Ethiopia Government Relations and Program Support Coordinator (Fixed-Term)

About the Role

One Acre Fund Ethiopia is seeking a Government Relations (GR) & Program Support Coordinator who will serve as the primary point of contact for the Zonal and Woreda Offices of Agriculture, as well as other government officials and external partners across Hadiya and Kembata Zones. The Coordinator will play a key role in strengthening these partnerships and supporting the establishment and expansion of One Acre Fund's program in the Central Ethiopia region. The GR and Program Support Coordinator will also play a key role in de-risking our field engagements through active information gathering, staff training, and compliance management to ensure that our operations can run smoothly with reduced disruptions and risks to our staff and farmers alike. As such, this role is critical to the success of the program. 

The GR and Program Support Coordinator based in Hosaena town will be a key deputy to the One Acre Fund’s Senior Partnerships Associate based in Addis Ababa.

Responsibilities

Manage work relationships with woreda government and Zonal Focal Persons (FPs) 

• Serve as the primary day-to-day liaison with woreda and zonal project focal persons (FP) and other government stakeholders.
• Over time, take on increasing responsibility for managing relationships with regional government institutions and supporting broader government engagement across the region. 
• Proactively identify stakeholder issues at the woreda and kebele levels by maintaining close communication with the program team, particularly Tree Officers (TOs) and Cluster Leads (CLs), and work with relevant government stakeholders to resolve them in a timely manner.  
• Participate in the weekly cluster lead meetings to understand GR challenges that may exist in the field and resolve them on time by leveraging run alignment meetings with woreda and zonal FPs as needed
• Attend other government meetings as directed by the Senior Partnerships Associate 
• Leverage networks and knowledge of the landscape to help identify opportunities to expand and/or improve One Acre Fund’s work
• Prepare, organize, review, and submit documents as required on time to project signatory offices and other government offices, especially quarterly reports
• Gather inputs for quarterly reports from department leads or their designee
• Write and develop clear and concise quarterly reports that track progress and inform project stakeholders. 
• Coordinate the review from his manager, incorporate comments, and finalize the report.
• Coordinate the submission of the reports to the woreda, zone and regional project signatory offices.
• Prepare project mid-term and terminal reports. 
• Prepare outgoing letters for woredas as needed. 
• Identify, monitor, and obtain all compliance requirements at the woreda and zonal government level and submit documents as required.

Track woreda FPs’ and DAs’ support to OAF activities and field staff on a weekly basis, evaluate results, and take appropriate actions to increase program efficiency

• Monitor the assistance provided by woreda FPs and DAs to OAF operations on a weekly basis using a tracker 
• Evaluate results and resolve issues in consultation with Woreda SHs and zonal focal persons. 
• Ensure that the woreda FPs and DAs are fulfilling their roles and responsibilities as per prior agreements with One Acre Fund 
• Participate in the resolution of identified issues/risks with manager support.
• Troubleshooting of Woreda Government Relations in consultation with the Senior Partnerships Specialist and with escalation, 

Organize and lead meetings and trainings as needed with support from your manager

• Provide GR capacity-building trainings to field team at least once a year
• Support on GR orientation and onboarding of new Woreda and Kebele employees,
• Co-lead project launch, mid-term, and terminal workshops 
• Support/facilitate field visits and events for external stakeholders. 
• Provide other administrative support as needed

Other Projects 

• Other Partnerships and Program projects as assigned by your supervisor (when time and skill allow)

Special projects in the first year might include things like data entry, translating documents into Amharic, scanning and binding of documents, support on inventory, support during input distributions, and support during seedling distribution. 

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.