Food Systems Expert Full Time

Organization Profile and Background

Welthungerhilfe is an international NGO with Head-Quarter in Bonn and working in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Welthungerhilfe is fighting to help free the world of hunger and poverty. This vision is the basis of our organization’s character and activities. Welthungerhilfe secure funds from private donations and international funding organizations, for example, EC, UN-OCHA, ECHO, and German Government. We work in the sectors of Rural Development, WASH, Natural Resource Management and Social Development. Welthungerhilfe Ethiopia follows partnership approach for project planning, implementation, and administration with Ethiopian Partner-NGOs and in exceptional cases WHH implements projects by itself.

Job Title: Food Systems Expert

Report to: Sector Coordinator – Food Systems and Climate Resilience

Duty Station: : Addis Ababa, with frequent travel to project locations

Contract Period: One year, with possibility of extension based on performance and funding

Purpose of the Role

The Food Systems Expert provides technical leadership to WHH Ethiopia on sustainable, inclusive and resilient food systems, with a particular emphasis on transforming gender relations and power dynamics within these systems.

The postholder will:

• Lead the design and management of food systems projects and components, ensuring that women, men, youth, and marginalized groups benefit equitably.
• Integrate gender-transformative approaches across the food system – from production and processing to markets and consumption – while promoting climate-resilient agriculture, fair market systems, and improved diets.
• Ensure projects are high quality, evidence-based, and aligned with WHH strategies, Ethiopian government priorities, and donor requirements.

Key Responsibilities

Food Systems Leadership

• Embed gender power analysis into food systems assessments, project design, implementation, and learning.
• Promote approaches that challenge harmful gender norms and strengthen the voice, decision-making power, control over resources, and economic opportunities of women and girls in food value chains.
• Ensure that all food systems interventions systematically consider the distinct needs, roles, and constraints of women, men, and youth, including unpaid care work, access to land and finance, and safety and GBV risk mitigation.
• Develop and adapt guidance, tools, and minimum standards for gender-responsive and gender-transformative food systems programming.
• Mentor project teams and partners on how to apply gender-transformative approaches in day-to-day implementation (e.g. farmer group organization, business development services, financial inclusion, market linkages).

Project Management & Coordination

• Lead or co-lead assigned food systems projects or components, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of activities, outputs, and results.
• Oversee detailed implementation planning, including workplans, activity budgets, procurement planning, and risk management for assigned projects.
• Coordinate with finance, logistics, MEAL, HR, and other departments to ensure smooth project implementation and compliance with WHH and donor rules.
• Where applicable, provide line management or functional supervision to project staff, including work planning, performance management, and day-to-day guidance.
• Ensure high-quality and timely internal and donor reporting (narrative and technical), including progress against indicators, challenges, lessons learned, and corrective actions.
• Contribute to budget monitoring and forecast discussions, highlighting any risks of under/overspending and proposing reprogramming options where needed.

Technical Support to Programme Design & Proposal Development

• Provide technical inputs on food systems and gender transformation to concept notes and full proposals.
• Contribute to theories of change, logical frameworks, and indicator sets that reflect both food systems outcomes (e.g. productivity, market integration, diet diversity) and gender equality outcomes (e.g. decision-making, control over income, workload distribution).
• Support and/or lead technical assessments such as food systems analyses, gender and social inclusion analyses, market and value chain studies, and climate and risk assessments.
• Review and quality assure technical sections of proposals and annexes before submission.

Quality Assurance, Backstopping & Advisory Support

• Provide ongoing advisory support to project teams to ensure technical quality and adherence to gender-transformative and food systems approaches.
• Conduct regular field visits for monitoring, coaching, and joint problem-solving with project teams and partners.
• Help integrate cross-cutting priorities (climate change, conflict sensitivity, youth inclusion, localization, and safeguarding) into project strategies and activities.
• Review project reports, case studies, and communication materials for technical rigor and coherent presentation of food systems and gender-related results.

Capacity Strengthening of Staff and Partners

• Assess capacity gaps of WHH staff and partners in food systems and gender-transformative programming.
• Support partners to institutionalize gender-transformative practices in their own policies, procedures, and project management.

Evidence, MEAL & Knowledge Management

• Work with MEAL staff to define indicators and learning questions that capture food systems and gender equality changes.
• Support design and implementation of studies (baseline/endline, impact assessments, gender and social norm studies, market assessments) related to food systems and gender transformation.
• Document and share lessons learned, success stories, and innovations demonstrating how food systems interventions can shift gender norms and improve equitable outcomes.
• Contribute to internal learning events, learning briefs, and technical guidance documents.

Coordination, Networking & Representation

• Represent WHH in relevant national and regional technical groups, clusters, and platforms related to food systems, agriculture, gender equality, and food and nutrition security.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with government institutions, research bodies, universities, women’s rights organizations, private sector actors, and development partners.
• Contribute to advocacy and policy dialogue on food systems in Ethiopia, providing evidence and messages from WHH’s work.

• University degree in agriculture, agricultural economics, food systems, rural development, gender studies, development studies, or a related field; a Master’s degree is an advantage.
• At least 4 years of relevant experience in food systems, agriculture, livelihoods, or food and nutrition security, including substantial experience integrating or leading gender-transformative work.
• Proven experience in managing or co-managing projects: workplanning, budgeting, coordination with support functions, partner management, and reporting to donors.
• Solid understanding of food systems in Ethiopia, including smallholder agriculture, local and regional markets, and policy frameworks.
• Experience with donor-funded projects (e.g. BMZ, EU, GIZ, ECHO, UN agencies, foundations), including proposal development and reporting.
• Strong analytical and writing skills; excellent command of English and Amharic (spoken and written). Knowledge of other local languages is an asset.

Core Competencies

• Strong technical skills in food systems and gender equality programming, including systems thinking and the ability to work across sectors.
• Proven project management abilities: planning, prioritization, problem-solving, and delivery to deadlines.
• Strong facilitation and capacity-building skills for diverse groups (staff, partners, communities, government).
• Ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and partners, and to support others in a coaching style.
• Sensitivity to power dynamics, gender, age, disability, and other forms of exclusion, and commitment to do-no-harm principles.
• High level of integrity, accountability, and alignment with WHH values, including respect, participation, and transparency.