Senior Capacity Development Officer – Roving

The Senior Capacity Development Officer (with Environmental and social safeguard responsibilities) purpose is to lead and coordinate all capacity development aspect of TRAIL III Project and Rural Connectivity for Improved Food Security Program(RCFSP), ensuring compliance with environmental and social safeguard standards. The incumbent will provide technical assistance and capacity building for field-based officers to partners at national and regional levels, integrating social inclusion, gender equity, climate resilience, and environmental risk mitigation into all deliverables. The incumbent will bring thematic competence in social and institutional development , environmental and social safeguard skills to ensure that all deliverables pertaining to building capacity and partnership development components are accomplished on time and according to approved scope of work.

The incumbent will lead, coordinate, and support landscape analysis and needs assessments, promote the inclusion of trail bridges in government strategic plans and budget allocations, and facilitate the establishment of Trail Bridge technical units at national and regional levels. Responsibilities include strengthening trail bridge operation and maintenance systems, supporting local production of construction materials, and building the capacity of construction and consulting firms. The incumbent will also lead studies, generate lessons, and ensure that all activities integrate social inclusion, gender equity, and environmental safeguard measures to minimize risks and promote sustainability.

Aligned with HELVETAS’ long-term strategy of gradually transitioning from direct implementation to capacitated partners, the incumbent is expected to collaborate with the TRAIL program director and Resource mobilization and partnership expert in the advocacy efforts and provide technical backstopping services, ensuring compliance with organizational standards and safeguard frameworks.

Duties and Responsibilities

Capacity Strengthening:

• Conduct institutional capacity assessments to identify strengths, gaps, and needs for scaling up rural transport infrastructure.
• Lead trail bridge needs assessments to inform government partners and stakeholders for prioritizing rural access in plans and budgets.
• Integrate environmental and social safeguards into all institutional capacity assessments and training programs, ensuring gender equity and climate resilience.
• Develop and deliver training modules on environmental risk management, gender-sensitive planning, and community engagement for government, private sector, and communities.
• Facilitate partnerships and linkages among government, civil society, and private actors to strengthen collaboration and resource mobilization.
• Collaborate with TVETs and universities to design human resource development programs for the rural access sector.
• Provide technical guidance and follow-up to ensure sustainability of trail bridge and foot trail networks, embedding improved practices into standard operating procedures.
• Ensure partners adopt practices that minimize environmental impact and promote social equity in rural transport infrastructure.

Project Implementation

• Provide technical guidance to field officers and ensure quality support across all project activities.
• Develop and enforce standards, guidelines, and processes to maintain consistency and quality in capacity development approaches.
• Support government partners in implementing Woreda development plans and designing sustainable strategies for operation and maintenance of trail bridges and foot trail networks.
• Strengthen multi-level networks (national, regional, zonal, Woreda) for effective coordination in rural transport infrastructure development.
• Deliver ToT training and technical assistance for staff, government, and private sector actors to enhance technical capacity.
• Collaborate with key institutions (Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure, Ethiopian Roads Administration, regional bureaus, universities, TVETs) to integrate trail bridges into standards, curricula, and national systems.
• Provide technical inputs to RTI planning to ensure plans are realistic and incorporate social and environmental safeguards, followed by timely reporting and corrective actions.
• Advise on safeguard compliance during planning and implementation of trail bridges and foot trail networks.
• Support government partners in embedding environmental and social standards into Woreda development plans.
• Monitor adherence to national and donor safeguard policies throughout project cycles.

Quality Assurance, Documentation, and Reporting

• Conduct safeguard risk assessments and recommend mitigation measures.
• Document lessons learned on integrating safeguards into rural infrastructure projects.
• Report on compliance with environmental and social safeguard indicators.
• Contribute to organizational and sector-wide learning through good quality input for lessons learned, best practices, and evaluations etc. for all the components of the program for training, mobilization and IEC materials.
• Identify and anticipate potential risks and problems in a timely manner and advise the project on the implementation of mitigation measures and solutions.
• Work harmoniously with local government partners and other project team members to ensure projects are being delivered timely and effectively.
• Ensure that all projects regularly update and submit progress to intermediate milestones and set targets throughout the project cycle.

Education and Training:

• Masters Degree in Social Work, Sociology, Social Work, Community Development, Development Studies, Management, or related social science field to rural access.

Professional Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years work experience and of which 5 years NGO related work experience in partnership and capacity development, facilitation of community mobilization and institutional capacity development.
• Solid knowledge about capacity building approaches and working modalities.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating training, workshops and institutional building.
• Relevant experience working within a partnership agreement and/or a network including regional institutions.
• Understanding and knowledge of the Ethiopian Road Sector Development Program, working guidelines, standards, and specification.
• Excellent knowledge of conducting study, monitoring, and quality control.

Skills and Competencies Required:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Flexible, capable of working independently, high integrity, and hard-working.
• Fluent in spoken and written English is required.