ActionAid Ethiopia is currently seeking a visionary and dynamic Country Director (CD) to provide strategic leadership, high-level representation, and overall management of ActionAid Ethiopia. The CD will inspire staff, strengthen partnerships, influence policies, and ensure effective delivery of our Country Strategy Paper (CSP) in alignment with ActionAid International’s global Strategy Implementation Framework (SIF).

The CD is expected to champion feminist leadership principles, safeguarding policies, and ActionAid’s values, while driving innovation, sustainability, and accountability across programs, fundraising, advocacy, operations, and people management.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 

          Strategic Leadership & Representation:

• Lead the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of ActionAid Ethiopia’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP).

• Contribute to federation-wide priorities, campaigns, and decision-making, maintaining regular communication with the Head of Africa, International Secretariat, and peer Country Directors.

• Drive organizational development and transformation processes in line with federation priorities and change management initiatives.

• Ensure program strategies remain relevant to Ethiopia’s political, social, and economic context.

• Represent ActionAid Ethiopia in national, regional, and global forums with government, donors, NGOs, networks, and the media.

• Build and maintain strong partnerships with civil society organizations, social movements, community-based organizations, and academic institutions.

  Program Development & Delivery:

• Oversee design and implementation of high-quality programs with a focus on gender justice, youth engagement, climate justice, humanitarian response, and governance.

• Ensure participatory, inclusive, and cost-effective program delivery with strong monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems.

• Promote documentation, learning, and dissemination of best practices to strengthen impact and influence policy.

• Lead humanitarian preparedness and contingency planning, liaising with ActionAid’s International Humanitarian Response Team.

• Promote evidence-based learning to strengthen impact and influence national and international policies.

  Policy, Advocacy & Research:

• Champion feminist leadership and embed safeguarding, child protection, and accountability across all work.

• Drive ActionAid Ethiopia’s policy and advocacy agenda in collaboration with national and international stakeholders.

• Encourage research and evidence generation to inform programming and influence national and international policy debates.

• Champion feminist leadership approaches and embed safeguarding and accountability in all programming.

• Strengthen AAE’s public image through proactive media engagement, digital presence, and external communications, including social media fundraising.

  Fundraising & External Engagement:

• Develop and implement a robust fundraising strategy that diversifies income and ensures sustainability.

• Strengthen donor relations, ensuring effective communication, grant compliance, and accountability.

• Proactively identify local fundraising opportunities and build AAE’s credibility with donor partners by showcasing impact, particularly with women and girls.

• Ensure strict donor compliance, timely reporting, and accountability across grants and sponsorship programs.

• Lead external communication strategies, including media and digital platforms, to strengthen AAE’s profile and advocacy.

           People Leadership & Culture:

• Lead, develop, and manage the Senior Management Team (SMT) to work collectively towards organizational goals.

• Promote ActionAid’s values, feminist leadership principles, and a culture of transparency, accountability, and inclusion.

• Ensure gender balance in staffing, invest in staff development, and promote team innovation and cohesion.

• Encourage a corporate perspective amongst staff and actively promote staff exchange, secondment and development schemes, where these contribute to the meeting of ActionAid's programme objectives and priorities.

  Finance, Operations & Risk Management:

• Ensure financial integrity, accountability, and compliance with ActionAid International’s financial framework, donor requirements, and Ethiopian legal obligations.

• Oversee budget preparation, expenditure control, and resource allocation to ensure cost-effective and impactful program delivery.

• Strengthen risk management systems and internal controls to safeguard assets, resources, and reputation.

• Ensure proper procurement practices, asset management, and financial reporting in line with policy and donor standards.

  Governance & Federation Engagement:

• Maintain regular communication with the ActionAid International Head of Africa, International Secretariat staff, peer Country Directors, and federation governance structures.

• Contribute to ActionAid International’s global initiatives, campaigns, and task forces.

• Ensure ActionAid Ethiopia complies with national regulations and maintains positive and cooperative relations with government authorities.

• Drive organizational transformation processes in line with ActionAid’s federation priorities and change management initiatives.

• Master’s degree in social sciences, development studies, management, international studies, or a related field.
• Minimum of 15 years’ experience in the development sector, including at least 10 years in senior leadership roles with proven record in program design, fundraising, external engagement, and organizational management.
• Demonstrated experience as a Country Director or equivalent leadership role in a comparable organization.
• Strong knowledge of Ethiopian social and economic context and its impact on development strategies.
• Proven record in fundraising and donor engagement, including innovative financing approaches.
• Experience working with social movements, feminist organizations, and youth-led initiatives.
• Proven ability to lead policy advocacy, external communications, and media engagement.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and diplomatic skills, with proven ability to influence at the highest levels.
• Strong skills in monitoring and evaluation systems to ensure program quality and accountability.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and diplomatic skills, with proven ability to influence at the highest levels.
• Strong commitment to ActionAid’s values, feminist leadership, safeguarding, and human rights-based approaches.
• Fluency in English is required.
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How To Apply

Interested applicants should submit an application letter (clearly stating salary expectations) together with a recent CV no later than 31 October 2025 through one of the following channels:

• Via Ethiojobs portal, or
• By post to ActionAid Ethiopia, P.O. Box 1261, Addis Ababa, or
• By email to hrod.ethiopia@actionaid.org (please indicate “Country Director – Ethiopia” in the subject line).

Important Notes:

• This position is open to Ethiopian Nationals. 
• ActionAid will conduct safeguarding reference checks on the successful candidate.
• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
• Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
• Please note that whilst all applicants will be assessed strictly on their individual merits, qualified women are especially encouraged to apply.