CARE is an international NGO with local staff and community partners in more than 90 countries. We create local solutions to poverty and inequality and we seek dignity for everyone every day and during times of crisis.  These solutions have a broad range, from clean water to access to education; from microfinance to ensuring that everyone has nutritious food; from agriculture and climate change to disaster response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of everything we do because they have proven to be the best hope for creating lasting change in the world.  Our staff live where they work, which makes us effective at understanding the challenges they face. We’ve been doing this for over 70 years, since World War II. It started with the world’s first CARE Package® of food for the post-war hungry in Europe.  Our work today is as important as ever, we believe that poverty and inequality are historic injustices that we can end within a generation, for good. If you share our core beliefs: poverty is an injustice; poverty is solvable; and together, we have the power to end it, join us.

I.Job Summary

The purpose of Manager- Livelihoods Diversification is to lead the planning and implementation of gricultural based (Crop & Livestock) and off farm livelihood activities promotion to address the needs and priorities of chronically food insecure households that are impacted by the conflict and ongoing instability. The Livelihood Diversification Manager provides capacity building and technical assistance related to Agricultural Livelihood and off farm business initiatives under the project: “Selam EU Recovery”, for affected communities, project staff, partner organizations, and key stakeholders. The incumbent is also responsible to extract, document and share good practices within the organization, stakeholders and its partners. Furthermore, the position holder will assist in refining the project design and implementation of all components of the project related to Agriculture livelihoods and off-farm business in the target communities. The Livelihoods Diversification Manager will directly report to the Program Manager and work closely with other technical advisors and program staff to ensure program quality and impact in line with the goals and objectives of the project.

II. Responsibilities and Key Result Areas

1. Provide Technical Assistance/ Program planning and implementation (35%)

Provide quality Technical Support to communities and the project team on the following components of Agricultural based and Off-farm Livelihoods diversification activity:

• Lead in the design and implementation of Agricultural, Off-farm Livelihoods diversification and business initiatives under Selam EU Recovery Project;
• Lead in the development of a detailed implementation plan (DIP) for the Agriculture,  Off-farm livelihoods and business activities under Selam EU Recovery Project;
• Reduce the vulnerability of drought-affected households/communities to external shocks through increased productive livelihoods and income-generating business activities;
• Increase access to cash credit, including for the purpose of diversifying livelihoods strategies, using CARE’s established Village Economic and Social Association (VESA) methodology;
• Provide support to asset poor households on different kinds of Agricultural based income-generating activities, such as beekeeping and raising chickens, and goats/sheep rearing/fattening; and seed preservation and crops post-harvest handling/management

·         Provide support to off-farm livelihoods program implementation to ensure that VESA members selecting the off-farm pathway receive the necessary business planning and management support and are linked to sources of inputs and technology, private business sectors and markets for products and services, as needed

• Provide assistance in locating off-farm opportunities for employment, education, and training.
• Strengthened existing Business Development Service providers to provide inclusive BDS services
• Work to improve Extension services (technical, business and motivational skills) to recognize and support resilient livelihoods for women, men and youth.
• support to improve output market system for communities in the conflict-affected locations
• Work to achieve sustainable input sourcing and delivery market system such as agro-dealers and RUSACCOs/primary cooperatives, other community-based groups to increase input accessibility and affordability for project beneficiaries.
• provide regular support and capacity building activities to cooperatives, other private sector actors provided with support to aggregate production
•  Ensure measurable impact of livelihood and IGA-related activities and a robust M&E system is in place;
• Provide technical support on synergetic coherence of different initiatives towards achieving sustainable food security;
• Coordinate and support the development of implementation strategies, methods and guidelines for sustainable livelihoods program interventions that have measurable impact;
• Monitor progress and provide ongoing feedback and recommendations to the project management;

• Participate, as required, in the emergency assessments carried out in project operational areas;
• Advise and ensure program initiatives are consistent with sustainable development principles.

2.  Capacity Building and Technical Support (20%)

§  Establishes staff and key partner induction and ongoing training processes on Agriculture and Off farm livelihood program quality;

§  Conduct capacity assessment and based on the results, prepare plans and advise stakeholders on key learning competency and skill requirements in staff and partners pertinent to Agricultural and Off farm livelihoods diversification;

§  Leads the development and facilitation of trainings for partner and staff development on Agricultural and Off farm livelihoods and business specific initiatives;

§  Develops and implements follow-up coaching plans to sustain staff expertise and commitment to apply new skills;

§  Continuously updates staff and partners on Agricultural and Off farm livelihoods issues to enhance and sustain conceptual clarity and awareness of partners and others’ best practices;

§  Participates in the selection of and support to external, temporary technical assistance (consultants, interns) on Agricultural livelihoods and IGA, as required;

§  Works with the relevant government structures to facilitate Agricultural livelihoods and Off farm related activities and monitoring in the operational areas;

§  Documents and shares lessons/results of Agriculture and off farm livelihoods diversification work and strategies in program operational areas;

§  Designs and leads livelihoods and market surveys, analyzes results and writes reports;

§  Advises and helps promote appropriate community awareness strategies around on-farm and off-farm LHs;

§  Actively participate in the capacity needs assessment and development of strategies related to Agricultural and Off-farm, livelihoods diversification, market and business;

§  Facilitate and organize the implementation of capacity building initiatives on  livelihoods  diversification and business development;

§  Where needed, identify resource persons from within CARE or partners or outside to provide training and technical assistance;

§  Participate and represent the project in various Agricultural livelihood and off farm business forums at various levels; and

§  Work with Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation, PQL and other relevant units to ensure quality programming and Monitoring and Evaluations systems related to livelihoods and business are in place.

