Hawassa - Cluster Coordinator (Contingent to donor funding)

Project Background

SNV Ethiopia is recruiting experienced, Cluster coordinator for an anticipated flagship programme. The programme aims to secure 800,000 dignified and fulfilling job opportunities for rural young women. The programme will embrace a market system approach in high-potential value chains, (horticulture, poultry, dairy and complementary value chains), grounded in seven regional clusters. It will deliberately integrate Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) transformative approaches and safeguarding mechanisms across all programme interventions, empowering young women to secure jobs through initiatives on market and socio-economic barriers and on location-specific gendered root causes.

SNV will implement the programme jointly with five other Ethiopian/ international NGOs, who will deliver their work in specific clusters. Together, these clusters will integrate technical expertise, and they will support the programme’s ecosystem to achieve longer-term systems change for youth employment in agriculture.

Summary of the Position

The Cluster Coordinator is responsible for leading the planning, execution, and monitoring of program activities within the cluster, ensuring alignment with national strategies and MEL frameworks across components such as skills development, financial inclusion, youth engagement, market linkages, safeguarding, etc. The role involves supervising cluster-level teams, guiding work plan development, overseeing budget utilization, and ensuring high-quality, timely implementation. The coordinator fosters collaboration with government stakeholders, private sector actors, and community institutions. Additionally, the role supports effective data use, reporting, and continuous program refinement based on performance and context analysis to ensure impactful and efficient project execution.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

Program Coordination and Oversight:

• Coordinate the day-to-day planning, execution, and monitoring of program activities within the assigned cluster and regions, including skills development, financial inclusion, youth engagement, safeguarding, and value chains.
• Guide project setup and oversee the development and updating of annual, quarterly, and monthly work and budget plans, including DIP.
• Closely work with Consortium Coordination Unit (CCU/SNV) team and ensure alignment of field-level implementation with program level strategies, work plans, and MEL frameworks, and support integration and synergy across all technical components.
• Ensures that all staff have updated yearly, quarterly and monthly implementation plans.
• Based on past accomplishments and achievements and in consultation with CCU, adjust program targets, strategies, resources and delegation of responsibilities to ensure appropriate progress toward program objectives.
• Continuously assesses program context, assumptions and changes in the working environment to ensure that the program focus, strategies and activities remain relevant and to proposed adjustments when needed.

Team Supervision and Management:

• Line-manage the project team at cluster levels, including performance reviews, objective setting, approval of travel plans, timesheets, and leave provisions.
• Supervise and coordinate the work of the cluster advisors and zonal supervisors.
• Foster a team culture of accountability, adaptive learning, and performance management.
• Provide coaching and feedback to team members to strengthen their capacity.

Stakeholder Engagement and Representation:

• Build and maintain productive relationships with regional, zonal and woreda government offices, TVETs, private sector actors, financial institutions, youth associations, etc.
• Submits a copy of approved annual plans as per established schedules to key program stakeholders.
• Represent RAYEE in relevant government coordination platforms, stakeholder forums, and review meetings.

Budget management:

• In collaboration with program staff, prepare annual budgets and quarter-based expenditure plan and ensures compliance with SNV and donor compliance and implement when approved.
• Ensures appropriate utilization of fund codes for charging budget expenditures and make adjustment if error on recording happens.
• Review and approve travel and activity expenses of cluster staff within the approval limit.
• Support logistics planning for trainings, workshops, and events at cluster levels.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning:

• Work closely with the cluster MEAL Advisor and other team members to track progress against indicators.
• Support MEL and other team members to monitor field activity performance, ensuring milestones in the annual work plan are met, and develop mitigation plans as needed
• Ensure that monthly, quarter and annual reports are submitted on time and up-to standard quality
• Ensure timely submission of regional annual plans and quarter reports to respective regional and other government offices.
• Support cluster-level data collection, documentation of learnings, and timely reporting to the national MEAL team.
• Ensure regular documentation of lessons, challenges, and promising practices from the field.
• Plans and conducts quarterly and annual program review meetings, regular field visits, joint monitoring, and feedback sessions to assess progress, ensure service quality and adjust plans.

Take other responsibilities within the project that will help the team to achieve the desired results.

Qualifications

Qualifications and Experience:

• Master’s degree in Agribusiness, Development Studies, Economics, Agricultural Marketing, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience in project management and youth employment and enterprise development, women empowerment, livelihoods, market system development, agribusiness and value chain development
• Proven experience in coordinating multi-sectoral development programs and leading diverse technical teams.
• Strong skills in planning, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive program management.
• Strong experience in budget management, work planning, and performance tracking.
• Proven leadership, coordination, and stakeholder engagement experience, especially with local governments.
• Willingness to travel frequently within the project zones and woredas.
• Fluency in English is required.

Additional Information

Contract Type: National, Full-time

This position will be based on donor funding and approval confirmation.

Expected start date: August 2025

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Contract Duration: One year with the possibility of extension based on performance.

Skills Required:

• Agricultural / Studies
• Economics / Statistics
• Social / Science / Project / Management / Development