Our mission is to promote and protect abroad the values, interests and economic well-being of Ireland and its people. We do this under the political direction of our Ministers, through our staff at home and through our Embassy network abroad.
The Embassy’s role is to deepen bilateral political relations between Ireland and Ethiopia; serve the needs of Irish citizens; strengthen trade, tourism and investment between our countries and support the socio-economic development through a targeted development cooperation and trade programme.
The Embassy wishes to contract the services of a full-time Programme Officer to support the oversight and implementation of our development cooperation and trade portfolio.
The Programme Officer will report to the Senior Programme Manager and engage closely with the Deputy Head of Mission/Head of Cooperation. The Programme Officer will provide high quality technical support to the Embassy’s diverse development cooperation programme, including gender, governance, and agriculture/climate action programme engagements. The Programme Officer will oversee the small grant-funding scheme, and contribute to our Fellowship programme. The Programme Officer will ensure the highest standards in the implementation of Ireland’s international development policy priority areas through project design, monitoring, evaluation and learning.

* Support the implementation of Ireland’s foreign policy and development strategies, including The Global Island: Ireland’s Foreign Policy for a Changing World; Ireland’s international development policy A Better World and Global Ireland: Ireland’s Strategy for Africa to 2025 in the region, and the Embassy’s annual Business Plan. 

* Work with the management and programme team to implement the Embassy’s development cooperation strategy and support the design and implementation of a new mission strategy. 

* Support the implementation and grant oversight of projects funded by Ireland (e.g. Small Grants Scheme, Fellowships, etc.) including regular liaison with implementing organisations, reviewing budgets and work plans, monitoring, reporting and communications. 

* Provide high quality technical and policy analysis, grant and partner management, technical assessments and briefings, and programmatic recommendations to senior management in support of our annual Business Plan and Mission Strategy. 

* Provide day-today administrative support to the respective Senior Programme Mangers and Deputy Head of Development in the organization of high-level visits, field visits, programme payments, consultancy support, information management, and filing. 

* Attending, participating in and reporting on various external technical working group meetings and other fora as required. 

* Work across and with the Embassy team to ensure a coherent and joined up approach to our annual business plan and overall strategy. 

* Other duties as detailed in the job description and as required. 

Job Requirements

Essential requirements candidates must be able to demonstrate: 

* A Masters level degree in an area relevant to social development (e.g. Development Studies, Equality Studies, Political Science, Law etc.)

*Minimum 5 years’ experience in project cycle management including procurement processes; financial management of budgets and disbursements; audit; monitoring and evaluation and information management.

* Candidates must be able to show examples demonstrating substantial technical knowledge linked to at least two of our development cooperation priorities gender and governance. 

* Demonstrable experience engaging in programme/project design monitoring/evaluation/learning and strategic planning; 

* Demonstrate examples of mainstreaming crosscutting issues, particularly related to governance, gender equality and/or protection, and some knowledge of climate issues. 

* Candidates must be able to demonstrate excellent communication, writing and reporting skills including fluent written and verbal English. Applicants may be contacted in advance to establish language proficiency and a short written test may be required; 

* The candidate must demonstrate using work based examples of providing excellent interpersonal & communications skills, being persuasive, working in a team but also dealing effectively with people in external organisations; 

* Candidates must be able to demonstrate a proven capacity for delivering timely results and taking responsibility for quality outcomes; 

In addition, all candidates must: 

* Be proficient with MS Office Suite including Word, Excel, Outlook and Power point; additional IT applications would be beneficial (e.g. working with datasets); 

* Have the ability and willingness to travel frequently, often to remote areas; and 

* Have legal entitlement to live and work in Ethiopia prior to recruitment. 

Terms and conditions of employment: Start date: Late December 2025 Location: Embassy of Ireland, Addis Ababa Contract duration: The successful candidates will be hired for 6 months with probation period of 30 working days Working hours: Monday to Thursday, with standard office hours from 8:00am – 5:00pm, Friday from 8:00am – 2:00pm with total working hours not exceeding 48 hours per week as per local labour law Annual Leave Entitlement Annual leave allowance is 10 working days for 6 months Gross Salary: €1,890.60 per month paid in local currency. Salaries are paid direct to a bank account, therefore, the successful candidate must have a bank account Eligibility Candidates must have a permanent, legal right to reside and work in Ethiopia and will be subject to employment and taxation law in Ethiopia. 

Selection process: Depending on response rates, the deadline may be extended.
NOTE: Submissions without completed application forms will not be accepted
Please note that only short listed applicants will be contacted.
Selection Process:
*Depending on the number of applications received, a short-listing of candidates will be called for a competency-based interview.
* It is planned that interviews will be held by before the end of November 2025
* A technical assessment will be included in the recruitment process;
* A second interview may be included in the recruitment process; and
* A panel may be set up depending on the calibre of candidates;
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
All personal information received will be kept in line with GDPR guidelines.
Security Clearance for Local Staff
Police security clearance will be sought in respect of individuals who come under consideration for appointment. Enquiries may also be made with the police force of any country in which the applicant under consideration for appointment resided. If unsuccessful this information will be destroyed. If the applicant subsequently comes under consideration for another position they will be required to supply this information again.
Please note that canvassing will disqualify applicants.
The Embassy of Ireland is committed to a policy of Equal Opportunity.

How To Apply

Closing date: Friday November 21 , 2025 @ 17 hrs
Application form: In order to apply, click ‘apply now’ or follow THIS LINK. Note, you will be required to respond to questions and upload your CV. Thus, prepare in advance before following the link.