3.  Partnership and Networking(15%)

§  Ensure CARE’s input into Agriculture (on farm) and off farm livelihoods diversification programming with government counterparts in the target woredas/kebeles/communities;

§  Represent CARE Ethiopia at all key government and inter-agency livelihoods and market related forums as appropriate;

§  Establish and maintain productive relationships with partner organizations working with CARE on the EU Recovery program;

§  Establish and maintain productive relationships with government offices, private sectors, non-government organizations,  and expert institutions and draw different experiences to be shared with project staff;

§  Develop and maintain productive relationships with other NGOs and UN agencies working on Agricultural livelihoods and off farm business in the target woredas;

§  Work to progressively improve CARE’s engagement in Agricultural livelihood and off farm business programming;

• Actively participate in Agricultural and off farm livelihood forums to facilitate learning and scaling up of Agricultural livelihood and off farm business good practices; and

§  Establish and maintain productive relationships with all levels of government offices, stakeholders and partners.

4.  Learning, Documentation and Sharing (15%)

• Identify/extract good practices and learning related to Agricultural and off farm livelihoods diversification interventions for further program quality improvement;
• Record and document lessons from program processes and achievements;
• Share good practices and learning with CARE staff, stakeholders and partners;
• Organize forums and experience sharing visits to extract/share success stories and challenges;
• Identify partners with good and relevant practices for potential experience sharing;
• Prepare and maintain up to date information on the livelihood diversification situation in each operational area;
• Prepare reports as deemed necessary.

5.  Leadership and Representation (10%)

§  Contribute to transparent and participatory management and decision making;

§  Coach the field level staff to build their technical and function capacity in Agricultural and off farm livelihood;

§  Actively participate and support programmatic coordination and synergy;

§  Contribute to healthy work environment;

§  Promote transparent and accountable system;

§  Participate in project management meetings and be a team player and team builder;

§  Represent project/CARE and contribute on Agricultural livelihoods and Off farm-related forums and discussions at different levels;

§  Exhibit model behaviors consistent with principles, values, vision and mission of the organization;

§  Identify and promote learning and lessons for scale up of good practices;

§  Bring issues and feedback to the attention of the project management;

§  Implement decisions made by the project management.

6:  Perform other duties as assigned.

% of Time:  5%

A) Education/Training

Required:

§  BA/BSc Degree in rural development, Development Studies, Agriculture, economics, income generation, social sciences, or related field of study

Desired:

§  MBA/MSc Degree in rural development, Development Studies, Agriculture, economics income generation, or related fields.

B) Experience:

Required:

§  5 years of progressive experience for BA and 4 years experience for postgraduate degree holders in emergency response/economic development within the holistic livelihoods and income-generating framework in rural areas, including experience with sustainable livelihoods and income-generating activities (IGA) programming, rural development and food security programs. Ability in interpersonal relationships, proposal development and teamwork is required.

§  At least 1 year of management experience.

Desired:

• Previous experience working in emergencies in livelihoods and income-generating activities with international NGOs and UN agencies;
• Strategic and operational planning experience

§  Experience in undertaking capacity-building initiatives.

C)   Technical Skills

Required:

• Proficiency in computer (Word, Excel & Access);
• Expertise in Livelihoods and Income Generation program design and management;
• Good knowledge of written and spoken English;
• Project design, monitoring and evaluation skill;

§  Effective interpersonal skills,  maturity, initiative, tact and a high sense of responsibility,

§  Ability to work harmoniously with people of different educational and cultural backgrounds;

§  Ability to analyze technical issues, to write clear and concise reports and make effective oral presentations;

• Solid understanding of livelihood and income generation frameworks and tools; and

§  Good analytical, communication and organizational skill

Desired:

§  Expertise in livelihoods analysis and profiling, and household economy analysis methodologies;

§  Proven training and facilitation skills;

§  Computer skills in database management.

§  Income generation assessment, analysis and report writing

D. Competencies: CARE core values (respect, accountability, courage, and excellence), building partnerships, and managing performance for success, initiating action, interpersonal skills, contributing to team success, pro-active problem solving and organizing.

E)       Problem Solving (Thinking Environment): All the three levels of problem-solving apply to the incumbent. But category number two and three is most applicable to this position because, the incumbent must use interpersonal skills to pick and choose the right strategy to address a given problem and also has to deal with variable solutions, which need analysis, problem definition and development of alternative solutions.

F. Contacts/Key Relationships:

The incumbent is expected to establish and maintain good relations with all staff and partners in at all levels. S/he will also be expected to have productive and professional relations with various technical and operation staff in the organization.

H. Working Conditions and Level of Travel Required.

This position is based in Addis Ababa, CARE Ethiopia office and requires 30 - 40% of his/her time for travel to project operational areas in the country.

CARE seeks to improve the lives of the most marginalized, particularly women and girls. Our diversity is our strength. We encourage people from all backgrounds and experiences to apply.