Capacity Building Specialist

Purpose and scope of assignment

Reporting to the Head of the Project Unit (HPU), the Capacity Building Specialist responsible for supporting the Ethiopian Mine Action Office with regular strategic, policy and technical advice, advocacy, stakeholder coordination, and relationship building, with the overall aim of supporting the building the capacity and sustainability of the mine action sector in the country so it can operate self-sufficiently in the long term. 

More specifically, the successful incumbent will support the mine action sector in Ethiopia in identifying capacity building priorities. S/he is expected to work closely with the various colleagues within the Project Management Unit (PMU) to support the delivery of the project and maintain regular engagement with relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry of Defense, Government entities at Federal and Regional levels, the wider UN system, (inter)national NGOs and service providers involved in mine action in the country.

S/he must be able to apply, with a great degree of autonomy, the below duties and responsibilities of the project success criteria: 

1. Ensure coordination, coherence, and quality of the capacity development approach project-wide:

● Monitor the capacity of the Ethiopian Mine Action Office (EMAO) and provide guidance on a capacity development implementation plan.

● Ensure the coordination between the different units of the project and advise the Head of Project Unit on changes or deviations from plans, including through the identification and management of risks and issues, ensuring maximum benefit to clients and stakeholders.

● Advise/assist the EMAO on conducting Accreditation for Mine Action operators in Ethiopia

● Develop a reporting framework to ensure EMAO receives sufficient information from mine action organizations to enable it to track and manage activities 

● Guide and assist EMAO in the implementation of a plan to progressively and systematically develop its capacity to manage mine action, and organize review workshops and coordination meetings accordingly.

● Ensure that UNMAS Ethiopia is fully informed of the progress made on capacity development initiatives in the mine action sector in the country

● Ensure that information gathered from monitoring and evaluation is used to inform stakeholders of progress and to improve the project delivery.

● Provide advice to the UNMAS Chief Mine Action Programme (CMAP) and senior UNMAS personnel on all aspects related to humanitarian mine action in the country and any relevant policy and legislative updates ;

2. Manage institutional capacity development assistance and support for the Ethiopian authorities

● Support a sector-wide interaction with the national authorities at institutional and technical levels to operationalize a sustainable and context-relevant technical capacity to meet the needs of the mine action sector in Ethiopia..

●Develop a prioritization process for task selection

● Assist the EMAO  through the drafting of ten national mine action standards in accordance with IMAS, including

1. Non-Technical Survey

2. Technical Survey

3. Battle Area Clearance 

4. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)

5. Medical Support to Demining Operations

6. Quality Management of Mine Action Activities

7. Land Release

8. Post Clearance Documentation

9. Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE)

10. Information Management for Mine Action

11. Reporting and Investigation of demining incidents 

● Provide guidance on key sector regulatory issues including Boards of Investigation, ensuring periodic reviews of National Standards, critical non-conformities, Land Release policy, and Information Management.

Education

• Advanced university degree (master degree or equivalent) with five years of relevant experience OR

• First-level university degree (bachelor degree or equivalent) with seven years of relevant experience 

Work Experience

• Relevant experience is defined as experience in project management or project development, supporting operations in military, humanitarian, conflict, post-conflict, or development contexts with public or private sector organizations

• Mine action operations experience in a humanitarian, conflict, or development context is required

• Experience working with local actors and building the capacity of local governmental institutions is required

• Experience in working in humanitarian mine action context in Ethiopia is desired

Language Skills

• Fluency in English is required (speaking, reading, and writing)

• Fluency in Amharic is desired (speaking, reading, and writing)