of SHARPE and leads on all SHARPE technical deliverables ensuring quality, relevance and impact.
• Leads on the continual development and oversight of SHARPE’s portfolio, in close coordination with the Portfolio Lead, to ensure the portfolio of interventions meets the overall objectives and priorities by sector, location, and target group – including identifying any additional interventions needed or adjusting interventions as appropriate.
• Supports the teams on the design, analysis and oversight of all interventions and partnerships. Ensures all new partnerships under development are appropriate and meet inclusion criteria. Support, guide and coach during the design of interventions, partnerships, deal notes and intervention plans – provide feedback and critique to the technical teams to ensure quality of process and outcome.
• Oversees the delivery of all interventions – develop appropriate monitoring tools, in coordination with the MRL team, to enable efficient, systematic analysis of the progress of interventions; when needed identify when and how to adjust interventions
• Ensure SHARPE’s strategic framworks are in place, and being used to inform the technical design and delivery of all interventions including updating the frameworks as needed and providing ongoing training to the team to ensure their appropriate integration to delivery. This includes: the Monitoring, Results Measurement and Learning (MRL), Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI), Conflict/Do No Harm, Resilience, and Value for Money (VfM) are in place and informing technical delivery and strategy.
• Ensure the SHARPE technical team understands, and is able to incorporate, SHARPE’s inclusion agenda appropriately into interventions; where needed providing additional expertise (directly or identifying appropriate STTA) to enhance this as needed
• When needed, identify, recruit and mobilise additional technical staff as needed including the design of terms of reference and engagement in recruitment processes for technical staff.
• Manage STTA and their inputs and deliverables ensuring all TA is briefed on expectations and their contributions are in line with the project’s requirements
• Ensures continual professional development and training on MSD methodology for the technical team through the stages of programme delivery.

Other duties:

• The Technical Lead is a member of the SHARPE Senior Management Team. S/he is therefore expected to input into all aspects of SHARPE management.
• S/he is expected to play a significant role in work-planning, annual review and reporting and in other project management processes, providing technical and management inputs as required. 
• Regular travel is expected to the refugee hosting regions where SHARPE operates.

Reporting lines

• The Technical Lead reports to the SHARPE Team Leader.
  

Requirements  

• Significant experience leading Market Systems Development in high-risk environments, providing technical expertise, quality assurance, advice and guidance.
• Senior management and leadership experience, ideally in multi-cultural, complex environments. Significant experience building up a collaborative team structure.
• Practical experience identifying opportunities, negotiating public-private partnerships ensuring both commercial viability and development/inclusion relevance; being able to point at a successful implementation track record.
• Proven ability to lead teams in the field assessing the performance of markets and partners; able to implement an adaptive management process.
• Strong understanding and experience ensuring interventions are inclusive, support the economic empowerment of women, build resilience and are conflict sensitive.
• Experience of working with DfID funded projects preferable
• Strong communication and writing skills essential
• Some knowledge and experience in a humanitarian setting is desirable
• Experience in both the public and private sectors is desirable