Senior Livelihood and Resilience Officer

About the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

The Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) was established in 1935 and is one of the oldest and largest humanitarian organizations in Ethiopia. ERCS provides services to communities affected by natural and manmade disasters through the provision of emergency responses, ambulance and first aid, family reunification, essential drugs, water and sanitation, and other humanitarian services. ERCS also runs disaster risk reduction programs with the aim of creating resilience households and communities. Currently the ERCS has a structure consisting of Currently the Society has 14 regional branches, 40 zonal branches, 180 woreda branches, and 5,871 Kebele Red Cross Committees.

ERCS also runs disaster risk reduction programs relating to food security, climate change adaptation, livelihood diversification, and institutional capacity building interventions, with the aim of creating resilience households and communities. ERCS works in partnership with the Ethiopian Government, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), partnering National Societies, members, volunteers and the communities we serve.

Work Unit: DRR Department

Reports to: LHCCA division of DRR Department

Terms of employment: Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa

Salary: As per the Organization Salary Scale

Job Summary

Overcoming the challenges of climate change through innovative and livelihood improvement activities in rural settings requires involving a range of stakeholders, identifying and assessing possible solutions and constraints, improving regulatory and legal frameworks, and raising investments, among others. Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) with support from AUTRC for the project of Livelihoods for Resilience in Sidama Region Hawasa Zuria and Bilate woredas is looking for a Nature Based Solutions/Livelihood and NRM Senior project officer who will typically help to expertise in identifying, designing, and implementing ecological solutions to address environmental challenges like climate change, drought, flooding, and biodiversity loss, Natural resources management , VSLA technical support , Agricultural inputs supply, Capacity building on early warning and disaster management system , often involving stakeholder engagement, project management, and technical knowledge of ecosystem restoration and management practices.

The senior Livelihoods and NRM Project Officer will oversee the implementation of Livelihoods for Resilience (L4R) project activities, ensuring alignment with donor requirements, ERCS guidelines, and community needs. This role involves coordinating field teams and providing technical support from HQ to field project teams, requesting budget forecast from ERCS HQ with project focal person, follow up the budget utilization and activities as per plan, prepare monthly project plan and report at HQ, managing activity plans, and fostering community ownership to support Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation solutions for disaster-prone areas.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

• Project Design, Planning, and Scope
• You serve as the architect of resilience. This involves moving beyond “one-size-fits-all” aid toward tailored, multi-year strategies.
• Theory of Change (ToC): Developing a clear roadmap of how specific activities (e.g., providing seeds) lead to long-term impact (e.g., household food sovereignty).
• Scope Management: Defining clear boundaries for ERCS interventions to avoid “mission creep” and ensuring that project goals are S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).
• Logical Frameworks (LogFrames): Constructing robust frameworks that link inputs, outputs, outcomes, and goals with clear indicators of success.
• Technical Expertise: Climate, Food, and Resilience
• This is your “subject matter” core. You provide the scientific and practical backbone for ERCS interventions.
• Climate Change Adaptation (CCA): Integrating Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). This includes promoting drought-resistant crop varieties and soil/water conservation.
• Food Security & Nutrition: Implementing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) tools to identify and support households in phase 3 or higher.
• Resilience Building: Using the “Triple Nexus” approach (Humanitarian-Development-Peace) to ensure that immediate aid builds toward long-term stability.

Risk Mapping and Assessment

• In the volatile regions where ERCS operates, risk management is a daily activity, not a one-time document:
• Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA): Leading community-level workshops to map local hazards (floods, droughts) and identify existing community strengths.
• Early Warning Systems (EWS): Setting up community-based triggers that allow branches to act before a disaster hits (Anticipatory Action).
• Conflict-Sensitive Programming: Ensuring that livelihood interventions do not inadvertently fuel local resource competition.
• Overseeing L4R Project Implementation & Coordination:
• Oversee FSL activities (agriculture, livestock, natural resource/range management, Income-Generating Activities (IGAs)) across field locations.
• Engage in community Participatory vulnerability and capacity assessment in the project target kebeles and beneficiary targeting through surveys, focus group discussions, and site visits.
• Organize capacity-building trainings, and awareness sessions on livelihood improvement, Natural Resource management, early warning system and disaster management through climate change mitigation technics
• Mobilize and mentor community groups (cooperatives, Self-Help Groups) to enhance livelihood resilience through climate-smart agriculture and income-generating activities.
• Provide technical support and follow up on agricultural extension services for the field project team
• Supervise distribution of livelihood support (crop seeds, livestock etc.) and agricultural supplies, and materials, and ensure adherence to targeting criteria.
• Community Engagement & Capacity Building:
• Lead and coordinate beneficiary selection, registration, and training on financial literacy, climate smart agriculture, Natural resources management practices, and savings practices.
• Conduct market assessments to identify profitable skills and livelihood for resilience opportunities.
• Integrate gender sensitivity, protection mainstreaming, and participatory approaches into all activities.
• Monitoring, Reporting, & Compliance:
• Submit monthly progress updates report, success stories, and donor reports in compliance with ERCS and AUTRC requirements.
• Coordinate post-distribution monitoring with the PMER team.
• Identify emerging challenges and recommend actionable solutions.
• Collaborate with government agencies, NGOs, and interagency forums to advocate for community needs.
• Ensure ERCS activities complement efforts of other stakeholders.

Qualification Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree/ Master’s Degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Crop, Natural Resource Management, climate change smart agriculture and land range management DRM, Rural Development, Agricultural engineering, Development Studies or related fields.

Experience & Skills:

• Minimum 8/6 years of experience managing livelihoods for resilience, agricultural inputs supply, or natural resource management, climate smart agriculture projects in humanitarian/development contexts.
• Proven ability in project planning, implementation, and report writing and providing technical support to the field project team
• Proven experience in project budget forecast and managing the expenditure as per plan
• Experience in coordinating community participation, accountability systems, and staff capacity building.
• Strong communication, influencing, and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with gender mainstreaming, social protection, and interpectoral integration of interventions.

Desirable:

• Fluency in English and the local language(s) of the operational area.
• Experience in Disaster Risk Reduction, Livelihood for resilience, Natural Resource Management, agricultural inputs supply, technical support on capacity development on Climate smart agriculture, VSLA support, early warning system establishment