Community Engagement and Youth Mobilization Officer Full Time NEW

Program: Community Service as a Pathway to Work (CSPW)
Organization: Youth Network for Sustainable Development (YNSD)
Reports to: Cluster Manager

About YNSD and the CSPW Program

Youth Network for Sustainable Development (YNSD) is a non-governmental, non-profit making indigenous organization which was founded in 2003 by four school clubs and fifteen youth associations. Currently, YNSD is an umbrella Network for more than 1000 youth organizations/associations at national level.

Its mission is to contribute for the sustainable development through promoting partnerships, networking, and building the capacity of its member organizations while its vision is to see Ethiopian youth holistically empowered and meaningfully engaged in the country’s all-rounded and sustainable development.

It has been implementing programs and projects including youth and women empowerment, Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) & HIV/AIDS, Information & Communication Technology, environment sustainability, advocacy, WASH and new emerging issues.

Currently it is running a five-year program (2023 – 2027) implemented in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and JHU-CCP. The program is running in six regions, 14+ zones, 150+ woredas, and 1800+ kebeles of the country. Where YNSD covers 60% of the target.

The program, as referred to as Community Service as a pathway to Work (CSPW) is primarily aimed at engaging the youth in community services on voluntary basis and help them acquire skills to be employed/create self-employment opportunities in dignified and fulfilling work reaching 500K Youth (70% women) and 10% vulnerable Groups in community services and expected to support 200K youth (18-35 years of age) transition to work.

Job Summary:

The Community Engagement and Youth Mobilization Officer collaborates with cluster managers, youth-led organizations, CSPW program advisors, and key stakeholders to drive the program’s success in the target areas. Focused on coordination and high-quality implementation, the officer ensures program activities empower young people, particularly women, vulnerable groups, and those from conflict-affected areas. They support program design, execution, and day-to-day management, ensuring best practices in community service and youth mobilization. Additionally, they oversee field teams, contribute to performance reporting, and work with the M&E unit to identify and address barriers to youth and community engagement through strategic solutions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Mobilize and engage youth participants of the program in collaboration with concerned stakeholders and teams
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, and strategic direction, and ensure appropriate support for the implementation of program activities to increase engagement among community leaders, key community figures, CBO leaders, religious leaders, and youth uptake of community service and job preparedness interventions.
• Conduct stakeholder mapping on organizations working in the program implementation area related to community services.
• Lead the identification of needs and barriers for the youth community services in each intervention Woreda and city, and design a strategy.
• Work closely with partners to increase awareness of, demand for, and access to youth community services;
• Support closely the youth leaders, Kebele and implementation teams in mobilizing and engaging youth leaders in community services
• Identify appropriate strategies to address demand generation and community mobilization bottlenecks that act as an obstacle to effective community service.
• Ensure the needs of young people identified and met accordingly through appropriate program channels.
• Facilitate the identification needs; develop tools, guides and approaches, and capacity strengthening plans to enhance the capacity of both program staff, youth and youth serving organizations, and government stakeholders on institutionalizing youth community service and to facilitate knowledge transfer.
• Document and maintain an inventory of successful tools and approaches for demand generation and community mobilization/engagements.
• Work with the program Team to design and implement a plan to track data/results related to community service and community mobilization activities .
• Ensure that the IEC/BCC material developed considering young people’s social, economic and emotional skills, enabling them to make positive choices, manage change and navigate risk.
• Ensure effective partnership with all Stakeholders and proactively engage in organizing forums with partners to ensure ownership of other organizations.
• Facilitate trainings, review, and experiences sharing meetings to facilitate youth program implementation and improve performance.
• Review existing learning and best practices and articulate key barriers for youth access to community service and employment opportunities. Share evidence and best practices, what works well about youth empowerment for other program team.
• Identify model youth community service locations, organize experience sharing and facilitate learning;
• In collaboration with the program team, contribute to the development of work-plans and annual implementation plans that are consistent with the activity goals and objectives;
• Organizes and reports feedback relating to the youth perception of the community service, youth unemployment and other services provided by the program to inform the management decision-making process.
• Provide timely response, feedback and support to senior program personnel’s and focal persons on technical and management matters relevant to program implementations ensuring they are advised of all developments and problems.
• Working closely with MEL, contribute for tracking and documentation of achievements and challenges including key learnings and best practices. Ensure compliance with M&E and donor requirements.
• Contribute to the development and timely submission of written reports, including partner reports and oral presentations on the project. Prepare periodic update reports on project successes, challenges facing the project, and progress toward meeting deliverables.
• Perform other assignments given by the cluster manager/CEYM Advisor

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, education, International Development, Development Studies, or other related fields.
• Minimum of 4 years of relevant professional experience in youth development, community engagement, or similar programs.
• Demonstrated experience in implementing youth-focused programs and community mobilization initiatives.
• Strong background in demand generation, community engagement, and service delivery strengthening.
• Experience working on donor-funded projects is an asset.
• Proven experience in capacity building, training, and facilitation across diverse groups.
• Strong monitoring, evaluation, and reporting experience.
• Excellent communication, coordination, and documentation skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong interpersonal and networking skills
• Analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities
• Results-oriented with a proactive approach
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines
• Planning, execution, documentation and report writing