Humanitarian Project Coordinator (Gacho Baba)

Job Description

Who we are

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia is an International Non-governmental organization and a member of SOS Children’s Villages International Federation. We started our humanitarian work in Ethiopia with the opening of our first Village in Mekelle, Northern part of Ethiopia in 1974. Since then, we have expanded our programs to different regions where there are significant needs for intervention and where we believe we can work in partnership with all relevant actors to bring sustainable positive outcomes for children’s and young people. 

Today, we have grown significantly to meet the persistent challenges that confront Ethiopian children who have lost parental care and those that are at risk of losing their parental care. Working in close collaboration with international donors, local government and community-based organizations across eight program locations; we aspire that every child grows up with love, respect and security.

Want to know more about life at SOS?

Explore our Employee Value Proposition Here

Follow our journey on LinkedIn

Our Commitment to Safeguarding  

At SOS Children’s Villages, safeguarding isn’t just a policy, it’s a foundational value embedded in everything we do. We are unwavering in our commitment to protecting the children, young people, adults, and communities we serve, as well as our workforce and resources.

We cultivate an environment of trust and accountability where every voice is heard and respected. All successful candidates will be expected to champion our holistic safeguarding principles, actively upholding our Child & Youth Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, and regulations against sexual misconduct, fraud, and corruption.

By joining our team, you commit to integrating these vital standards into your work, ensuring the highest levels of safety, ethics, and integrity in every action and partnership.

Together, we create a world where everyone feels safe, respected, and protected

Join Our Mission:

We are looking for Project Coordinator to serve as the overall project lead in West Abaya, providing technical and operational oversight of the Restored, Recovered and Resilient Future Project at woreda and kebele levels. The incumbent will coordinate and supervise field teams to ensure quality implementation of program activities across the humanitarian, development, and peace pillars.

Key Responsibilities

Project Implementation

• Serve as the overall coordinator for the project at field level, ensuring integrated implementation of health, nutrition, protection and MHPSS activities.
• Supervise, mentor, and provide technical guidance to the humanitarian officer and cashier.
• Ensure programmatic synergy across sectors and alignment with the woreda sector offices.
• Coordinate planning, implementation, monitoring, and adaptive management of program activities in all targeted kebeles.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with woreda government offices (Health, Agriculture/Cooperatives, Women and Children Affairs, Peace & Security, DRMCC, Education).
• Represent SOS CVE in woreda-level FSNC councils, technical working groups, and humanitarian coordination meetings.
• Facilitate close collaboration with local CSOs, community leaders and private sector actors to strengthen inclusive planning and sustainability.

 Capacity Strengthening:

• Undertake field visits to partners and facilitators to oversee implementation, including provision of on-site feedback and supportive supervision on required improvements, and generate field visit reports with timely and appropriate follow-up on action points.
• Lead training of community volunteers and other relevant community partners, and ongoing capacity strengthening through mentoring and supportive supervision and encourage the development of peer networks and learning opportunities, including through review meetings.

 Partner Management:

• Under the supervision of the location program director, the project coordinator, liaise and maintain relationships with the partners’ communication partner, with whom the organization has joint ambition/plans/teaming agreement
• Ensure that all supported project activities from Partners are appropriately planned and delivered, and report on progress monthly.

Representation & Advocacy & Organizational Learning:

• Ensure that SOS CVE and partner’s work is coordinated with other agencies and the Government’s efforts and support Interagency Coordination forums, advocating for the specific needs of children. This may involve supporting coordination working groups within the project supported communities, local government.
• Contribute to communications and media work as required through collection of data and information and sharing with the team leads.
• In cooperation with the MEAL Team, support data quality assessments and support community volunteers to effectively document and report community mobilization activities using appropriate tools.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Ensure timely and accurate data collection, entry, analysis, and reporting to inform project planning, learning, and decision-making.
• Lead or participate in baseline, midline, and endline assessments, as well as ongoing monitoring efforts such as field monitoring visits and regular data reviews.
• Coordinate community feedback and accountability mechanisms, including complaint response systems, to ensure program responsiveness and community engagement.
• Contribute to documentation of lessons learned, best practices, success stories, and case studies for internal learning and external sharing.
• Support capacity building of project staff and community volunteers on MEAL tools, data management, and learning processes.
• Ensure MEAL findings and recommendations are integrated into planning and implementation for continuous improvement of project quality and impact.
• Oversee participatory vulnerability mapping, targeting, and registration of project households in collaboration with community facilitators.
• Ensure timely submission of high-quality progress reports to the Humanitarian Action Department and the LPD.
• Document lessons learned, success stories, and challenges to inform program refinement and donor communication.

Reporting and documentation

• Engage communities in identifying challenges, prioritizing needs, and co-developing sustainable solutions aligned with project objectives.
• Document and disseminate community-driven success stories, lessons learned, and best practices to inform adaptive programming.
• Prepare and submit timely community activity reports, highlighting achievements, challenges, and recommendations for improvement.
• Coordinate and facilitate quarterly review and planning meetings with community representatives, partners, and stakeholders to track progress and encourage collective learning.
• Support proposal development and donor reporting processes by gathering and synthesizing community-level insights and feedback.

   Resources and Operational Management

• Ensure effective utilization of program budgets, resources, and logistics in line with SOS CVE standards.
• Supervise support staff (driver, security, office attendants) and ensure the smooth functioning of the West Abaya Field Office.
• Provide oversight for prepositioned humanitarian supplies, NSA inputs, and livelihood assets to ensure accountability and timely distribution.

