Programme Development Expert

Organization Profile and Background

Welthungerhilfe is an international NGO with Head-Quarter in Bonn and working in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Welthungerhilfe is fighting to help free the world of hunger and poverty. This vision is the basis of our organization’s character and activities. Welthungerhilfe secure funds from private donations and international funding organizations, for example, EC, UN-OCHA, ECHO, and German Government. We work in the sectors of Rural Development, WASH, Natural Resource Management and Social Development. Welthungerhilfe Ethiopia follows partnership approach for project planning, implementation, and administration with Ethiopian Partner-NGOs and in exceptional cases WHH implements projects by itself.

Job Title: Programme Development Expert (National Position)
Duty Station: Addis Ababa, with frequent travel to project locations
Reports to: Head of Programme Development and Quality
Contract Duration: 1 year, renewable based on performance and funding
Purpose of the Role

The Programme Development Expert contributes to WHH Ethiopia’s efforts to design impactful, fundable, and technically sound projects. The role focuses on coordinating proposal development processes, ensuring strategic alignment with donor priorities and WHH’s mission, and supporting the production of high-quality narrative reports and other documentation in English.

Expertise in climate change adaptation, sustainable agriculture, food systems, and/or gender is an added advantage and will support the development of context-responsive, technically robust projects. The role also plays a key part in knowledge management by documenting learning, good practices, and evidence to inform programme design and fundraising.

Key Responsibilities

1. Proposal Development

• Lead or support the development of concept notes and full proposals, ensuring compliance with donor guidelines and WHH quality standards.
• Draft, edit, and quality assure high-standard proposal narratives and supporting documents in English.
• Facilitate participatory design workshops with project teams, MEAL staff, technical experts, and partners.
• Integrate evidence, lessons learned, and technical insights, especially in climate-resilient agriculture, food systems, and rural development into project design.
• Ensure cross-cutting themes such as climate change, gender equality, and conflict sensitivity are adequately addressed in project designs.
• Lead or support context assessments, stakeholder analyses, and market ecosystem assessments to inform project design, concept notes and proposals.

2. Donor Engagement & Intelligence Gathering

• Monitor and track relevant funding opportunities, including calls from donors focused on climate adaptation and mitigation, food and nutrition security, agricultural development, food systems, economic empowerment, WASH, civil society empowerment, and humanitarian response.
• Support the preparation of tailored donor briefs, background notes, and capacity statements in clear, concise English.
• Contribute to maintaining updated donor profiles and funding landscape analyses for WHH Ethiopia.

3. Technical and Quality Assurance Support

• Liaise with WHH’s technical advisors (in Ethiopia and HQ) to incorporate up-to-date technical guidance into proposal designs.
• Help ensure alignment with national strategies, WHH’s country strategy, and donor frameworks.
• Liaise with WHH Heads of Project, MEAL experts, and implementing partners to support the production of high-quality narrative reports and their timely submission.
• Review and edit reports, case studies, and other project documents to ensure clarity, consistency, and quality of English.

4. Internal Coordination, Knowledge Management & Learning

• Coordinate internal reviews of proposals and related documentation prior to submission.
• Contribute to after-action reviews to capture learning from successful and unsuccessful proposals.
• Support capacity strengthening of project teams and local partners in programme design, proposal writing, and reporting.
• Contribute to WHH Ethiopia’s knowledge management efforts by:
  • Systematically documenting lessons learned, good practices, and innovative approaches.
  • Supporting the development and maintenance of a repository of proposals, reports, assessments, and key reference documents.
  • Helping produce learning and communication products (e.g. briefs, success stories, case studies) for internal and external use.

• University degree in agriculture, environmental studies, development studies or a related field.
• At least 4 years of relevant experience in proposal development, programme design, and/or knowledge management, preferably with INGOs or donor-funded programmes.
• Strong understanding of programme areas such as climate change adaptation and mitigation, food systems, or sustainable livelihoods and markets.
• Demonstrated success in developing proposals for institutional donors (e.g. EU, GIZ, BMZ, ECHO, UN, foundations).
• Excellent English writing, editing and communication skills, with a proven ability to synthesise complex information into clear, concise documents.

Core Competencies

• Strong coordination and facilitation skills.
• Excellent analytical, writing, and editing skills in English.
• Ability to organise information, maintain documentation, and support effective knowledge management.
• Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines.
• Proactive, solution-oriented, and collaborative mindset.