Feed the Future Policy LINK – Policy Facilitation & Collaboration Lead, Ethiopia

Project Background

The five-year (2019 – 2024) Feed the Future Policy Leadership, Interactions, Networks and Knowledge (Policy LINK) project will strengthen the capacity of local actors and institutions to lead and manage the agricultural transformation process and contribute effectively and collectively to improved, broad-based food security policy outcomes.

Specifically, the program aims to strengthen food security policy systems by investing in and reinforcing productive human and social capital and developing strategic partnerships that help bring these innovations and capacity investments to scale in order to achieve a critical mass of local actors with the ability and opportunity to effect positive policy change through collective action.

Policy LINK’s general approach is grounded in facilitative leadership and collaborative governance, which emphasize engaging stakeholders from civil society and public and private sectors in consensus-oriented decision making, collaborative problem solving, and adaptive learning.

Policy LINK in Ethiopia

USAID/Policy LINK Ethiopia is a five-year activity with the overall objective of supporting the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) and other policy system actors in their aspiration to develop an inclusive policy development process. Specifically, the activity will facilitate the transition towards a policy development paradigm driven by multiple stakeholders.

This approach to policymaking will strengthen the capacities of Ethiopia’s main agricultural policy system actors and institutions and support them to engage stakeholders traditionally excluded from decision-making, including academia, financial institutions, the judiciary, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector representatives from the national, regional, and local levels.

This approach is underpinned by Policy LINK’s overarching theory of change focused on increasing human and social capital, engaging policy system actors in collaborative processes, and developing mechanisms for collaborative governance and dynamic learning systems and platforms to sustain collective action.

Position Objectives

This position will support the strengthening of collaborative governance processes in order to drive better and more sustainable food security policies in Ethiopia. The holder of the position will support the design, implementation, and monitoring of technical activities that facilitate enhanced multi-stakeholder collaboration amongst policy system actors as part of the process of strengthening policy systems. The position will facilitate and coordinate the provision of support for policy stakeholders to work better together by applying techniques of facilitative leadership, collaborative governance, inclusive decision-making, joint planning and joint implementation. The position will therefore provide design and facilitation expertise to multiple policy support processes intended to help multi-stakeholder teams within the policy system work better together.

S/he will continually reinforce Policy LINK’s agreed-upon core purpose and principles, and ensure all decision-making is rooted in those purpose and principles. S/he will contribute to foster a learning environment in which personal and team growth is supported, with a shared understanding that the “team” always comes before the “individual.”

Responsibilities

The Ethiopia Facilitation & Collaborative Governance Lead will be responsible for the following anticipated tasks, though others may be added as appropriate:

1. Lead the process of stakeholder consultations to align project activities to the collective vision of stakeholders, and to ensure ongoing engagement and inclusivity in project activities.

2. Design and support joint planning and joint implementation activities among sets of stakeholders.

3. Support the process of design and implementation of comprehensive studies, assessments or mapping of the institutional landscape for policymaking. Such analyses and processes may include network analyses, Institutional Architecture Assessments or other approaches as necessary to deepen collective understanding of policy system dynamics and to draw important adaptive lessons.

4. Coordinate design of, facilitation of or participation in relevant policy dialogue events at national and regional levels.

5. Support a culture of co-creation both in how Policy LINK implements her work, but also in how partners in the policy space engage.

6. Build and support relevant multi-stakeholder platforms that anchor engagement amongst key players including policy support groups, multi-stakeholder think-tanks, special interest policy groupings among others.

7. Lead activity teams as necessary, be part of activity teams and contribute to overall technical implementation across the Activity.

8. Supervise regional coordinators, other staff and consultants as necessary.

9. Support project management, including team meetings, internal learning processes and reporting.

Reporting

The Policy Facilitation & Collaboration Lead will report to the Ethiopia Country Lead.

Supervisory Responsibilities

The position will directly supervise Regional Office Coordinators who will be in charge of coordinating activities within target regions.

Qualifications

This position is open to Ethiopian citizens. Additional qualifications include:

Education **

· Minimum of a MA or MSc degree in development, sociology, economics, agricultural economics, public policy or similarly relevant subjects.

Required Experience **

· 5 years of relevant work experience in a relevant policy development, implementation, or facilitation context.

· Good understanding and working knowledge of policy context, processes and systems typical in a country like Ethiopia.

· Demonstrated ability to coordinate with and work with multiple stakeholders in collaborative modes.

· Good facilitation and coordination skills.

· Demonstrated experience in stakeholder assessments, analyses or similar activities.

· Experience with multi-stakeholder dialogue, joint planning and joint implementation activities.

· Excellent writing, communications skills.

· Ability to work in teams and communicate effectively across different cultures, age groups and disciplinary backgrounds.

· Flexibility and, willingness to perform assigned and additional duties and work under unpredictable conditions.

· Critical thinker, self-starter, and able to work with minimal supervision and within established deadlines.

Desired Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in the areas of policy development, facilitation or coordination in agriculture, market systems, private sector engagement and related areas.
• Experience building capacity of staff and partner organizations.
• An understanding of Ethiopia’s, or general policy development context.

How to apply:

Please submit applications electronically via this website: https://fs23.formsite.com/OLJTgx/jvhipwp5om/index.html?1618955315786

Applications submitted between 23^rd April to 7^th May, 2021 will be considered.

Only candidates who are shortlisted for interviews will be contacted. No email enquiries please.