Professor Dereje is currently working as an obstetrician and gynecologist at Yekatit 12 Hospital Medical College,  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Additionally, he is the V/secretary general and registrar of ECSACOG, associate editor-in-chief of the Ethiopian Journal of Reproductive Health (EJRH), which is an official journal of the ESOG and PI for self-care advocacy for the RMNCH project for the ESOG.

Previously, he had served as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, clinical service director for a tertiary referral and teaching hospital, senate member for Jimma University;  senior clinical advisor for EngenderHealth, program lead for the USAID-funded RMNCH private health sector project and senior expert health adviser for the office of the minister, MoH, Ethiopia. He also successfully led as a PI the collaborative project ESOG-ACOG on “Enhancing resident ship and medical education ” from 2016–2019, which set the benchmark for a harmonized resident ship curriculum which was the first of its kind in Ethiopia.  He had also led as PI the following projects: national implementation guideline development for the private and public mix on RMNCH services; national FP service integration guideline; a baseline survey on cervical cancer screening, prevention and treatment and the end-line evaluation of the BEmONC project.

Furthermore, he had served as board president of the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG), an executive board member and honorary treasurer for the African Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AFOG), and a board member of the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO).

Prof. Negussie has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and has also co-authored a number of national training manuals, guidelines, policy briefs, and abstracts on RMNH to his credit, and he has advised a number of postgraduate students on their theses.

He was awarded a number of certificate of merit for serving ESOG as a president for two terms, a certificate of appreciation from IPAS for long-term service in abortion care and RH, and a certificate of appreciation from the Harvard-based Maternal Health Taskforce and the International Institute of Education for successfully mentoring a young maternal health champion, among others.