Field Officer – Jigjiga

ABOUT FIRST CONSULT

First Consult is a leading economic development consulting firm implementing projects in Ethiopia. Founded in 2006, First Consult (FC) has grown to design and implement projects across the agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors. Our multidisciplinary teams combine a capacity to execute with clarity of the local context. We have delivered at-scale real impact in terms of jobs & wealth creation, business formation & growth, and investment attraction & mobilization.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

MESMER is a five-year program launched in October 2022 to support 72,200 MSMEs and 410,800 jobs by creating access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) to realize their growth prospects and resilience. MESMER will also work to provide support to MSMEs through business development support, psychosocial services and technical assistance to financial institutions. MESMER is a countrywide program implemented by First Consult in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation as part of the Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy and will strive to create dignified and fulfilling work for the youth, the majority of them women.

MESMER is a national scale-up of the existing MSE Resilience Facility launched in 2020 to support enterprises affected by the COVID pandemic. The project will mainly be following a four-pronged approach to meet its objectives: a) Grants and soft loans to MSMEs through a risk- sharing liquidity fund arrangement, b) Technical assistance to financial institutions, c) Business development services and life skills, d) Psychosocial support. The FDRE Ministry of Labour and Skills will be the main government counterpart for the program. Other partners include financial institutions (micro finance institutions, banks, and digital financial service providers), BDS, and psychosocial support providers.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Field Officer is responsible for supporting coordinating, consolidating, and ensuring the smooth implementation of program and operations activities in his/er respective operational area. He/ She will support enterprises to access BDS/ PSS and engage with partnering financial institutes to provide grant and/or loans to MSMEs, informal enterprises and startups in the regions. At the regional/district level, the Field Officer represents First Consult to relevant stakeholders.

TECHNICAL

• Understand the MESMER project in its entirety and drive the development of guidelines and standards to further support the interventions.
• Engage in the development of strategies for discovering and securing new MSMEs, informal enterprises and start-ups in the region.
• Detailed market size analysis of the respective region where MESMER will implement interventions.
• To ensure the implementation of work plans in accordance with the agreements signed between the stakeholders and MESMER.
• To ensure that no violation is made by the stakeholders to the signed agreement.
• Coordinate and oversee the implementation of various Intervention activities including grant disbursements, BDS, PSS, credit line, and MERL activities.
• To review and ensure in keeping quality data on the interventions implemented by the program.
• Compile feedback on each intervention.
• To carry out field visits, to various regional Woreda and Kebeles to assess the sourcing and screening activity of the program and report these field visits in proper reporting formats on a monthly and quarterly basis.
• To carry out field visits to various, informal enterprises, MSMEs and startups.
• Execute, oversee and report on the delivery of interventions in the field as per the agreed work plan.
• Coordinate and supervise the delivery of information sessions, trainings, and other forms of intervention for BDS and PSS deliveries in alignment with program design in all regions.
• Execute, organize and supervise various activities within field office.
• Coordinate and closely work with different service providers working with MESMER.
• Ensure implementation challenges and risks are flagged and mitigated ahead of time.
• Facilitate coordination and smooth flow of communication among stakeholders.
• Ensure that work plans conform with the project objectives.
• Take additional tasks as per the dynamics of the project and as assigned by the regional office or directly from Addis based team.
• Provide support or deliver on various assignments as and when required by the regional coordinator, and MESMER programme management.

Grant Disbursements

• Ensure grant disbursement in the respective regions are conducted in line with the approved grant operation manual and procedures.
• Collaborate with regional, zonal and kebele level MOLS structure for identifying, verifying and making grant disbursements to informal business enterprises in conflict affected areas.
• Coordinate and support activities of local partners (NGOs) selected to undertake verification of grant beneficiaries based on list provided by OSS.
• Coordinate with MEMSER communication’s team to lead local level communication activities.
• Provide feedback to MEMSER team on encountered challenges and anomalies.

CREDIT LINE

• Work closely with partnering banks and MFIs in the various regions to ensure the implementation of loan disbursements to MSMEs and startups.
• Work closely with partnering banks and MFIs for data collection, verifications, preparation of reports, and fulfilling necessary queries/requests by banks and MFIs.
• Supporting partnering banks and MFIs in the appraisal of the MSMEs and facilitate disbursements.
• Coordinate with regional and woreda administration to facilitate MSMEs development and linkage with other enterprises.
• To carry out field visits, to various regional Woreda and Kebeles to assess progress, identify challenges and propose mitigation strategies.
• To carry out field visits to various MSMEs and startups.

BDS & PSS

• Work closely with selected partners and service providers to provide training and/tailored one to one support to programme participants.
• Work closely with governmental institutions like OSS, TVETs, Health Bureaus, and non-governmental institutes like NGOs and CSOs, lead and oversee delivery of BDS and PSS services.
• Coordinate with regional and woreda administration to facilitate MSMEs development and linkage with other enterprises.
• Regular visits to BDS or PSS centers.
• Conducting monitoring and evaluation at the centers.
• Participate in selection of center locations in the regions.

REPORTING

• Monitor the various interventions, collect and compile reports from partners and stakeholders working in the respective region/field offices.
• Submit regular progress updates/reports on activities performed and the overall performance of each intervention.
• Working closely with the intervention managers/ thematic leads to provide detailed reports on each intervention.
• Work closely with the monitoring and evaluation team to capture the overall impact of MESMER.

LOCATION

• Based in Jigjiga and covers the entire Somali region and surrounding areas of Oromia, Harari and Diredawa.
• Willingness to travel within Somlai region & surroundings and as assigned by the regional coordinator.

Job requirement

• BA Degree in Economics, Social Science, Project Management or any other equivalent field with minimum of 3 years’ experience.
• Experience working in a multi-stakeholder environment of relevant work experience. Good communication skill, fluency in English, Amharic, Aaf Somali and other local languages (reading, writing and speaking).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills are desirable as is knowledge of gender-based issues particular as impacting on the formal employment environment
• Good management, communication, working knowledge of computer programmers including Word, Excel and Power Point, knowledge of database management, and reporting skills are required.

HOW TO APPLY

All documents requested by First Consult at various stages of the recruitment process will be used for this purpose only. Competent candidates should submit their one-page cover letter and updated CVs only to: jobs@firstconsultet.com before April 25, 2025. Candidates MUST refer to the position title “Field Officer – Jigjiga” in the subject line of their email and applications.

The applicant is required to carry out his/her duties in accordance with First Consult’s Code of Conduct, HR and Safeguarding policy. All applicants should be aware that our organization is committed to safeguard our programme participants, staff, representatives of the organization and community members we work with is our top priority in everything we do, including recruitment. By applying, you acknowledge and agree to adhere the First Consult recruitment procedure in which all offers are subject to satisfactory background checks.

By submitting your application, you consent to the use of your personal data for recruitment purposes. All documents requested by First Consult at various stages of the recruitment process will be used for recruitment purposes only.