Delegate, Livelihood _ Job at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Ethiopia

Job Description

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 191 member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. IFRC uses the Triple R – response, resilience and respect – to deliver on Strategy 2030. IFRC responds to disasters and crises, ensuring timely, coordinated and locally led humanitarian action. IFRC supports its members in building community resilience in the areas of climate and environment, health and wellbeing, and migration and displacement. IFRC promotes respect for our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, including in our work on values, power and inclusion. The IFRC focuses throughout on our core mandate – our raison d’être – of strategic and operational coordination, humanitarian diplomacy, National Society development, and accountability.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General and has its Headquarters in Geneva and five regional offices in Africa (Nairobi); the Americas (Panama); Asia Pacific (Kuala Lumpur); Europe (Budapest); and MENA (Beirut) as well as representation offices, service centres and delegations across the globe.

IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.

Migration and displacement are core strategic priorities for IFRC, reflected in Strategy 2030, the Movement Migration Strategy 2025–2030, and with increased ambition expressed with the launch of the new Global Migration and Displacement Platform in 2025. This position sits within the IFRC Secretariat to provide Livelihood technical, advisory, and quality assurance support to the Humane, Dignified, Sustainable Migration and Return Programme, a bilateral initiative led and funded by the Swedish Red Cross through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

Job Purpose

The Livelihood Delegate provides specialised technical guidance on livelihoods in alignment with IFRC policies, the Movement Migration Strategy, the protection resolution, including the roadmap for the Protection in the Movement resolution and the objectives of the Humane, Dignified, Sustainable Migration and Return Programme.

The role ensures that livelihood standards and protection‑linked approaches are integrated across all relevant aspects of the programme and supports National Societies in strengthening their institutional and operational capacities.

The incumbent provides strategic, operational, and technical support to NS, IFRC teams in countries and the Swedish Red Cross, ensuring coherence with relevant policy frameworks and contributing to the achievement of the country results frameworks of the five National Societies participating in the programme. The Livelihood delegate also plays a key role in ensuring broader alignment across IFRC’s livelihood portfolio by coordinating closely with regional livelihood structures and collaborating with colleagues across departments to promote consistency, quality, and complementarity of migration‑related activities.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Provide technical livelihoods (LLH) and market-based programming support

• Support the in-depth analysis of migration trends, risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities across countries in the programme, working in coordination with the programme team and regional coordinators.
• Provide strategic and operational technical support to NS related to LLH activities, including labour market and needs assessment, market-relevant vocational and business management skills training, micro entrepreneurship support (using cash grants), market linkage with stakeholders (microfinance enterprises and private sector); financial inclusion activities (e.g., VSLAs) and climate-smart LLH.
• Support the development and application of LLH frameworks, SOPs, and tools based on the assessment results and aligned with IFRC standards.
• Ensure regular technical review, monitoring, and quality assurance of livelihoods interventions, including targeting, training packages, and CVA modalities.
• Ensure that livelihoods interventions systematically integrate protection, gender, and inclusion (PGI), conflict sensitivity, and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), with a particular focus on safe referrals, mitigation of protection risks, and economic empowerment of women and other at-risk groups.
• Promote the use of participatory and accountable approaches (Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA), feedback and complaint mechanisms, participatory project reviews) to strengthen programme quality, relevance, and community ownership of livelihoods activities.

Institutional strengthening of National Societies

• Support National Societies (NSs) to review, develop or update livelihood strategies, policies, guidance and organisational procedures to align with Movement standards and national contexts.
• Provide technical advice on livelihoods specific components of NS capacity strengthening in livelihood creating capacity strengthening plans.
• Assist NSs in identifying gaps in access to services for migrants and returnees, barriers to impartial information, risks of exclusion, and protection issues.
• Facilitate cross‑country learning, peer exchange, and communities of practice.

