VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE POST OF 
PROGRAMME OFFICER (SOMALIA PROGRAMME)

REF. ECHO/PO/NRO 

To join DG ECHO in Nairobi, Kenya

The European Commission’s Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) funds relief operations for victims of natural disasters and conflicts outside the European Union. DG ECHO works with about 200 operational partners, including United Nations agencies, the Red Cross/Crescent movement, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Aid is channelled impartially, straight to victims, regardless of their race, ethnic group, religion, gender, age, nationality, or political affiliation.

DG ECHO is recruiting one National Staff to be based in Nairobi (Kenya) as a Programme Officer, for its Somalia Programme.

Duties & Responsibilities:

The jobholder carries out activities to ensure that effective humanitarian response is delivered. The jobholder conducts assessments; develops strategies and represents DG ECHO at technical level when appropriate. The programme officer may be asked to run an antenna/office and supervise staff in the absence of a TA (Technical Assistant) or, when in a RO (Regional Office), be in charge of regional overview tasks:

• Contributes to designing DG ECHO overall strategy, policies and thematic working groups.
• Appraises and evaluates partners’ financing requests and monitors projects in the light of the intervention strategy adopted and advises, as appropriate.
• Prepares fiche-ops (e-documents completed by DG ECHO staff for assessing and monitoring projects), as appropriate and submits to the responsible HoO/TA.
• Reviews policy compliance in cooperation with policy experts in the RO/HQ (Headquarters).
• Liaises with partners to finalise and review proposals, once the appraisal is agreed with DG ECHO headquarters.
• Evaluates interim and final reports submitted by partners and advises DG ECHO as appropriate.
• Pro-actively follows local or regional events that may impact the humanitarian situation in the country/region. Drafts reports on the humanitarian situation, including any political, economic and security events relevant to the analysis of the humanitarian situation in the country/region.
• Supports the HoO/TA in the event of an emergency response.
• Provides backstopping capacity and surge support in case of need.
• Advises on the operational capacity of implementing partners.
• Ensures the monitoring of DG ECHO visibility and pro-active communication with partners in operational contracts in line with the guidelines.
• Design/appraisal of integrated, people-centred programming and required system wide enablers relevant to the Somalia Humanitarian response.
• Experience on Public Health allowing for independent appraisal of epidemiological surveillance, monitoring and evaluation and digitalized tracking and reporting systems of relevant actions.
• Operational coordination of health/nutrition partners guided by ECHO Somalia strategic objectives
• Undertakes any additional tasks as assigned by the TA/Head of Office/RO and/or Headquarters.

A detailed Terms of Reference (including competencies required and more detailed information on the tasks) is available at: https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/vacancies_en?f%5B0%5D=vacancy_site%3AKenya&s=352

Required Qualifications:

Education: A relevant second level university degree or equivalent professional experience.

Knowledge and experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience at national or international level in managing programme/project operations, including at least 2 years of experience with an NGO, a donor or a national/international organisation.
• Very good knowledge of the EU humanitarian aid system.
• Very good knowledge of International NGOs, UN Aid Agencies and Red Cross Movement.
• Very good understanding of Humanitarian Aid principles, policies and standards.
• Excellent drafting skills.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).

Languages:

• An excellent command of English (written and oral) is required.
• An excellent knowledge of Somali.
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

Required Competencies:

• Working and communicating effectively with people: ability to communicate, support and work effectively with colleagues and teams to achieve collective goals. Building and maintaining excellent relationships with colleagues and partners.
• Achieving impactful results and quality: ability and commitment to organise and perform the job to the highest standards, delivering consistent results and striving for quality assurance.
• Understanding of the humanitarian and DG ECHO way of working: ability to support DG ECHO's mandate, strategies and operations, to ensure policy compliance and in particular the correct use of the Key Results Indicators (KRIs), and to ensure DG ECHO's visibility. Ability to ensure the correct application of DG ECHO guidelines and procedures in all the decisions taken.
• Demonstrating exemplary attitudes and behaviours: commitment to act in line with DG ECHO and humanitarian values, demonstrating the required and exemplary attitudes necessary for the Field Network.

How to apply:

Applications, including a cover letter, a detailed CV, copy of education certificate/ degree/ diploma, and a copies of relevant past employment certificates, should be uploaded at https://ats.flexi-personnel.com/jobs/ by 21/04/2026 at 18:00h. This position is open to nationals and other residents of Kenya with valid permanent residence permits.

DG ECHO applies a policy of equal opportunities. Our recruitment policy is based on respect for diversity, maintaining the gender balance, as well as the balance between professional and private life, and support for training and development opportunities. 

For information, the employment conditions that could be proposed include an initial contract of one year with the possibility of renewal subject to a 3-month probationary period and following a positive annual evaluation. As an indication, the monthly basic salary range is KES.555,077/- (minimum corresponding to 5 years’ experience and subject to local tax law). The salary will be adapted according to the exact duration of relevant professional experience supported by a work certificate (two years of relevant experience account for one step in DG ECHO’s salary grid). In addition to this, the employee will also receive disability/retirement allowance, 13^th month salary as well as a medical coverage. 

DG ECHO’s employees are bound by the National Staff code of conduct which is available on the link: https://ec.europa.eu/echo/system/files/2019-09/code_of_conduct_for_national_staff.pdf

Only the short-listed candidates will be contacted. Candidates who are not contacted by 30/06/2026 should consider that they have not been selected.  Any form of canvassing, soliciting, or influencing will be treated as grounds for disqualification.

Shortlisted candidates who are successful in the written test and who make it to the oral interview phase but are not to the final selection, could be included (depending on the results of the oral interview) in a reserve list and can be considered if a new procedure takes place for a similar post within the next 12 months.

“Any processing of your personal data will be done in accordance with the applicable EU legislation (Regulation (EU)2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.” The privacy statement can be found on DG ECHO’s website.

  https://ec.europa.eu/echo/system/files/2020-01/privacy_statement_recruitment_ns_final_version.pdf