Liaison Assistant

POSITION OVERVIEW  

FHI 360 is seeking a Liaison Assistant to work directly with and strengthen relationships with the Somali regional, and zonal government stakeholders. Additionally, the Liaison Assistant will coordinate and work directly with our local partner, Pastoralist Concern (PC). The position will be based in Jijiga, Somali Region, Ethiopia.

The Liaison Assistant will coordinate all of the partnership and government interactions for the Integrated Services for Humanitarian Implementation – Ethiopia III (ISHI-E III) project. The Liaison Assistant will be in charge of working with regional, and zonal government offices – such as Ethiopia Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC, Regional Technical Bureaus (health, water, women/children’s affairs), BOFED/ZOFED, and others – to develop and approve MOUs and other project agreements. As such, the Liaison Assistant will closely collaborate with the National and Subnational government offices, U.S. State Department supported implementing partners, Non-U.S. implementing partners through active participation in various Technical Working Groups and Humanitarian Clusters so that ISHI-E III project activities are in line with government and donor priorities. The Liaison Assistant will also coordinate and lead report submissions to government partners and the donor. The role is based in Jijiga, but may require travelling to the project's implementation regions, including Amhara, Tigray, and outer zones of Somali. The Liaison Assistant will report to the Crisis Response Coordinator.

Based in Jijiga, this duty station has been designated as high risk and poses a heightened risk or direct threat to personal safety. Applicants should research this location and the associated risks before submitting an application.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES

• Identify, assess, map, and liaise with ISHI-E III government counterparts including ACSO and EDRMC.
• Create a database that catalogues all government partners, outstanding issues, and deliverables.
• Develop and carry out capacity and risk assessments for government partners.
• Supporting positive relations with government counterparts through regular coordination and communication.
• Developing and maintain relationships with government offices to ensure ongoing support for campaigns and initiatives.
• Coordinating with internal departments to ensure that donor and government needs are met effectively.
• Work in collaboration with FHI 360 finance and program staff to develop, streamline, manage, and submit financial reports as required in government MOUs.
• Provide support to the global team and donors visiting the county for effective and efficient coordination of information sharing and messaging.
• Create monitoring tools and follow up on the ISHI-E III progress toward goals and deliverables stipulated in MOUs.
• Conduct and oversee regular monitoring visits with government offices to ensure ISHI-E III is completing the agreed project activities as per the plan and as per the set standard.
• Maintain comprehensive electronic files for ISHI-E III, including government/donor reports, indicator tracking tables, donor/government communications, MOUs and MOU amendments.
• Work with the ISHI-E III team to review/support government MOUs, proposals, and reports.
• Represent ISHI-E III at relevant coordination and cluster meetings. Receive / provide feedback from those meetings to ISHI-E III senior management teams.
• Represent the ISHI-E III team at relevant National and Sub National Technical Working Groups (TWGs).
• Represent ISHI-E III at relevant national and sub-national government offices and meetings.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Associate’s Degree, diploma or its International Equivalent
• Knowledge/Information Services, Communications, Education, Health, Behavioral, Life/Social Sciences International Development.
• 1+ years of work experience, who have experience working with national and subnational government and non-government humanitarian programs and offices.
• Fluent in English, Somali, and Amharic languages required.
• Who can understand national and subnational government and humanitarian response structures programs
• Knowledge of humanitarian cluster structure and experience coordinating with UN and OCHA actors.
• Good knowledge of partner relationship management
• Good knowledge and practical experience in project management
• Experience in facilitating reporting, MOU development, proposal review, agreement development, and monitoring.
• Experience in designing and implementing organizational capacity building programs.
• Ability to deal with professionals from programs, operations, and finance backgrounds.

Skills Required:

• Communication / Pr / Journalism
• Computer / Software / It / Data
• Health / Medical
• Political / Science / Ir
• Social / Science / Project / Management / Development