Community Development Officer, Jimma - SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES ETHIOPIA

Vacancy Announcement

SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES ETHIOPIA IS CHANGING AND GROWING! COME JOIN OUR DYNAMIC TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS TODAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN THROUGHOUT ETHIOPIA!

SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia is a non-profit, non-political and non-denominational international organization. At present it has seven children’s villages and affiliated facilities located in different regions of Ethiopia. SOS Children’s Villages provides abandoned, orphaned and destitute children with a new and permanent home.

SOS Children’s Village Ethiopia is looking for a competent and able Community Development Officer  who meets the requirements stated bellow.

Job Title: Community Development Officer
Application Deadline: March 24, 2014
Number of Position: one
Duty Station: SOS Children’s Village program Jimma

Position summary
The Community Development Officer is responsible for guiding and supporting the work with individual families participating in the programme, for whom s/he has been allocated responsibility. This involves directly assessing the family situation of potential child participants and facilitating the development of a family’s first family development plan (FDP). Beyond this, s/he works closely with co-workers of the community-based partners (key implementation partners), to realise the programme’s commitments towards the development of the family vis-à-vis the family’s own contributions, and to support the community-based partner in its role as the ‘first line’ of contact and support for the family.

Priority tasks & responsibilities

1. Lead the initial assessment of families of potential child participants
2. Facilitate the preparation of a family’s first family development plan (FDP)
3. Support co-workers of the community-based partner(s) in their work with families
4. Support the effective delivery of support services by the programme
5. Work with the community-based partners
6. Support monitoring & evaluation within the programme

Job Requirements

Must criteria

• Degree or equivalent qualification in social sciences, development studies, community development or public administration.
• At least 3 years hands-on experience of implementing a social development programme
• Experiences in working with the target group (e.g. vulnerable children and their families)
• Awareness and understanding of social development issues including gender, education, health, HIV/AIDS, etc.
• Experience with negotiations and management of external partners and service providers.
• Experience in project management, monitoring and evaluation.
• Experience in the deployment of participatory Rural Appraisal techniques.
• Experience in project designing and proposal development.
• Experience in doing assessments and action research.
• Oromifa language Proficiency
• Driving licence

Competencies and Skills

• Understanding of child situation issues: knowledge in the area of child situation, child development and family & community development; knowledge of relevant local and national laws, regulations and protocols.
• Communication, partnership & networking skills: ability to foster effective relationships with the key stakeholders of the programme including the local authorities, community leadership, partner organizations and participating families. Ability to represent the organization externally.
• Creativity and Innovation: Develops new insights into situations; questions conventional approaches; encourages new ideas and innovations; designs and implements new or cutting edge programs/processes.
• Resilience and tenacity: Deals effectively with pressure; remains optimistic and persistent, even under adversity. Recovers quickly from setbacks. Stays with a problem/line of thinking until a solution is reached or no longer reasonably attainable.
• Collaboration: driven to work with others, able to build partnerships and networks internally and externally.
• Meeting deadlines
• Project cycle management.
• Report writing skills
• Strategic thinking skills.

How To Apply

Application instruction:

Qualified applicants with the mentioned criteria shall submit their applications, CV and other credentials to the following address:

• SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia, Addis Ababa e-mail address: Jimma.Jobs@sosethiopia.org.et. Applicantsmust only write  'Community Development Officer' in the subject line of their email,

Female applicants are highly encouraged
N.B. Only shortlisted Candidates will be contacted