Prior to his current post, he served the Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director General for African Affairs until 2012, Head of the Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (2009-10), Chief of the Cabinet (2006-08), Special Envoy to Somalia (2008-09), and Head of the Ethiopian Trade office in Hargeisa, Republic of Somaliland (2002-06), as well as officer for Somalia and Ethiopia’s neighboring states. He also served as Chief of Staff of the IGAD-led Mediation Team for the Republic of South Sudan and briefly for the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission to oversee the Agreement to Resolve the Conflict in South Sudan. He holds a PhD from Northwestern University (Illinois, USA).