About CST

CST Ethiopia represents the overseas development and humanitarian agencies of the Catholic Church from England and Wales (CAFOD), Scotland (SCIAF), and Ireland (Trócaire) in Ethiopia. The three agencies have over 40 years’ of experience in international development and humanitarian response and are each members of worldwide networks, including Caritas Internationalis. Currently, the three agencies jointly operate as a single, integrated country programme in Ethiopia through the legal entity CST Ethiopia. CST Ethiopia works in partnership with local church and non-church organisations, supporting communities in Addis Ababa, Afar, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray regions.

"Local SPACE: Enhancing the Space, Participation, Accountability, Capacity, and Engagement of Local and National Actors in Humanitarian Aid Delivery" is an EU/ECHO ERC funded project, known as Local-SPACE, a global initiative designed to promote systemic change in alignment with international localization commitments. Its primary goal is to enhance the capacity and equitable involvement of all participants in the humanitarian system through a scalable, adaptable network solution. The project will engage local and national networks in countries such as DRC, Ethiopia, Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, and South Sudan, with a focus on marginalized groups, including organizations led by women and refugees. Local-SPACE consists of two main components. The first aims to strengthen the institutional capacity and humanitarian leadership of Local and National Actors (L/NAs). This will involve supporting national/ sub-national networks and collaborating with local NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs), and grassroots groups at three levels: individual (through leadership coaching and mentoring), organizational (enhancing institutional capacity), and network (facilitating capacity sharing). Customized capacity-strengthening workshops and a learning portal will provide ongoing education and resource sharing. The second component emphasizes evidence-based advocacy and the replication of successful models. This includes engaging L/NAs with coordination mechanisms, developing advocacy strategies, and producing an action research report. The project will host workshops to document lessons learned and promote methodologies at international forums. To ensure long-term sustainability, Local-SPACE will create a fundraising strategy to support national platforms and help local actors access funding.

The implementation of Local-SPACE in Ethiopia will be carried out by CST in collaboration with a consortium led globally by DanChurchAid and in partnership with Save the Children UK/Humanitarian Leadership Academy.

The Project Coordinator/Localization and Partnership Advisor position is critical to the successful implementation of the Local-SPACE project and will directly contribute to enhancing the participation, accountability, and capacity of local and national actors in development and humanitarian aid delivery.

This position is an eighteen-month contract. The successful candidate will report to the Deputy Country Director - Head of Programmes. The Localization and Partnership advisor works closely with the CMT, CST staff, HQ colleagues, Partnership and Localization Hub in Nairobi, CAFOD partnership advisor, partners, and other stakeholders to deliver on:

1. Mapping and Engagement Strategies with local and national actors

2. Capacity Strengthening and Coaching

3. Advocacy, Learning and Documentation

4. Fundraising and Sustainability

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the mapping, identification, and priority setting of the project with local and national actors and prioritize engagement strategies.

• Provide direct coaching to network members

• Support the implementation of tailored capacity-strengthening workshops for targeted networks, ensuring effective learning.

• Support the establishment of a locally led and customized learning infrastructure

• Organize and facilitate meetings between local, national actors and relevant cluster coordination mechanisms.

• Lead the development and implementation of National Level Advocacy Action Plans in collaboration with local stakeholders.

• Support documentation and learnings into an action research report; for publication and dissemination of methodologies and best practices.

• Coordinate national level events to capture and share lessons learned from project implementation.

• Lead the dissemination and promotion of the replicability and scalability of approaches and methodologies.

• Support the development and implementation of fundraising strategies to ensure the sustainability of national platforms and increased access to direct funding for local and national actors to resources and funding opportunities.

• Support local partners and stakeholders on localization and partneship in line with the localization and partnership strategy

Representation and Advocacy:

• Represent the organization in meetings, conferences, and other forums related to localization and partnerships.

• Advocate localization and partnership agenda with donors, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

• Stay informed about relevant developments in the field of localization and partnerships and deciminate in relevant platforms

Program Quality and Impact

• Monitor and evaluate the impact of partnerships and localization initiatives.

• Identify lessons learned and best practices to inform future programming and partnership approaches.

Job Requirements

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in development studies, International Relations, Humanitarian Action, or related fields

Experience

• Minimum of 7 years’ experience of working in development and humanitarian aid focusing on localization and partnerships.

• Proven experience of working on donor funded grants (EU/ECHO would be an asset) and strong understanding of donor compliance and requirements.

• Proven experience in managing projects and project cycle management using results frameworks and/ or logical frameworks.

• Demonstrated experience of working in the capacity strengthening of local civil society organisations and national networks

• Experience of organisational development, including governance, programme management, programme development and quality

• Experience working with civil society partners and good understanding of partnership principles.

• Experience of working with, and a demonstrated understanding of, humanitarian standards and localization commitments.

• Experience of developing training materials and providing training to a range of audiences.

• Experience working in fragile contexts with solid understanding of the operating contexts in Ethiopia.

• Experience in planning, proposal and report writing.

Skills

• Proven strategic thinking and planning skills, including ability to think creatively, analyse and be innovative, set priorities, manage work plans, and evaluate progress.

• Demonstrated ability to lead & work in a team.

• Excellent facilitation & capacity strengthening skills and experience of applying them when working with individual organisations or groups of organisations.

• Excellent written, oral, and presentational communications skills.

• Strong communication, facilitation, and training skills.

• Excellent and proven organisational skills (planning, goal setting, problem solving, time management, etc).

• Highly developed relationship management, negotiation and interpersonal skills.

• Demonstrated capacity for teamwork and coordination.

• Fluency in Amharic and excellent written and oral skills in English.

• Solid IT and data entry/analysis skills – especially in the use of Excel and Microsoft applications.

• Able to work independently being a strong team player.

• Ability to deliver at pace while managing competing priorities.

• Demonstrated ability to work with multi-cultural teams of national and international staff well across geographic settings.

• Familiar with mentoring and coaching techniques

• Ability to provide effective coordination following result-based management principles.

Qualities

• Strong commitment to principles of partnership, solidarity, and social Justice.

• Good interpersonal relationships and teamwork skills in a multi-cultural environment.

• Excellent networking skills with the ability to establish good relationships, confident in engaging with senior people.

• Culturally sensitive and diplomatic.

• Willingness to travel occasionally and independently.

• Self-motivated with proven ability to take initiative.

• Able to establish strong working relationships with colleagues and Partners.

• Able to prioritise tasks and work to deadlines.

• Flexible and adaptable

Other

• Availability to work outside normal hours to meet deadlines and travel throughout Ethiopia and within the region and outside when necessary and sometimes on short notice.

How to Apply:

Interested and qualified applicants can apply online using THIS LINK