Job opportunities at Pure Earth, Ethiopia

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Contract Terms: Fixed-term Contract

Reports to: East Africa Director

Working relationship with: Program Managers, HQ Technical team, and Field Project team

Position Summary

The Technical Manager—Ethiopia provides strategic technical direction, supervision and successful implementation of Pure Earth’s projects in the country. S/he ensures that program objectives are met, all activities are responsive to the needs of the host country and donors. S/he collaborates with the East Africa Director and partners to conduct a country’s situational analysis, develop program work plans, and provides oversight of budgets based on expected program outputs and results.

The Technical Manager—Ethiopia also provides strategic leadership and oversight of the programmatic technical aspects of projects in the country including technical leadership; team management and mentoring; donor, government and partner liaising and oversight of programmatic management and reporting.

The Technical Manager—Ethiopia reports to the East Africa Director and would have a working relationship with Program and Technical staff in the East Africa region, HQ Technical team, and field project officers to ensure successful management and implementation of active programs, and represents Pure Earth to local partners, communities, and donors.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Support:

• Ensure that programs are designed based on Pure Earth’s mission and strategy, with the express objective of understanding and mitigating exposure to lead and mercury in affected populations.
• Oversee the development of a technical assistance model which drives programming quality, builds the technical capacity of staff and partners, and contributes to achieving our deliverables and growing our resources.
• Oversee and ensure responsive and consistently high-quality technical assistance provided to Pure Earth country offices and programs.
• Provide direct technical assistance to program design, implementation, and evaluation of programs, at both the country and global levels.
• Establish technical standards, technical procedures/protocols, and transversal models for programming based on the best available research, pertinent regulations, and prevailing standards and guidelines, and incorporate these standards and models throughout Pure Earth’s work.
• Cultivate strong technical and advisory relationships with donors and stakeholders in the toxic pollution space and the environmental global health arena.
• Oversee the development and/or adaptation of training resources and impact assessment tools to enhance the capacities across the organization to utilize data to improve and validate the quality of projects and interventions.

Program Management:

• Model a collaborative environment, encouraging active communication between sectors and between HQ and the field for improved collaboration, learning and implementation quality.
• Encourage and support staff in the country office and the field to innovate to improve program impact.
• Collaborate with artisanal gold mining stakeholders to address and mitigate mercury contamination issues.
• Conduct supply chains analyses examining potential toxic metal exposure, identifying regulatory gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Work with partners to review existing and draft new policies and regulations to address toxic pollution.

Strategic Planning:

• Actively support collection and use of data and sharing of results internally and externally.
• Directly participate in learning and dissemination of projects across Pure Earth, implementation of formal and informal procedures, and the cultivation of a culture of debate and curiosity.
• Push for policy and behavior change across Pure Earth and among stakeholders in the lead and mercury space internationally based on learning from our programs.
• Ensure that the organization continues to develop and strengthen programs based on strategic analysis of the local country context.
• Work with the communication team to coordinate in-country marketing and promotion of the organization and program.
• Work closely with the Program Managers and the Technical Team to coordinate the implementation of project activities in the field.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E):

• Lead the development and implementation of M&E frameworks to assess program effectiveness.
• Ensure effective project monitoring and evaluation systems are in place, adjusting strategies based on data analysis to improve project outcomes.
• Lead data collection efforts on lead exposure, ensuring findings inform project strategies and stakeholder education.
• Promote a culture of learning and adaptation within the team through data-driven insights.
• Collaborate with teams for accurate and timely M&E reporting to donors and stakeholders.

Stakeholder Engagement and Partner Relationship Management:

• Cultivate and build strong relationships with stakeholders, including government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Engage with industry representatives, community organizations, and international entities to align efforts and share insights on lead mitigation.
• Collaborate with academic institutions for research and evidence-based program design.
• Advocate for policy reforms and enhancements to regulatory frameworks concerning ULAB management and lead and mercury exposure issues.
• Facilitate workshops to educate communities about lead and mercury exposure risks and promote safe recycling practices.

Skills and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, Public Health, or a related field; a master’s degree is preferred.
• 5–7 years of experience in managing environmental health programs, particularly in lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) pollution and poisoning management or handling.
• Strong understanding of regulatory issues related to environmental health and toxic substance management.
• Solid research skills, with experience in field work, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with experience in team management and capacity building.
• Capable of developing strategic solutions to complex environmental health challenges.
• Fluent in English; knowledge of local languages spoken in Ethiopia is advantageous.
• Experience in working within the environmental health NGO sector is mandatory.
• Only Ethiopian citizens or applicants with the right to work in Ethiopia will be considered.