JOB SUMMARY:

Amref Health Africa seeks to hire a full-time Higher Education Technical Advisor to oversee day-to-day implementation of higher education-focused work on USAID Ethiopia’s Integrated Youth Activity (IYA). The Advisor will be based in Amref’s Addis Ababa office, with the potential for domestic and/or international travel. The position is full-time, grant-funded, starting immediately and anticipated to end Summer 2026.

The Higher Education Technical Advisor will lead the day-to-day work on a comprehensive, youth-centered approach to improve Higher Education Institutions’ (HEI) capacity to prepare workforce-ready graduates to lead Ethiopia’s economic, civil, and social development. This position will develop and manage relationships with Ethiopian universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions (TVET), senior Government of Ethiopia (GOE) officials, and implementing partner organizations, and oversee all day-to-day aspects of the design and implementation of IYA’s higher education activities.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Higher Education Technical Advisor will have the following duties and responsibilities:

Project Management

• Coordinate and oversee implementation of all IYA higher education activities to strengthen Ethiopian HEIs’ capacity to prepare youth for labor market and career success;
• Work closely with Ethiopian HEI partners, public/private stakeholders, and U.S. partners to co-design, establish, and sustain a multi-institutional HEI Alliance that will encourage partnerships among HEI institutions, public agencies, private sector, and youth-led organizations, in order to foster innovative strategies, share best practices, and support a robust evidence-based approach to advancing youth employment in Ethiopia
• Engage Ethiopian HEI partners and public and private sector employers to expand internships, externships, and other opportunities for HEI students to gain work-relevant experience, in collaboration with Ethiopian and U.S. HEI partners
• Manage the development and implementation of HEI faculty training programs to strengthen the use of practical problem-solving, applied learning, and other strategies to better integrate employers’ needs in the curriculum, in collaboration with Ethiopian and U.S. HEI partners
• Manage the creation and implementation of a career services professional staff development program, in collaboration with Ethiopian and U.S. HEI partners
• Liaise with IYA Youth Empowerment Fund team and HEI partners to support HEI career services infrastructure improvements
• Coordinate with GoE and HEI partners to establish systems to collect relevant and timely data around student career preparation and employment outcomes

Supervision and Relationship Management

• Recruit, supervise, and train Ethiopia-based project staff members who will assist with implementation of IYA’s higher education activities
• Recruit and manage Ethiopia-based technical experts to co-design and implement curricula for Ethiopian HEIs to better meet workforce needs
• Establish, manage, and maintain relationships with Ethiopian universities and TVETs and GoE officials, particularly Ministry of Science in Higher Education and Jobs
• Creation Commission, and represent IYA’s Higher Education team at external meetings, conferences, workshops, and other relevant convenings
• Establish and maintain relationships within IYA’s project teams and implementing partners, and manage internal communication about IYA’s higher education work
• Organize and convene HEI Alliance Working Group, including youth & professional representatives from universities, TVETs, GoE, and private sector partners

MEL and Reporting

• Coordinate with IYA MEL personnel to support robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning across HEI activities and outcomes
• Oversee the production of technical reports, performance reports, briefing papers, concept papers, and other periodic documentation focused on IYA’s HEI activities
• Support U.S. and Ethiopian partner HEIs’ research activities

Job Requirements

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant field such as youth/adult learning, higher education/TVET, curriculum development, international development, global studies, or other related social/behavioral sciences
• Ten years of relevant and progressively increasing responsibility leading programs focused on youth development, workforce development, higher education, private sector engagement, or other fields related to the program, with at least five of those years in Ethiopia or countries similar to Ethiopia
• Strong understanding of Ethiopian higher education institutions
• Experience in capacity development of higher education institutions (e.g., TVETs, colleges, polytechnics, universities)
• Experience working with higher education officials, university leadership, government ministries, development partners, and international organizations
• Track record of working in teams and forging partnerships
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting education, leadership, and workforce success for women and girls

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree in a relevant field such as higher education/TVET, distance learning, youth/adult learning, curriculum development, international development, global studies, or other related social/behavioral sciences
  Experience managing staff
  Experience working with U.S. colleges or universities
  Experience working on large-scale internationally funded projects (e.g. USAID, World Bank, Mastercard Foundation, Gates Foundation)
  Experience building public-private partnerships between HEIs and employers