Who we are

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia is an International Non-governmental organization and a member of SOS Children’s Villages International Federation. We started our humanitarian work in Ethiopia with the opening of our first Village in Mekelle, Northern part of Ethiopia in 1974. Since then, we have expanded our programs to different regions where there are significant needs for intervention and where we believe we can work in partnership with all relevant actors to bring sustainable positive outcomes for children’s and young people. 

Today, we have grown significantly to meet the persistent challenges that confront Ethiopian children who have lost parental care and those that are at risk of losing their parental care. Working in close collaboration with international donors, local government and community-based organizations across eight program locations; we aspire that every child grows up with love, respect and security.

Want to know more about life at SOS?

🌟 Explore our Employee Value Proposition Here

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Our Commitment to Safeguarding  

At SOS Children's Villages, safeguarding isn't just a policy, it's a foundational value embedded in everything we do. We are unwavering in our commitment to protecting the children, young people, adults, and communities we serve, as well as our workforce and resources.

We cultivate an environment of trust and accountability where every voice is heard and respected. All successful candidates will be expected to champion our holistic safeguarding principles, actively upholding our Child & Youth Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, and regulations against sexual misconduct, fraud, and corruption.

By joining our team, you commit to integrating these vital standards into your work, ensuring the highest levels of safety, ethics, and integrity in every action and partnership.

Together, we create a world where everyone feels safe, respected, and protected

Join Our Mission:

The Community Engagement and Partnerships Officer is responsible for strengthening collaboration between the organization, communities, and key stakeholders to ensure effective and inclusive program implementation. The role promotes meaningful participation of women, children, and youth, builds strategic partnerships with local authorities and civil society actors, and supports coordination, referral linkages, and accountability mechanisms. The officer ensures safeguarding principles and community feedback systems are integrated into all engagement activities to enhance program impact and sustainability.

Key Responsibilities

Community Engagement

  • Facilitate community dialogue sessions, awareness campaigns, and participatory meetings on project themes (e.g., SRHR, GBV prevention, child protection, safeguarding).
  • Mobilize community structures (youth groups, women groups, religious leaders, elders, volunteers).
  • Promote inclusive participation of vulnerable and marginalized groups.
  • Support the establishment and strengthening of community-based organization and platforms.

Partnerships & Coordination

  • Build and maintain strong relationships with local government offices, CSOs, schools, health facilities, and community-based organizations.
  • Develop and maintain effective coordination and long-term mechanisms with external partners including partner CSOs, government offices, community-based organizations, and private sector partners
  • Support service mapping and referral linkages for SRHR, GBV, and child protection services.
  • Develop and track partnership agreements and action plans.

Capacity Building

  • Organize and facilitate training for community actors, volunteers, and local partners.
  • Provide technical support to women-led groups, youth groups, and OPDs where applicable.
  • Strengthen partners’ understanding of safeguarding and accountability mechanisms.

Monitoring, Reporting & Documentation

  • Collect and document community-level data, success stories, and lessons learned.
  • Prepare timely activity and progress reports.
  • Support feedback and accountability mechanisms to ensure community voices are heard.

Safeguarding & Accountability

  • Ensure proper safeguarding procedures and policies are in place to protect programme participant children, young persons, adults and other stakeholders.
  • Support incorporating safeguarding in the projects that are designed and implement such activities based on the project plan.
  • Ensure that children, young people, families, communities who are receiving Family strengthening services and partners have awareness  on the safeguarding policies and regulations and reporting procedures
  • Responsible for reporting any safeguarding suspicion, concern, allegation, or incident immediately, following the safeguarding reporting procedures.
  • Responsible for ensuring behaviours and all relationships are based on safeguarding and in line with the Code
  • Conduct themselves per the Code of Conduct, Safeguarding and Local/Country Policies and  Procedures;
  • Be vigilant about any possible form of abuse/harm, neglect, harassment, or exploitation against, children, youth and adults in personal and professional lives;
  • Report any safeguarding incident or concern within 24 hours to the  Incident Management Team focal person or concerned party through the defined channels for reporting the allegation

Our Ideal Candidate?

Let's find out if we're a match. The next step in our process depends on how your background closely align with the below criteria’s. 

Essential Requirements (Must-Have):

Education: 

  • BA degree in Social Science, Social work, Sociology, Psychology and other related fields .

Experience:

  • A minimum of 2 years’ experience matching the above duties and responsibilities.

Desired Assets (Nice-to-Have): 

  • Experience of working in the community, voluntary, science engagement or a related sector
  • Experience of coordinating project work and working on multiple projects at the same time
  • Ability to build good working relationships with internal colleagues, external partners & stakeholders
  • Knowledge of community mobilization and participation in the development project
  • Good organizational and time management skills
  • Clear communication skills
  • Resilience – adaptable with the ability to remain calm and effective when working on fast-moving, high-pressure projects
  • Experience of Microsoft Office applications.
  • Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation, and coaching/mentoring.
  • Proficiency in the use of MS Office and other computer applications
  • Excellent command of written and spoken English
  • Good command of the local language
  • Prior INGO Experience is an asset

SOS Lead and Core Competencies 

Lead Competency 

  • Role model: Act as a role model for the organization, living our values and inspiring and learning from others
  • Collaboration: Remove barriers to participation, share decision making and build partnerships
  • Empowerment: Promote inclusion and equitable sharing of power
  • Strategic Thinking: Live the values and mission, setting realistic goals and translating them into actionable plans

Core Competency 

  • Kindness: Act with empathy towards everyone he/she works with.
  • Continuous Learning: Make an effort to learn, understand and grow as a person, admitting your own mistakes.
  • Inclusiveness: In any actions show respect and care for others.
  • Initiative: speak up when things are not right, do not hesitate to act, and adapt to change when necessary.
  • Results Orientation: look for solutions and focus on desired results.

Does This Sound Like You?

To apply, please submit your updated resume via SOS Children's Villages Application portal (ICIMS)

We actively champion diversity and inclusion and strongly encourage women to step forward and apply. As part of our unwavering commitment to holistic safeguarding protecting children, youth, adults, and assets our selection process emphasizes value alignment and includes thorough background checks for all potential hires.

SOS Children's Villages in Ethiopia is an equal opportunity employer, providing fair consideration to all applicant regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or class.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

At Impactpool we do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.