Job Description

Strategy Advisor/Country Desk Officer

GIZ- Internal/External Vacancy Announcement ‘#128/2022’

GIZ Country Office

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a German implementing organisation which provides services worldwide in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. We work to shape a future worth living in over 120 countries around the world.

The GIZ Office in Addis Ababa oversees projects in Ethiopia and Djibouti where GIZ works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Federal Ministry of Nutrition and Agriculture (BMEL) and other commissioning parties.

The German-Ethiopian development cooperation focuses on three core areas: Training and Sustainable Growth for Decent Jobs, A World without Hunger and Peaceful and Inclusive Societies. Germany also supports the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources (Biodiversity), as well as refugees in Ethiopia and their host communities – being one of the countries hosting the largest number of refugees worldwide.

Based on GIZ corporate policy guidelines, the GIZ Office supports the preparation and implementation of international cooperation projects, as well as the administrative implementation on site. The GIZ Office represents the GIZ to government authorities and national partners in Ethiopia and Djibouti and maintains close communication with the German Embassy and other German implementing organisations as well as with international donors.

Depending on the qualification and professional experience of the candidate, the position might also be filled as a Junior Professional position. In this case, the job description will be adjusted.

Duration of Contract:    31/07/2024

Responsibilities and Duties

Overall Responsibilities

• The strategy advisor/country desk officer supports the coordination of the Ethiopia and Djibouti portfolio. He/she reports to the Deputy Country Director and advises project’s principal advisors on questions related to commission management, the use of instruments and crosscutting issues such as gender equality, monitoring, sustainability, cooperation with the private sector or digitalization. He/she ensures the overall quality of commission-related documents and processes, fosters synergies between the instruments and projects in the planning process, and supports cooperation between projects in Ethiopia and regional, sector and global projects. He/she also assists in implementing GIZ policies and strategies and its code of conduct, including on corporate policy cornerstones such as compliance and gender equality. Furthermore, he/she will support organizing appraisal missions and other visits to Ethiopia, and act as focal person for questions related to development advisor or integrated expert assignments.

• The coordinator is an Ethiopian national and has lived in Germany for an extended period. S/he holds a university degree and preferably has gained professional experience in Germany. S/he has a good insight into the structure of the Ethiopian diaspora in Germany. S/he is fluent in Amharic and English and knowledge of German is an asset. S/he demonstrates solid knowledge of Ethiopia, its socio-political situation and its culture. Ideally s/he has gained some working experience and basic knowledge of German development cooperation. S/he is able to represent the programme in Ethiopia with internal and external stakeholders.

Tasks

Corporate policy and portfolio development

• Supporting the Country Director in maintaining customer relationships and in implementing the business development strategy for the portfolio in Ethiopia and Djibouti.

• Supporting the Country Director in strategic planning, as well as preparing for participation/contributions to the governmental consultations and negotiations

• Supporting the Country Director in implementing policies and strategies

• Supporting the Country Director in planning and monitoring the portfolio

• Coordinating response to general portfolio enquiries, providing information on the portfolio
  
  Coordinating processes, quality assurance and advice on crosscutting issues

• Advising project’s principal advisors on questions related to commission management, the use of instruments and crosscutting issues such as gender equality, monitoring, cooperation with the private sector or digitalization.

• Advising and coordinating quality assurance meetings, appraisal missions and evaluations; ensuring overall quality standards are met

• Backing-up project advisors in negotiating and concluding implementation agreements and other project-related agreements.

• Supporting individual measures from the study and expert fund or taking over the responsibility for individual measures.

• Supports development workers and integrated experts assignments.
  
  Internal learning mechanisms and collaboration

• Contributing to the transfer of learning experiences from the country- and region-specific implementation of projects into processes and process optimization in GIZ Germany

• Coordinating crosscutting issues and managing regional, country-specific and commissioner-specific knowledge.

• Functioning as a gateway between GIZ units in Germany and GIZ staff in Ethiopia

• Closely collaborating with GIZ Office staff and GIZ project staff in Ethiopia

Other obligations

• Providing support for onboarding new seconded experts, development workers and integrated experts, supporting training measures to qualify the local staff.

Job Requirements

Required qualifications, competencies, and experience

• University degree in relevant field of work, preferably Social Sciences or Economics, International Relations or similar

• Study and/or work experience in an English or German speaking country

• Fluency in writing, reading and speaking in English and Amharic, knowledge of German language will be a strong advantage

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

• Ability to work in a team and cooperate well with colleagues of diverse backgrounds in an intercultural work setting

• High level of service-orientation

• Advising and networking competence

• High degree of self-organization, able to independently structure, monitor and drive processes (in consultation with the superior)

• A minimum of five years working experience preferably in an international context.

• Experience of project management

• Experience in monitoring and evaluation would be an advantage

Personal and social competency

• Knowledge of German development cooperation instruments

• Basic knowledge of Ethiopian development policy issues, development cooperation and international cooperation

• Very good working knowledge of ITC technologies (related software) and computer applications (e.g., MS Office, SAP), and digital literacy

• Social, intercultural understanding and interest, flexibility, ability to work in team, sense of diplomacy, ability to communicate in a politically sensitive environment

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced office environment, both independently and as part of a global team

• Flexible to assume new tasks and develop new topics

• Ability to prioritize, able to manage multiple deadlines and deliver high quality work products

• Willingness to learn, improve and upgrade skills as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding measures are agreed with management

• Strategic thinking: ability to develop and implement strategies to further advance and improve the services offered

• Exhibits commitment, reliability, integrity, loyalty, and excellent sense of compliance.

• Solution-oriented mindset has a constructive approach to challenges.

• Takes over responsibility for the tasks assigned to her/him and carries them out independently.

How to Apply

Application procedure:

Interested and qualified candidates shall submit their motivation letter along with their recent CV via THIS LINK or Email: hreth@giz.de. 

Please make sure you mention the vacancy number and position title ‘Strategy Advisor/Country Desk Officer #128/2022 in the subject line of your email application. 

Applications without vacancy numbers in subject lines might be disqualified. 

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

We encourage persons with disabilities to apply for the position. In case of equal qualification, persons with disabilities will be given preference.

Applications from qualified women are encouraged.

“Please refer to our brochure to learn more about GIZ’s attractive benefit package.”