Contract Length: 2 years
Date Needed By: May 2012
New Post or Replacement: Replacement after the resignation of the incumbent post holder who departs by May 26th;
Accompanied / Unaccompanied: Unaccompanied
Exact Job Location: field based in Grand Bassa; with one week each month allocated for Monrovia based national level advocacy/ sector meetings in collaboration with the Ibis education coordinator (based in Grand Gedeh) for joint chairing of the INGO education forum
Reports To: ACDP
Responsible For: Line management and capacity building of the Grand Bassa based education program manager and a partnership liaison officer based in Lofa;
Liaises With:
• Area Coordinators in Grand Bassa and Lofa for program implementation;
• ACDP for national level advocacy and line management reporting/
• Country accountant for submission of budget revisions and feedback of monthly management accounts;
• National Ministry of Education/ County & district level structures;
• Liberia Teacher Training Program (USAID funded) and other relevant INGOs especially Ibis, NRC and SCUK (fellow members of the SRGBV research consortium)
• County engineer department for design & BoQs for community led school construction
o Job Purpose:
Provide strategic direction, and technical and management support to the Concern Education Program in Liberia – specifically Grand Bassa County where we have a comprehensive program directly implemented by Concern and also in Lofa where we plan to start up a partial program implemented by partners.
o Main Duties & Responsibilities:
Strategic planning
o Provide strategic direction and planning for the Education program in line with Concern Worldwide’s education policy, sector strategy and organizational strategy;
o Incorporating recommendations from the 2011 sector program mid-term review;
o Based on the 2012 contextual analysis ensure ‘extreme poor’ targeting in the two New area based programs (Grand Bassa and Lofa) for the education program components;
o Ensure alignment with the National education policy;
o Develop the education component of the new country strategic plan (later in 2012);
Program implementation & reporting
• Guide, support and coach the education program manager in the management of the County based education program in Grand Bassa;
• Ensure that annual and quarterly work plans and procurement plans are submitted to the Area Coordinators and ACDS;
• Ensure that all aspects of the Concern PCMS are adhered to within the program
• Provide technical advice on the procurement of appropriate teaching and learning materials, training manuals and education resources, and ensure that distribution and monitoring plans are developed for their use in schools;
• Responsible for periodic donor reports to be submitted to the respective Area Coordinator (AC) and onwards to the ACDP;
Partnership
• Identify suitable partners for the education program in Lofa County – utilizing Concern’s assessment tools: CLOSAT & COFAT in collaboration with the AC and partnership accountant;
• Take the lead in assessing and monitoring National Partners who may be involved in the implementation of the education program: Plan/ IRC/ Child Fund etc.
• Promote working in partnership with national and international organizations, (especially IBIS and the MoE) in the area of education, including the development of capacity building strategies and skills to ensure adequate partner support.
Capacity building and human resource management
• The main focus as an expatriate is on building the capacity of the national program manager (PM) in Grand Bassa;
• Ensure all aspects of the Education project from design through to evaluation address equality, risk and vulnerability
• Ensure health and safety of beneficiaries, staff and partners is paramount in our work;
• Ensure compliance with the P4 and HAP standards;
• Ensure our teams have strong community facilitation (pedagogical skills) and good understanding of participatory and child centered learning methodologies;
• Ensure that a systematic approach to target setting and Performance Development Review (PDR) is established with the PM and that this is rolled out within the wider team;
• Ensure that staff are properly monitored and supervised and that necessary action is provided when staff are found to be under performing: capacity building or disciplinary action as appropriate;
• Ensure education resource material is available for our staff’s professional development;
• Ensure that we recruit staff with the required skill sets and competencies for future positions;
• Supporting the PM in identifying training needs for the education staff and partners;
• Provide or coordinate the training necessary for delivering a high quality Education program;
• Build the capacity of the wider education staff involved in the program through the provision of technical support, training, advice and in-field on-the-job coaching;
• Take a lead on researching new initiates that lead to improved education outcomes for children
Education budget holder
• The Coordinator is the budget holder for the education program and therefore responsible for budgeting (submission of budget revisions), expenditure tracking and all aspects of financial management of the program;
• Build the capacity of the program manager to encourage shared ownership and accountability
• Participate in all budget planning, monitoring and financial reporting exercises with regular liaison with the Country Accountant; and where necessary with the ACs;
• Provide financial projections to the Country Accountant/ ACDP when required;
Monitoring & Evaluation
• Advise and assist in the design of a Results Framework for Education and carrying out of Education surveys, baseline data collection and analysis of data to develop appropriate M&E systems (including the Early Grade Reading Assessment);
• Ensure that an M&E plan is established with clear goals/ outcomes with measurable indicators
• Provide direction and support to the education team in the new era of results based management;
• Support and strengthen the monitoring and evaluation strategy for the Education Program;
• Ensure staff is trained in M&E methodologies and provide on-going mentoring to the M&E Officer.
