Representative For Ethiopia

Lutheran World Federation (LWF) World Service

LWF World Service is the humanitarian and development arm of the Lutheran World Federation. We are a widely recognized, international, faith-based organization working in 25 countries. We seek to bring people of all backgrounds together in the common quest for justice, peace, and reconciliation in an increasingly complex and fragmented world.

A commitment to the human rights of every individual, regardless of their status, guides our work, actions, and operations. We are particularly known for our timely, compassionate, and professional humanitarian work, and for our field presence in hard-to-reach areas. Our work is people-centered and community-based. Above all, we work with the most vulnerable, and to claim and uphold their rights, we engage proactively with local government and community structures.

Our partners in Ethiopia include the communities we serve, EECMY/DASSC, the LWF Member Church and its diaconal arm, ACT Alliance, and ecumenical partners, LWF Related Agencies, National and Refugee-Led Organizations, government, UN, and INGOs, Institutional donors, and Embassies. For additional information, please see LWF Ethiopia.

Purpose

The Representative will provide effective leadership, representation, and management of the LWF Ethiopia Country Program to achieve the intended results, outcomes, and impacts for the targeted population. This includes overseeing the implementation of 2025 - 2031 Country Strategy, focused on the three programmatic areas of Protection and Social Cohesion, Climate and Resilient Livelihoods, and Quality Services. LWF’s work is multi-sectoral, spanning protection, livelihoods and food security and assistance, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Core Relief Items (CRIs), climate and Nature Based Solutions, among others. Our program in Ethiopia responds to emergencies, supports recovery and facilitates development and empowerment across all the sectors of intervention, anchored on the rights-based approach and adhering to LWF World Service policies, manuals, and guidelines. The Representative will actively monitor and analyze contextual developments in the country and the region and identify potential risks and opportunities. The Representative will have a particular responsibility for nurturing collaborative working relations with current funding and consortium partners, leading in the development of new partnerships and funding, while ensuring robust financial management, compliance, and risk mitigation to maintain a sustainable and compliant program portfolio.

Required qualifications

• University degree in a relevant field with strong expertise on issues related to human rights, sustainable development, and/or humanitarian response.

Knowledge and Experience

• Minimum 5 years of work experience at the management level in humanitarian assistance or development-oriented programs within an international environment, preferably with church-related or non-governmental organizations.
• Further training and expertise in relevant areas (e.g. strategic leadership, management, organizational change and people management, advocacy, climate justice, finance, monitoring and evaluation).
• Proven ability to lead teams, to coach, nurture and motivate colleagues, creating a conducive working environment, including a track record in enabling teams to deliver rigorous planning, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of programmatic work.
• Proven capacity to model organizational values and champion innovation, resilience, and adaptability in the face of change.
• Demonstrated success in expanding organizational funding through effective donor engagement, consistent resource mobilization strategies, and the implementation of robust financial management and compliance practices.
• Proven capacity to navigate strategic processes of collaboration between international agencies and actors.
• Conversant in the Microsoft Office suite.

Language Skills

• English: advanced verbal and written skills
• .Amharic: would be an asset

LWF Core Skills

• Leadership – resource level
• Working effectively with others – resource level
• Accountability – advanced level
• Analytical thinking – advanced level
• Initiative – advanced level
• Achieving results – resource level

LWF Functional Skills

• People Management – resource level
• Facilitation / Negotiation – advanced level
• Project Management - advanced level
• Networking - resource level
• Communication - resource level

Main duties

Leadership and strategic contribution

• Provide overall leadership to the LWF World Service program and its management team in the execution of the Country Strategy through innovative and impactful projects.
• Act as the LWF World Service representative in Ethiopia, engaging with government authorities, ministries, the LWF Member Church EECMY/DASSC, donors, UN agencies, NGOs, and other relevant stakeholders.

People and change management

• Manage, enable, coach and motivate team members to fulfil their mission, ensuring a conducive working environment.
• Oversee and manage the review of the current organizational structure and operational model, implementing organizational changes, and the organization's cultural initiatives, ensuring smooth transitions and minimizing disruption.
• Oversee key operational functions, including human resources, facilities, health and safety, security, and local legal compliance management.
• Lead the team through coaching, nurturing and motivating colleagues, creating a conducive working environment.
• Ensure that management values, systems, and roles are strengthened to enable the smooth implementation of LWF programmatic work.

Finance, resource mobilization, donor engagement, and grant management

• Identify and secure funding opportunities, lead proposal development, and negotiate contracts with donors.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with institutional donors, government agencies, and implementing partners.
• Engage closely and successfully with finance mechanisms, enabling colleagues to deliver and strengthen the financial management and compliance of the program in line with donor, related agency, and LWF World Service expectations and internal control systems.
• Mitigate financial risks and ensure all activities adhere to internal and external compliance standards.

Programmatic work

• Ensure that programmatic work is aligned with the LWF Ethiopia Strategy 2025 - 2031 and other LWF policies and guidelines.
• Ensure a consistent "local to global to local" approach in programming, linking local rights-based programming to national, regional, and international advocacy and action for change.
• Oversee the effective planning, implementation, and evaluation of projects and programs, ensuring objectives are met on time and in compliance with LWF’s quality and accountability standards (CHS, Sphere, safeguarding).
• Support the teams to continuously ensure rigorous planning, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (PMER) of programmatic work to the satisfaction of the communities we serve and in compliance with grant/donor requirements and LWF values, principles, policies, and guidelines.

Operational representation, advocacy, networking

• Represent the organization in official forums, promote program visibility, and advocate for organizational priorities.
• Maintain close communication and cooperation with LWF's Related Agencies and their local and regional offices; the LWF Member Church, other LWF World Service Programs in the region, and appropriate ecumenical and/or faith-based partners through frequent informal coordination and collaboration.
• Foster and maintain close coordination and collaboration with international and bilateral cooperating and co-financing partners, particularly the UN, government, and their agencies, diplomatic representations, and other international and national NGOs.

Accountability

• Ensure all interventions are undertaken in accordance with the LWF/WS policies and guidelines, specifically concerning the LWF Staff Code of Conduct, the Sphere Project, and the Core Humanitarian Standard, as well as rights-based, gender responsive, and climate-sensitive programming.

Security Management

• Be responsible for security related to the LWF Ethiopia program, ensuring that security matters are monitored and addressed.
• Ensure that a security plan is developed and employed for all levels of field staff and visitors to the program.

Position Environment and Dimensions

• The position reports to the LWF Geneva-based Regional Program Coordinator.
• Internally, the Representative mainly interacts with members of the Country Management Team, other LWF senior staff at country program level and in the field locations (currently in Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, Tigray and Somali regions), LWF World Service International Program Team, other World Service global teams, as well as the Action for Justice team and other departments in the LWF in general.

Major challenges

• Difficult fundraising environment – retaining current funding streams while securing new ones is a top priority.
• Nurturing open and collaborative relations with the LWF Member Church – EECMY and its diaconal arm DASSC, and with national and refugee-led organizations.
• Assuring program quality, accountability, and timeliness in spite of increasing insecurity, access constraints, and administrative impediments.

Skills Required:

• Social / Science / Project / Management / Development