Youth Development Specialist 18 views

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps has been operating in Ethiopia since 2004, working in rural, peri-urban and urban areas in Six regional states: Somali, Oromia, Afar, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples(SNNP), Amhara, Gambela and the capital city of Addis Ababa. We engage in both development and humanitarian work, and seek to integrate approaches, programs and geographies as much as possible. Our partners include government, academic institutions, development and private sector actors, civil societies and participating public. Mercy Corps has a growing portfolio of programs in Ethiopia that focus on food security; agriculture and livestock market systems development; maternal and child health and nutrition; youth economic productivity; resilience and humanitarian response. In Ethiopia, some of our donors include USAID, SIDA, EU, DFID, and WFP.

Mercy Corps Ethiopia invites motivated and qualified candidates to apply for the following vacant position.

 Position Title: Youth Development Specialist

 Location: Shashemene/Dire Dawa

 Number of Positions: Two

 GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

Mercy Corps is an implementing partner under Catholic Relief Services for a USAID Food for Peace-funded Development Food Security Activity(DFSA) for Ethiopia, which intends to improve food access and incomes through agriculture and other livelihoods initiatives; enhance natural resource and environment management; combat under nutrition, especially for children under two and pregnant and lactating women; and mitigate disaster impact through early warning and community preparedness activities. The DFSA is intended to build resilience in populations vulnerable to chronic hunger and repeated hunger crises, and to reduce their future need for ongoing or emergency food assistance.

Mercy Corps seeks a Youth Officer for Development Food Security Activity (DFSA).  This position will be based in Shashamane/Dire Dawa , Ethiopia.  The officer will work in collaboration with Implementing partners Meki Catholic secretariat (for Shashamane position) and Harrar Catholic Secretariat (For Dire Dawa Position) and to seamlessly integrate youth programming principles, standards, and methodologies throughout the technical areas of the project.  The officer will oversee the following aspects: capacity development intervention design and deployment, monitoring, evaluation, adaptive learning, and facilitating linkages with public and private sectors.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Strategy and Vision

Support the Youth Development Advisor to:

·        Apply youth analysis to program activities and design.

·        Ensures the program captures evidence from youth activities, and uses this to shape new action.

·        Strengthen youth role in government and private sectors.

·        Identify and establish partnerships and linkages between government and private sectors.

·        Disseminate learning and sharing on youth issues.

 Program Implementation

·        Implement DFSA’s youth integration strategies and adapt and improve strategies as needed

·        Implement youth activities with other DFSA officers during regular planning and coordination sessions

·        Implement activities designed to promote greater access, inclusion and empowerment for youth at community and household levels; Specifically leading the Youth linkage to One Stop centers and potential employers, as part of enhancing youth employment and access to services.

·        Support ground level youth activity implementation in coordination with implementing partners (specifically Meki Catholic Secretariat (MCS) Harrar Catholic Secretariat(HCS),

·        Support the institutionalization and integration of youth activity into different sectors as part of sustainability of the DFSA youth programs.

·        On the basis of Mercy Corps Youth Employability skill development, support the Implementing partners to adapt tools and materials for use in diverse multi-sectoral youth-oriented applications.

·        Build knowledge and technical capacity of in implementing partners to implement and monitor youth programming.

·        Provide ongoing technical guidance and support to implementing partners in youth integration and youth employment and empowerment.

·        Contribute to developing indicators, milestones and plans, and lead reporting on all indicators for youth integration, and program progress.

·        Support MEAL team to include youth perspective in research, mid-term and end line evaluations and mainstream sex and age disaggregated and youth-sensitive indicators into the overall MEAL framework.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

·        Bachelor’s/Masters’ degree in Social Sciences, Community Development, Gender Studies or other relevant technical discipline.

·        5 years of experience in youth programing specifically on youth employment and livelihood programs, Youth participation and empowerment, systems strengthening (both private and government); and experience with PSNP program. At least three years in field postings

·        Demonstrated leadership, management, and training capabilities.

·        Strong skills in planning and organization, partnership and collaboration.

·        Experience in working in large scale complex programs, in challenging environments, with strong emphasis on poor and vulnerable populations, pastoralist cultures, and agriculture.

·        Knowledge of USAID and USG grant regulations, procedures and reporting requirements is preferred.

·        Experience in the region is required; previous experience in Ethiopia is preferred.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

The successful candidate will have exceptional verbal and written communication skills, and be a strong trainer and facilitator. The candidate must be comfortable working in a dynamic environment with shifting needs and priorities, have the ability to work collaboratively with partners, and have a strong network of youth experts to draw upon as needed.