Project Officer

About Roots Ethiopia

Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization incorporated under the Wisconsin Statutes in the United States of America. Roots Ethiopia is registered as a Foreign Charity by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia with Agency for Civil Society Organizations (ACSO), under Registration No. 3847. It works together with local communities to improve schools, educate children, and enable livelihoods. These are community priorities, so they are our priorities.

The overall objective is to improve access to and quality of primary education in Ethiopia. Specific objectives include:

a)     To provide learning resources for under-resourced primary schools;

b)     To provide school sponsorships for underprivileged students;

c)      To provide income generating grants for poor families with school children;

Roots Ethiopia (RE) currently implements projects in 4 zones of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region of Ethiopia. RE invites you, the qualified candidate, to apply for Project Officer position;

Job Summary:

Under the guidance of the Project Coordinator (PC), s/he supports Roots Ethiopia’s operations particularly in project development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting. He/she is a key person at the community level, working closely with key stakeholders, partner organizations, beneficiaries, and community members in delivering Roots Ethiopia’s services. S/he is responsible for the proper implementation of project works in the field and management of organizational properties. 

Specific Roles and Responsibilities

The Project Officer will:

• Assist the PC in preparing an action plan for each program activities; 
• Conduct needs assessment of target groups like schools, families and children; 
• Participate in identification and selection process of target beneficiaries;
• Conduct regular field visits to project sites as per the requirement of the project; 
• Facilitate the distribution of supplies, resources and funds to the beneficiaries; 
• Assist the PM in organizing workshops and trainings based on beneficiaries’ needs; 
• Prepare field reports or summary reports, and submit to the PM in a timely manner; 
• Collect, update, organize, store and retrieve data of all program beneficiaries; 
• Work closely with the project team to ensure that all planned activities are dealt with according to the action plan; 
• Support admin staff in dealing with administrative tasks relating to RE operations; 
• Respond promptly to any internal queries related to all programs activities;
• Follow up project implementation as per agreed procedures and policies;
• Mentor, provide support and feedback for beneficiaries in areas of improvement; 
• Develop and maintain healthy relationships with beneficiaries, and build a knowledge base of current trends and changes in the communities;
• Document best practices, provide recommendation for work plans, and annual reviews; 
• Assist in monitoring process and evaluation of activities, including financial performances; 
• Participate in zonal and woreda performance and mid-term and annual review meetings; 
• Assist the PM in preparing quarterly progress reports and annual reports;
• Assess potential project risks, and devise the necessary mitigation measures;
• Supervise, coach, train and evaluate performance of staff under her/his supervision;
• Perform other duties as required.

Department: Programs

Reports To: Project Coordinator

Required Qualification, Experience & Skills:

• Have at least University Degree in Education Planning and Management, Development Studies, Sociology and Social Anthropology, Social Work or other related disciplines
• Has at least 6 years of relevant work experience
• Has excellent MS Office application skills including MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-Access, MS-Power point, etc.
• Proficiency in English and Amharic languages; ability to speak local languages is essential.
• Has excellent coordination and time management skills
• Excellent supervisory skills
• Be a good team player

Required Travel: Frequent travels within project implementation areas

Key Working Relationships: Programs Coordinator, Project Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Finance Officer, and HR and Operations Coordinator