Child Protection

• Responsible to ensure that all beneficiaries are receiving ongoing, age-appropriate verbal or written information in relevant languages about SOS Children’s Villages Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct.
• Ensure that all support is provided on the best interest of the child.
• Responsible for taking part in raise awareness raising sessions and capacity building training in relation to CS and Code of Conduct and to prevent and protect children and young people from all forms of abuse, abandonment, exploitation, violence and discrimination
• Support children and young people to make them understand the CS risks and protection mechanisms
• Responsible for reporting any CS suspicion, concern, allegation or incident immediately, following Child Safeguarding reporting procedures. CS reports should be made to the CS team at program level and/or to the respective line manager

  Safeguarding

• Ensure adherence to SOS CV policies such as the Code of Conduct, Safeguarding Standards and others as well as the minimum standards of humanitarian relief
• Ensure that all support is provided in the best interest of the child.
• Responsible for taking part in awareness-raising sessions and capacity building training in relation to Safeguarding and Code of Conduct and to protect children and young people from all forms of abuse, abandonment, exploitation, violence and discrimination
• Support children, young people and program participants to make them understand the Safeguarding risks and protection mechanisms
• Ensure proper safeguarding procedures and policies are in place to protect program participants’ children, young people, adults and other stakeholders.
• Be vigilant about any possible form of abuse/harm, neglect, harassment, or exploitation against, children, youth and adults in personal and professional lives;
• Report any Incident Management Team or concern within 24 hours to the Incident Management Team, focal person or concerned party through the defined channels for reporting the allegation

Our Ideal Candidate?

Let’s find out if we’re a match. The next step in our process depends on how your background closely align with the below criteria’s.

Essential Requirements (Must-Have):

• Master’s degree in development studies, Public Health, Development studies, project management, or related field.
• At least 7–8 years of progressive experience in multi-sector program coordination at field level, preferably in conflict-affected or pastoralist settings.
• Strong experience in leading emergency humanitarian projects.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate with local government offices, community leaders, CSOs, and technical working groups.
• Experience in managing multidisciplinary teams and overseeing program operations in remote field settings.
• Strong financial and operational management skills.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills in English; proficiency in Amharic and/or Gamo is language is an advantage.
• Familiarity with safeguarding policies and procedures and demonstrated ability to implement safeguarding standards in a community setting.
• Proven skills in facilitating training and capacity building, particularly for volunteers and community groups.
• Solid understanding of humanitarian principles and standards (e.g., Sphere Standards, Core Humanitarian Standard).

Desired Assets (Nice-to-Have): 

• [Desired qualifications, e.g., additional Education, certifications, specific skills, experiences or language proficiencies].

SOS Competencies 

General Competency 

• Understanding the organization and commitment to its vision and mission: able to clearly communicate SOS Children’s Villages Who We Are (Vision, Mission & Values), “Living our Values” policies and strategies in all areas.
• Child rights & child development: Working knowledge in all areas of child rights, child protection, child development, family & community development, and rights-based programming in a developing country.
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting: experience in preparing structured report and using evidence to support the program.
• Community Engagement and Capacity Building: ability to build and maintain partnership with stakeholders such as schools, community and government stakeholders.
• Networking and Relationships Building: ability to build, maintain and leverage networks with local government, NGO communities’ leaders and other relevant stakeholders.
• Accountability and Result Orientation: ensure the ownership of task and meets deadlines effectively and monitor progress and communicate concerns proactively.
• Collaboration: driven to work with others, able to build partnerships and teamwork internally and externally.
• Advocacy & Influence: Competence in linking grassroots mobilization with policy and advocacy efforts.
• Training & Facilitation: Skills in delivering training to community volunteers, partners, and stakeholders, using participatory and adult-learning methods.
• Partnership Management: Effective coordination, communication, and relationship-building with implementing partners and community leaders.
• Advocacy– Ability to influence community norms around education and child protection.
• Inclusive Education – experience in ensuring gender, disability, and crisis-sensitive approaches in education programming.
• Integrity: able to state views openly and act in line with beliefs, maintain the organization’s values, maintain deadlines and commitments; have ethical standards, ability to gain the trust of co-workers, and desire to be of service.
• Communication: high-level written and verbal communication/presentation skills; ability to interact effectively with partners and staff at all levels; ability to represent the organization externally; exceptional ability to communicate consistently, clearly, and effectively with a range of stakeholders.
• Software: – Computer literacy (MS Office and MS Project, and other statistical softer wares such as STATA, and SPSS)

Lead Competency 

• Role model: Act as a role model for the organization, living our values and inspiring and learning from others
• Collaboration: Remove barriers to participation, share decision making and build partnerships
• Empowerment: Promote inclusion and equitable sharing of power
• Strategic Thinking: Live the values and mission, setting realistic goals and translating them into actionable plans

Core Competency 

• Kindness: Act with empathy towards everyone he/she works with.
• Continuous Learning: Make an effort to learn, understand and grow as a person, admitting your own mistakes.
• Inclusiveness: In any actions show respect and care for others.
• Initiative: speak up when things are not right, do not hesitate to act, and adapt to change when necessary.
• Results Orientation: look for solutions and focus on desired results.

How to Apply

Does This Sound Like You?

To apply, please submit your updated resume via: >> SOS Children’s Villages Application portal (ICIMS).

We actively champion diversity and inclusion and strongly encourage women to step forward and apply. As part of our unwavering commitment to holistic safeguarding protecting children, youth, adults, and assets our selection process emphasizes value alignment and includes thorough background checks for all potential hires.

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia is an equal opportunity employer, providing fair consideration to all applicant regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or class.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.