Evidence & data and impact

• Support NSs in systematically collect, analyze and generate evidence, through lessons learnt, case studies, good practices and stories of impact.
• Ensure impact evidence is contributing to the Migration and Displacement Platform.
• Analyze health and MHPSS‑linked findings to inform technical recommendations.
• Provide evidence‑based analysis and technical briefs to support NS engagement with authorities, inter-agency forums and protection‑related institutions.

Partnerships and representation

• Support NSs in building partnerships with labour authorities, vocational training centres, MSME agencies and private sector actors.
• Work closely with other technical team (migration, protection, health, MHPSS, cash, PGI, CEA, Green Response, NSD, MEAL) to ensure coherent, integrated support to NS and to avoid duplication.
• Represent programme team as livelihoods expert in relevant technical forums (e.g. LLH, Early Recovery, Cash Working Groups, migration platforms) at country, route and regional levels, as requested.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

Reporting and documentation:

• Ensure timely, accurate, and high‑quality reporting, meeting all internal and donor requirements and contributing to programme planning, budgeting, monitoring, and reporting in line with IFRC frameworks.
• Ensure results‑framework products meet required quality standards and follow established delivery schedules.
• Maintain strong knowledge‑management systems, ensuring structured documentation of processes, evidence, tools, and good practices.
• Support safe and inclusive programme design and reporting using sex‑age‑disability‑disaggregated data (SADDD)

Risk oversight

• Identify risks within the migration areas and ensure mitigation measures.
• Uphold principled humanitarian action and the Fundamental Principles across all technical work.
• With support of the Risk managers, team leader and CCD/regional offices, foster a risk management culture.

Education

Required:

• University degree in Development Studies, Economics, Socio Economic Development, Rural Development, Business Administration, or related field.
• Livelihoods Programming training (RC/RC or equivalent)
• Training on Cash and Voucher Assistance / Cash and Markets (RC/RC or equivalent)

Preferred:

• RCRC Basic Delegate / IMPACT or equivalent Movement induction training
• Security management training for field operations

Experience

Required:

• 5 years of progressive professional experience in livelihoods / socio-economic empowerment programming and cash-based interventions, including design, planning, implementation and monitoring, in humanitarian, early recovery or development contexts
• Experience in developing LLH frameworks, guidelines, tools and training materials, and delivering capacity building trainings/workshops/awareness sessions for staff, volunteers and other stakeholders
• Experience in labour market analysis and use of relevant tools
• Experience working with migrants, returnees and/or displacement affected populations, including in reintegration contexts
• Experience in proposal development, budgeting and reporting for institutional donors
• Experience in designing and implementing targeting strategies, including appropriate approaches, criteria, and mechanisms to collect the information

Preferred:

• Previous experience working with or within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, including with National Societies
• Experience working in multi country or regional technical roles
• Experience in developing and using MEAL systems (including data management) to track and evaluate livelihoods or economic inclusion interventions
• Experience documenting lessons learned, good practices, case studies and stories of change, and producing learning materials to support cross learning and evidence based decision making.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required:

• Ability to conduct or technically guide market and livelihoods assessments and to translate findings into programmatic options tailored to diverse contexts.
• Strong knowledge of livelihoods programming, including the design and implementation of wage employment and self‑employment support interventions.
• Good understanding of cash and voucher assistance modality and its use in livelihood activities
• Strong skills in capacity building, facilitation, coaching and mentoring of staff and volunteers
• Knowledge of PGI, conflict sensitivity, CEA and “do no harm” principles and their integration in livelihoods programming
• Analytical and focused mind with excellent communication and representation skills.
• Ability to work within a multi-cultural, multilingual, multidisciplinary environment.
• Security awareness.
• Understanding of and commitment to IFRC’s mission and values.
• Demonstrated core proficiency in (a) digital communication & collaboration, (b) basic digital content creation, (c) digital safety & security, (d) data literacy, and (e) problem solving with technology (including responsible use of AI assistants.
• Fluent spoken and written English

Preferred:

• Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish or Arabic)

Competencies, Values and Comments

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability

Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust.