Public Health and Partnership Officer

Deadline for Applications

June 28, 2026

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

B

Family Type (not applicable for home-based)

Family

Staff Member / Affiliate Type

UNOPS LICA2

Target Start Date

2026-07-01

Terms of Reference

General Background and Operational Context – Ethiopia

Ethiopia continues to face complex humanitarian challenges driven by conflict, climate shocks and regional instability. The country hosts over 1 million refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan, making it Africa’s second-largest refugee-hosting country. Additionally, there are significant number of internally displaced due to conflict and climate-related events such as droughts and floods.

The country is highly vulnerable to climate change, with displaced populations and host communities experiencing its health-related impacts firsthand. Ethiopia’s health system is overstretched, and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) presents a major challenge, especially given that donor funding for NCDs remains extremely limited. Humanitarian health responses have traditionally focused on communicable diseases and acute emergencies, leaving significant gaps in NCD care and mental health services.

Despite these challenges, Ethiopia maintains an open-door policy for refugees. However, the operational context is marked by encampment-based management and limited access to essential services.

In response, UNHCR’s 2025–2029 strategy emphasizes inclusion into national systems, climate action and sustainable public health programming. Key priorities include strengthening access to primary health care, NCD management, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and nutrition services for both refugees and host communities.

UNHCR holds the global mandate to assist governments in providing international protection and durable solutions for refugees worldwide. In Ethiopia, UNHCR, together with the Ministry of Health and partners, ensures that refugees have equal access to comprehensive primary health care and life-saving medical services at the same standard as Ethiopian nationals. Health facilities and community health programmes are supported both in refugee settlements and host communities across the country.

Despite these efforts, refugees in Ethiopia, especially those in urban areas, face financial barriers when accessing primary health care and hospital services. UNHCR's primary focus includes advocating for the inclusion of refugees in national strategies such as health insurance schemes and social protection programmes. To achieve this, a health system strengthening approach in collaboration with Ethiopian national authorities and with technical support from WHO is essential to ensure refugees' inclusion in the country's health response strategies.

In terms of durable solutions, Ethiopia is at an important crossroad with significant advancements being made at national and local levels to foster a policy environment conducive to the inclusion of refugees and a ‘solutions from the onset' approach to new emergencies, whereby national services, such as health, are being reinforced to cater to the needs of both refugees and members of the host communities alike. The momentum for support towards this transition process in Ethiopia is thus substantial and it is of key importance to deliver on the responsibility sharing, as outlined in the Global Compact on Refugees.

Taking the above context into account, UNHCR is now launching a new 3-year partnership to strengthen non-communicable disease (NCD) care for refugees and host communities in Ethiopia.

The partnership will focus on integrating NCD prevention and care into Ethiopia’s national primary healthcare system and addressing NCDs through a holistic approach that includes mental health and nutrition, under an overall framework of supporting the transition from parallel humanitarian health services to inclusive national systems. As part of the partnership there will also be focus on promoting environmentally sustainable healthcare infrastructure and supply chains.

2. Purpose and Scope of Assignment

The Partnership Coordination Officer will act as the main focal point in the UNHCR Country Office in Ethiopia and focus solely on implementation of the new partnership, entitled “Sustainable Refugee Health: Transitioning towards an inclusive and climate-resilient health system response to NCDs in Ethiopia”.

Under the supervision of the Senior Programme Coordinator in the UNHCR Country Office in Addis Ababa, the Partnership Coordination Officer, in close collaboration with among others field-based public health staff, programme officers and relevant RB and HQ colleagues, will be responsible for providing technical support, coordination, planning, advocacy, monitoring and reporting for the implementation of the partnership in Ethiopia. The role will ensure alignment with national frameworks, UNHCR Ethiopia’s Multi-Year Strategy and the logframe of the partnership.

The incumbent will:

1. Lead and coordinate the delivery of partnership outputs across all operational areas.

2. Undertake regular missions to the targeted field sites within Ethiopia to monitor and supervise the implementation of the activities against the agreed logframe.

3. Support programme colleagues in overall programme management.

4. Ensure the development and implementation of workplans, including capacity building plans, with clear deliverables and timelines aligned with the overall partnership framework and ensure that logframes developed under the partnership are monitored, adjusted as needed and targets achieved.

5. Provide guidance and support to relevant staff throughout the partnership implementation phases and provide support with emphasis on:

• Application of UNHCR standard guidelines and protocols

• Collection, analysis and interpretation of public health data using UNHCR standard tools, surveys and studies

• Engage regularly with health partners responsible for implementing the project to ensure coordinated efforts, timely execution of activities and alignment with project objectives

• Ensure monitoring of implementation according to workplans and indicators

• Highlight any delays, challenges or required adaptations to relevant colleagues

6. In line with applicable approval processes, undertake the procurement planning for essential medical supplies and equipment, ensuring alignment with technical specifications and partnership objectives and oversee that timelines are adhered to. Review country level requests for technical specifications and consistency with the partnership proposal. Oversee medical supplies management relating to the partnership.

7. Act as focal point for data, learnings and best practice data gathering and sharing relating to the partnership, and participate in internal analysis, review or evaluative processes which are intended for internal learning, strategic and operational decision-making.

8. Document and disseminate best practices and lessons learned to inform future programming.

9. Contribute to enhancing synergies with other relevant programmes and partnerships with national and local governments, private sector and relevant development partners.

10. Coordinate and quality assure the timely preparation of all formal partnership narrative and financial reporting, including mid-year and end-year reports, detailing project progress and outcomes.

11. Act as focal point in Ethiopia for the UNHCR Private Sector Partnerships (PSP) team in Denmark, which manage the relations with the partnership donors, incl. relating to meetings and preparation of donor missions, and generally contribute to UNHCR’s engagement with the donors when relevant, incl. by responding to ad-hoc tasks.

12. Produce internal project update reports on a quarterly basis for strategic review and planning and organize monthly internal status meetings with relevant colleagues, including with HQ, RB and PSP Denmark colleagues.

13. Contribute to preparation of external communication efforts in relation to the partnership upon request.

4. Monitoring and Progress Controls

(Clear description of measurable outputs, milestones, key performance indicators and/or reporting requirements which will enable performance monitoring)

• Reporting: Coordinate, prepare and review high-quality partnership narrative and financial reports and ensure timelines are strictly adhered to in order to ensure full donor satisfaction. Ensure consistency with reporting against agreed indicators.

• Undertake field missions to the project sites to analyse, monitor, evaluate and supervise the implementation of the partnership. Write mission reports with main findings and actionable recommendations.

• Support the collection, analysis and distribution of epidemiological information regarding NCDs in refugee settings. This includes support for evaluations, surveys and studies.

5. Qualifications and Experience

(List the required education, work experience, expertise and competencies of the individual contractor. The listed education and experience should correspond with the level at which the contract is offered.)

a. Education (Level and area of required and/or preferred education)

• University degree in public health or relevant medical field, social or political science, public administration, international relations or related field

b. Work Experience

Essential

• Six (6) years of relevant experience with an undergraduate degree; or

• Five (5) years of relevant experience with a graduate degree; or

• Four (4) years of relevant experience with a doctorate degree.

In managing complex partnerships, incl. relating to project management, monitoring, reporting and donor coordination, ideally within public health

• Experience in managing public health projects with strong NCD components is an advantage

• Experience in complex stakeholder management is desirable

• Experience working with refugees and/or in emergency settings would be desirable

• Exposure to UNHCR’s mandate, its priorities and principles

• Experience in the East Africa region is an added advantage

• Excellent communication skills, including English report writing skills

c. Key Competencies

• Analytical and report writing skills

• Project or grant management skills

• Ability to coordinate a range of diverse actors and activities in a short timeframe

• Ability to organize and conduct formal and informal workshops/meetings for actors and stakeholders

• Good communicator with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills to deal with different country contexts with persons of diverse cultural backgrounds

• Ability to live up to high ethical and professional standards

• Team player with service-oriented attitude

• Ability for analysis of complex issues for the development of new methods/approaches requiring the identification and in-depth examination of numerous technical factors to provide solutions

Functional Skills

• MS-Monitoring & Evaluation

• PG-Monitoring Programmes/Projects

• CO-Strategic Communication

• UN-UNHCR's Mandate/Policy and Global Strategic Priorities

• EX-Experience in complex field emergencies

Language Requirements

• Fully fluent in English, written and spoken

Competency Requirements

Core Competencies

• Accountability

• Communication

• Organizational Awareness

• Teamwork & Collaboration

• Commitment to Continuous Learning

• Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

• Empowering and Building Trust

Cross-Functional Competencies

• Analytical Thinking

• Planning and Organizing

• Stakeholder Management

Standard Job Description

Required Languages

,

,

Desired Languages

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Certifications

Work Experience

Other information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance

Remote

No