Youth Inclusion and Engagement Director

POSITION TITILE:  Youth Inclusion and Engagement Director

REPORTS TO: Chief of Party

SUPERVISES:  Youth Advocacy Advisor; Youth Friendly Services Advisor; Civic Engagement Advisor; Mental Health Coordinator; GESI Advisor and SBCC Advisor

LOCATION:  Addis Ababa Country Office

I.  JOB SUMMARY:

Amref Health Africa is seeking a Youth Inclusion and Engagement Director to provide technical leadership and support for the USAID Integrated Youth Activity (IYA) that aims to empower youth to advance their own economic, civic and social development across 18 secondary urban cities of Ethiopia. The advisor is responsible in collaboratively leading youth civic engagement strategies modalities and platforms, including setting up youth interest groups at local levels that coalece into nationally elected and representative youth coalitions at national level that will become a sustainable platform for youth to advocate for their right in Ethiopia.  In parnership with youth and other key stakeholders, s/he will facilitate the strategy development and implementation of crosscutting youth mobilization, advocacy, community engagement and social behavioral change (SBC) activities raising and integrating youth voices in the overall development efforts of the country, all ensuring inclusion of young women and other marginalized youth. The director will also provide technical and management leadership support to ensure comprehensive integrated youth friendly services across all IYA programming. This position requires strong project management, services provision and coordination skills, technical knowledge in youth civic engagement and development activities, youth friendly services, deep youth networks, and extensive experience cultivating and establishing partnerships and enhancing youth advocacy issues. The Youth Inclusion and Engagement Director will support and coordinate with the Senior Technical Director and other IYA Directors to ensure an integrated package of services for youth, addressing their civic engagement, and economic and social development needs are provided.

II. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Director will have the following duties and responsibilities:

Technical Leadership

• Provide technical leadership and guidance ensuring that IYA’s Meaningful Youth Participation/Engagement (MYPE), advocacy, community involvement, social behavioral change, and gender interventions are integrated, high quality and evidence-based;
• Ensure the necessary tools, guidelines, SOPs and strategies relevant for YFS, mental health services and MYPE are developed and implemented; Lead implementation of these strategies;
• Provide overall leadership and coordination of the youth civic engagement activities, including youth coalition formation and rollout of youth advocacy activities and the overall meaningful engagement of youth throughout the project life cycle;
• Design and manage the implementation of comprehensive youth friendly services (YFS), including mental health services in all program implementation areas;
• Design and implement key strategies to increase youth engagement with key stakeholders including national partners, local organizations, youth networks and individual leaders at local, regional and national levels;
• Engage and advocate for youth inclusion in national policy review and formulation ensuring that government develops youth responsive policy and national strategies;
• Oversee the development and implementation of all SBC activities across multiple issues including youth mobilization, coalition formation, sexual reproductive health, gender, peace and security, education, health, economic development, and others;
• Oversee and ensure that gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) is integrated across all program thematic areas;
•  Provide strategic direction of organization’s shift to becoming youth-centric among the IYA consortium and external partners. Develop and implement capacity strengthening plans to enhance the capacity of staff, young people, youth networks, youth-serving organizations, and government in MYPE and youth-led advocacy and provide ongoing support and opportunities for partners to enhance their institutional performance;

Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Lead in the development and/or review of MYPE, advocacy, community involvement, GESI and SBC program work plans, quarterly, biannual and annual reports; in consultation with the Program Director, update the monthly, quarterly and annual plan of action and share with relevant staff;
•  Work with the senior technical director and PM&E unit to develop and implement monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems that will effectively capture progress towards results;

• Contribute to the development and timely submission of written reports, preparing periodic update reports on successes and challenges facing the project, as well as its progress;
• Work with project leadership to support continuous project learning and ensure integration of measurement, evaluation, and research into management decision-making.

Partnership, Networking, and Collaboration

• Oversee establishment of strategic partnerships and alliances with other youth movements and groups, and build relationships at the national, regional, and city levels; Establish and strengthen coordination platforms at city level in close collaboration with the CSOs.
• Establish, cultivate, and maintain relationships with the youth ecosystem of project actors, including the public sector, private sector, civil society, community-based organizations, and local governments.
• Work very closely with IYA stakeholders including government, private sectors and donors to advocate and influence organizations to be youth friendly and meaningfully engage youth in their organization;
• At the request of the COP, represent the project in collaborative platforms with the Ethiopian government, UN agencies, Ethiopian civil society organizations, NGOs and private companies working in Ethiopia to promote the project;
• In collaboration with other directors, promote effective communication and coordination across the IYA organizational structure to ensure integrated youth services;

Staff Supervision

• Directly supervise project staff as assigned, and provide ongoing support through coaching, performance evaluations, and feedback for achievement of project objectives and goals.

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in Public Health, Development Studies, Global Health, Gender studies, International Development, Social Sciences or related field from a recognized college or university;
• Minimum of 12 years of experience implementing youth development activities (e.g., YFS, SRH, economic empowerment, basic and higher education, health e.t.c), with at least 7 years of senior level experience demonstrating strategic leadership, staff management and technical guidance;
• Experience in youth or adolescents program management, particularly in youth friendly services provision, mental health support, youth mobilization and meaningful youth engagement skills, is desirable; working knowledge of youth civic engagement, economic and health issues, including global and government priorities is a plus;
• Experience cultivating relationships and collaborating with a variety of Ethiopian stakeholders including youth, government ministries and officials, local and international NGOs, donors, the private sector, and community-based institutions;
• Experience working in consortiums and providing technical assistance to local CSOs.
• Experience developing and implementing effective capacity strengthening models and approaches for organizations and individuals;
• Experience working collaboratively with teams from diverse backgrounds;
• Strong presentation, reporting, and communication skills;
• Spoken and written fluency in English and Amharic;
• Excellent computer skills using MS Office 365 Suite of products including Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint;
• Ability to travel up to 30% to 40% of the time.