Livelihood Technical Support Specialist (LTSS)

Organizational setting

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programs and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The Productive Safety Net Program Phase Five (PSNP5) is an integral component of the rural development policy of the government of Ethiopia which aimed at supportting Ethiopia’s chronically and transitory food insecure rural households. The program is implemented in the eight regions of Ethiopia including Afar, Amhara, Dire Dawa, Harari, Oromia, SNNPR, Somali, and Tigray. The program provides cash and/or food transfers to the chronically and transitory food insecure households.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Ethiopia has developed a PRO-ACT proposal funded by the European Union (EU) with an overarching goal of enhanced cost-effective, resilient and sustainable food security and nutrition solutions for the vulnerable Households living in Pastoral areas. The project will provide technical support to Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) to improve the effectiveness of its Livelihoods component through capacity building, business intensification, and strengthened coordination. The project plans to cover all the Livelihood woredas in Oromia, Amhara, Somali and Afar regions and support the coordination and rollout of the Livelihood component at the national level. In support of PSNP5 implementation, Livelihood Technical Support Specialists (LTSS) are needed to work within the Government of Ethiopia’s PSNP implementing agencies. They will provide specialized expertise to the implementing agencies and to the Directorate to which they are assigned. Their role is to perform PSNP5-related services which government-funded staff are not currently in a position to perform, and to provide guidance to government staff as they learn new skills related to the implementation of PSNP functions.

In light of the above, following consultations with the Food Security Coordination Directorate (FSCD), managing the PSNP programme, FAO will recruit a Livelihood technical support specialist (LTSS) to support the implementation and coordination of the livelihood component of the PSNP.

The recruitment of TSSs to support PSNP5 implementation is managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization and assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoALR).

Reporting Lines

This position is under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Ethiopia, direct supervision of of the FAO Social Policy Officer (Social protection and resilience) in collaboration with the Food Security Coordination Director of the MoALR.

Technical Focus

The PSNP Livelihoods Technical Support Specialist provides specialized expertise to support the Food Security Coordination Directorate (FSCD) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoANLR). His/her role includes: providing technical advice that can help to improve the quality and efficiency of program delivery for the livelihoods component of PSNP5; assist with and lead processes that can help generate/document evidence of program performance and impact to inform future design; support capacity development efforts through provision of training to federal and regional livelihoods staff; and, devise and implement livelihoods-specific information management tools for Development Agents (DA) and woreda level experts.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Livelihoods Technical Support Specialist (LTSS) will carry out, among other activities, the following tasks: • Support the planning and reporting of the livelihoods component and ensure the rollout/introduction of the material to lower level administrative staff; • Support capacity building and coaching on PSNP Livelihood training modules and tools in the area of market assessment, identifying the livelihood menu of options, viable business packages, etc.; • Support the regional PSNP livelihoods coordination through meeting facilitation, information sharing and partners mobilization; • Co-lead the Livelihood in lowland technical committee and assist the Liveihood technical working group; • Liaise with the Rural Jobs Agenda and Strategy to seek interventions that respond to identified priorities. • Coordinate the digitalization of the business plans, inputs and outputs market aggregation; • Contribute to the design and maintenance of the PSNP Livelihood dashboard; • Establish a data collection system built on MIS generated information and complementary data to document the Livelihood dashboard of the PSNP; • Document the practices for implementing sequenced livelihoods interventions; • Examine potential of digital interventions in skills training, data management and monitoring, and identify alternative combinations of delivery for self-employment (on-farm and off-farm) and wage employment for better impact and scale; • Participate in joint reviews and implementation support; • Facilitate an independent review of the livelihoods interventions, including analysis of current spending, and its efficiency and effectiveness for achieving the desired outcome; • Monitor the regional and federal deliverables under the contracts between FAO and Federal and Regional Governments; • Perform other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Candidate should be a national of Ethiopia • Advanced University degree in agriculture, agricultural economics, rural development, Livelihood, or related discipline, or any area related to the work of the Organization; • Minimum of 10 years experience working in Livelihoods, value chain development, business development, social protection, humanitarian, resilience projects; • Working knowledge of English and working knowledge of Amharic language.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Proven capacity to design proposals with a to cash-based interventions, Livelihood, resilience interventions, etc. • Proven capacity to conduct market assessment or value chain analysis to identify Livelihood opportunities and design livelihood packages; • Proven cost-benefit / cost-effectiveness analytical skills; • Advanced knowledge in using Excel; • Excellent statistics skills for data extraction, cleaning, interpretation and presentation; • The candidate must possess a cooperative spirit, flexibility and openness to work in an international environment, including tact and courtesy and a strong capacity for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Selection Criteria

• Experience working in the design of Livelihood/business training materials, training of users; • At least 5 years of working experience on project management and monitoring of contracts with implementing partners at the national level; • Extent and relevance of experience in technical fields related to cash transfers, humanitarian and development interventions; • Familiarity with the PSNP Livelihood component is a plus; • Experience participating in national working group related to Livelihood or cash transfers at the national level; • Capacity to write relevant documents and reports; • English is the official language used for communication within the country. Therefore, working knowledge of English (level C) is required to liaise with other FAO offices.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.