Project Lead - GBV Prevention & Response in HoA

Plan International Ethiopia (PIE) is seeking a qualified Project Lead to provide strategic leadership and oversight for a regional project, “Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response in the Horn of Africa,” implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

The Project Lead will oversee project implementation across the three countries, ensuring high-quality programming, achievement of results, financial compliance, donor reporting, stakeholder engagement, and effective team leadership. The role will promote feminist principles of collaboration, participation, transparency, and respect for women-led organizations throughout the project lifecycle.

The project aims to strengthen sustainable systems for GBV prevention and response by supporting Women-Led Organizations (WLOs), enhancing coordination and referral mechanisms, building the capacity of service providers, and promoting survivor-centered and gender-responsive services.

BASED IN ADDIS ABABA, THE PROJECT LEAD WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH COUNTRY TEAMS AND UNDERTAKE REGULAR TRAVEL TO KENYA AND SOMALIA TO ENSURE CONSISTENT SUPPORT, ENGAGEMENT, AND REPRESENTATION ACROSS ALL PROJECT LOCATIONS.

Key Accountabilities Include:

• Provide overall strategic leadership and accountability for project delivery, impact, and reputation across all three countries, ensuring aligned approaches, consistent engagement, and effective stakeholder and donor communication.
• Lead joint annual work planning to ensure alignment with the logical framework and budgets; facilitates cross-country collaboration and shared problem-solving; and addresses misalignments, escalating unresolved issues to the Regional Leadership Committee as needed.
• Ensure that programmatic processes are jointly reviewed, discussed, and agreed across all three countries within the PMU, leaving scope for country-specific approaches as needed.

• Lead the activities related to grant-making to local WLOs and any direct implementation of activities carried out by Plan.
• Grant management, disbursement and reporting processes developed in collaboration with women’s organizations and responsive to their needs.
• Project cycle management processes and tools (including detailed implementation plans) effectively implemented to achieve project results and comply with donor requirements, government, and partnership agreements.
• Compliance tools and frameworks are designed to be responsive to the capacities of women’s organizations and meet donor requirements for audit.
• Ensure program strategies in gender equality and women’s empowerment are responsive to the context, implemented consistently across all project activities, and adhere to best practices in the sector. 
• Review progress on the project log frame and map progress on project outputs against objectives.
• Review consolidated expenditure reports prepared by the Grant and Finance Coordinator ahead of each monthly PMU meeting; ensures financial risks and forecast updates are escalated to CHNO ahead of donor deadlines.
• Ensure timely and high-quality submission of programmatic reports through consolidation of country-level programmatic inputs from the three countries, in line with donor reporting requirements. Financial consolidation is led by the Grant and Finance Coordinator.
• Feminist monitoring and evaluation system, tools and processes are developed for measuring the results of the project, and project data is collected, and validated by and shared with relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure that local laws and operational policies and protocols across the three countries, including for security, are observed and respected.
• Lead monthly PMU meetings to ensure alignment on implementation, finances, and timelines; tracks progress and risks against the logframe; and maintains a project-wide overview for rapid briefing of the PSC or Donor.
• Ensures the implementation of annual audits across the 3 program countries.
• The Project Lead is responsible for establishing and maintaining regular technical calls with CNO Technical Advisors. This includes proactively identifying and communicating the technical support needs of country teams to CNO, ensuring advisors are effectively deployed and guidance is timely and relevant.

Synergy, Communication and Coordination: Foster and maintain productive and professional relationships with and between all project stakeholders, particularly with local WLOs.

• Provide strategic and feminist leadership within the project’s governance structures and in support of women’s organizations.
• Foster strong coordination and collaboration with women’s organizations through open and transparent communication, participation and joint decision-making, and respect for their agency and technical expertise.
• Cultivate a positive relationship with NO, COs and relevant government departments using a bottom-up, inclusive management approach.
• Ensure effective and open communication on project progress to the SDC jointly with CHNO. Coordinates in country engagement as needed.
• Establishes and maintains systems for capturing, documenting, and sharing best practices and lessons learned across the three countries, embedding structured reflection into the project cycle and ensuring continuous feedback into program implementation.
• Work with program staff and technical advisors in all COs to identify the technical support needs of the project and ensure this support is provided.
• Ensures consistent information flow with CHNO and engages CNO and CHNO staff for technical and project management support
• Develop and maintain a programme Strategic Risk Matrix; highlight/share updates on any strategic challenges as part of the Strategic Risk Matrix.
• Implement and review the project communication strategies.
• Ensure timely submission of updates and other product in accordance with deadlines issued by CHNO and the donor.
• Participates in the Regional Leadership Committee (RLC) as defined in project governance, ensuring timely escalation of unresolved regional issues and communicating RLC decisions and action points to the PMU.

Team Leadership: Lead and manage a team of professionals from the three countries to ensure high levels of motivation, commitment, capacity and teamwork.  

• Roles, responsibilities and expectations are clearly communicated and understood by the full project team and tasks are appropriately delegated.
• Internal planning meetings are organized regularly to provide direction and guidance.
• Create the conditions for the PMU to function as a genuine decision-making and joint planning body by facilitating cross-country dialogue, equal participation of all three Country Project Coordinators, and shared problem-solving within monthly meetings.
• Team members are mentored and coached to achieve their full potential and results of the project.
• Staff performance reviews are conducted in line with Plan International performance management system.
• Ensure that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection, Gender Equality and Inclusion, and Safeguarding are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant implementation standards and guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct, their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures. 

Qualifications/ experience essential:

• MA in Project Management, Gender Studies, or other related social science fields.
• Minimum 7 years in leading complex development projects that delivered high quality programming and gender transformative results & managing or participating in multi- country program implementation.

• Progressive experience working for INGOs in increasingly senior-level management positions.
• Strong experience in partnership management and aptitude for cultivating strong relationships with multiple stakeholders including grass root level women’s organizations, government, and donors.
• Experience leading cross-functional and remote teams to deliver results.
• Proven experience in directly managing a diverse team including technical and finance staff ensuring high levels of motivation, commitment, capacity and teamwork. 
• Strong understanding of feminist principles, monitoring and evaluation, and results-based management tools and approaches.
• Demonstrable experience managing multimillion-dollar institutional grants. 
• Strong understanding and proven application of project cycle management.
• Ability to establish priorities in a time sensitive environment, track project performance, meet deadlines, and ensure high quality deliverables.
• Ability to fully function in English (verbal and written) is essential. All donor reports, deliverables and communication will be in English.
• Proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications (e.g. word processing, spreadsheet, database, internet).

Qualifications/ experience Desirable:

• Commitment to working transparently and with integrity.
• Inclusive and empowering approach to leadership and project management.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills, natural ability to manage diverse opinions and agendas, finding win-win solutions in a respectful manner. 
• Demonstrated creativity and willingness to innovate.
• Flexible and adaptable work style to respond to an evolving context.
• Proven leadership, inter-personal and cross-cultural skills, and ability to build and motivate teams.
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritize and meet deadlines.

Safeguarding Children and Program Participants (Safeguarding) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI)

• Understands and puts into practice the responsibilities under Safeguarding and GEI policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), ensuring that concerns are reported and managed per the appropriate procedures.
• Ensures that all staff in the unit/function/department are properly inducted on and understand their role in upholding Plan International’s safeguarding and GEI policies.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Program Participants and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in day-to-day work.
• Ensures that Plan Ethiopia contributes to Plan International’s global efforts to ensure safeguarding and GEI, including making sure that relevant reporting and data are submitted.