Prior to joining IYF, Belay worked as a Procurement Officer at Save the Children International. He held the position of Senior Procurement Officer at the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) and also worked as Senior Procurement Specialist and Procurement Consultant in various World Bank-funded projects, including the Public Sector Capacity Building Support Program (PSCAP), Women Entrepreneur Development Project (WEDP), Urban Local Government Development Project (ULGDP), Statistics For Results Project (SFR), Industrial Parking Development Corporation (IPDC), and Reproductive Maternal/Neonatal Health Innovative Project. He also served as a part-time lecturer at the Civil Service University-Dire Dawa Center. During his tenure as Senior Procurement Specialist at PSCAP, he also fulfilled Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) duties as a focal person. In addition to these responsibilities, he worked as a Balance Scorecard (BSC) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) technical consultant.

He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and has completed several specialized and advanced training certificates in procurement from the World Bank. He has received a Basic Competency Assessor's Certificate in Procurement from TVET and COC Quality Assurance from Dire Dawa Education Bureau. While residing in Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia, he provided technical and financial assistance to the Dire Dawa City Blind Association for which he received a certificate of recognition.