Chief of Staff

Department/Unit: Office of the Director General / Executive Office
Job Grade: Senior Level
Duty Station: EDI Head Office, Addis Ababa
Employment Type: Full-Time
Reports to: Director General (CEO)
Salary: Based on EDI organizational scale; negotiable

About EDI

The Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) Ethiopia is an autonomous institution reporting to the Ministry of Labor and Skills (MOLS), established in 2021. EDI aims to promote the emergence of a vibrant, competitive, and innovative private sector, focusing on a strong SME segment. It offers a comprehensive package of entrepreneurship support programs, including ecosystem and capacity building, access to finance, market linkage, and business incubation and acceleration services. As a national institution, EDI plays a key role in the Ethiopian entrepreneurial ecosystem and has shifted its focus from directly providing services to building the capacities of other public and private institutions.

Additionally, EDI supports the development of private-sector manufacturing and service industries across the country, aiming to improve the competitiveness of existing Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and to support the growth of new enterprises, ultimately promoting improved entrepreneurship and decent employment ecosystems for sustainable economic growth and the creation of more job opportunities for youths and women.

Position Summary

The Chief of Staff serves as a strategic execution partner and organizational integrator to the Director General and senior leadership. The position ensures that leadership priorities and decisions are translated into coordinated action, clear accountability, timely execution, and measurable institutional results.

Key Responsibilities

The Chief of Staff will:

• Translate executive decisions and strategic priorities into clear actions, responsible owners, timelines, and expected results.
• Monitor leadership commitments and institutional priorities, identify bottlenecks and delays, and ensure timely follow-up and completion.
• Strengthen cross-departmental and regional coordination, collaboration, information sharing, and joint problem-solving.
• Identify and address organizational silos, duplication, coordination gaps, competing priorities, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Coordinate and facilitate weekly coordination meetings for department heads and program leads to review progress, resolve issues, and align priorities.
• Institutionalize monthly cross-functional learning forums/Communities of Practice to capture and share implementation successes, failures, innovations, and lessons learned.
• Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, results, continuous learning, and institutional improvement.
• Coordinate information, decisions, and responsibilities during critical situations and institutional crises.
• Identify execution risks and ensure timely escalation of critical issues to leadership.
• Maintain strict confidentiality, integrity, impartiality, and professional discretion in handling sensitive institutional information.
• Ensure compliance with EDI policies, safeguarding, data protection, workplace health and safety, and applicable laws and regulations.
• Any other duties as assigned by the director general.

Core Competencies

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking and execution excellence
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Executive-level communication and decision support
• Organizational intelligence and stakeholder management
• Ability to influence without formal authority
• Project and cross-functional coordination
• Negotiation and conflict-resolution skills
• Adaptability and crisis-management capability
• Integrity, discretion, and sound professional judgment
• Entrepreneurial mindset and commitment to continuous improvement

Safeguarding and Protection

EDI Ethiopia is committed to safeguarding, inclusion, and gender equality. EDI have a zero-tolerance approach sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. Female and candidates with disabilities are highly encouraged to apply. EDI Ethiopia does not request payments during recruitment and is an equal opportunity employer. All offers shall undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Qualifications

Minimum:

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Management, Economics, Public Administration, Organizational Development, Leadership, Development Studies, or a related field from a recognized institution.
• At least 8 years of progressively responsible professional experience, including experience in senior management, strategy, organizational development, program management, institutional coordination, or executive support.

Must have:

• Advanced qualification or professional certification in Strategic Management, Leadership, Project Management, Organizational Development, Business Management, or a related discipline.
• Experience working directly with senior leadership and coordinating complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience in development, government, private sector, entrepreneurship ecosystem, or similarly complex institutional environments.