• Ensure M&E is incorporated into all educational program plans and mechanisms are implemented.
• Disseminating learning internally and internationally from our Education programme
Coordination with other sectors
• Provide technical assistance to ACs and Technical Coordinators on issues of education, particularly for adult literacy activities conducted through Concern’s FIM Program;
• Lead on the development of a strategic approach to adult education in all programs;
• Ensure that the following development and cross cutting approaches are incorporated into program implementation: How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty (HCUEP) especially equality (with a special focus on gender equality) and risk (including HIV&AIDS) and DRR;
Program development – especially knowledge of USAID funding
• Prepare narrative and financial reports for donors, local authorities and Concern reporting needs for submission to the AC.
• Explore various donor funding options and assist the ACDP and CD with the preparation of concept notes and proposals;
• Follow up in-country with ACDP and CD on maintaining a relationship with USAID as a likely donor for the education component of the Grand Bassa area based program
National level advocacy & policy engagement
• Participate in national coordination forums, national strategic planning for the education sector and curriculum development technical working groups (or identify technical expertise to assist as appropriate).
• In collaboration with IBIS, lead the INGO Education Forum and represent this group, when appropriate, at donor coordination meetings, conferences etc.
• Lead research and advocacy interventions related to the program at national and international level, using data from school-level interventions to advocate for national-level policy development
• Play an active role in the new research consortium with SCUK/ NRC/ IBIS in the research, to take place, into school related GBV in our respective operational areas;
• Provide comment and analysis on documents and position papers within the Education sector;
• Coordinate with MoE Focal Points to promote Concern’s Education interventions as ‘policy experiments’ for learning and sharing with wider stakeholders
• Represent Concern at National, County and District government coordination meetings (coaching the PM to take on these responsibilities in due course);
PERSON SPECIFICATION ESSENTIAL
Education, Qualifications & Experience Required:
• Master’s degree qualifications in Teaching, Education and Development, Teacher training and curriculum development
• At least five years of overseas experience working with an INGO on a similar education program addressing: access/ quality/ equity / child protection issues
• At least three years teaching experience in the classroom, preferably at primary school level
• Strong staff management skills in building an efficient and effective team that is accountable for the resources allocated and able to deliver results
• Sound IT skills, including Word, and Excel and excellent command of oral and written English and has ability to prepare project related reports/documents.
• Experience of working in West Africa or elsewhere under similar living conditions
DESIRABLE
Education, Qualifications & Experience Required:
• Any additional qualifications in Social Science research or monitoring and evaluation
• Experience in designing or managing interventions that focus on basic literacy and numeracy and mother-tongue education
• Any additional consultancy/ research and learning institution experience focusing on improving educational learning outcomes in developing countries
Special Skills, Aptitude or Personality Requirements:
• Ability to lead and work as part of a team Flexible, adaptable, sense of humour, patience and most importantly initiative
• Excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills
• Analytical and problem solving skills
• Ability to work under pressure often to strict deadlines
• Methodical and thorough Cross cultural awareness and sensitive
• Awareness of gender issues Empathy with organisational goals
Any Other Special Requirements: No
All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date 6 May 2012…. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length. All candidates who are short-listed for a first round interview will be notified via email after the application deadline OR Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.
Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries. Concern has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Programme Participant Protection Policy which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct candidates acknowledge that they have understood the contents of both the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and the Programme Participant Protection Policy and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these two documents. Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on Concern ensuring that the names of any new employee or volunteer do not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List). Any offer of employment (either paid or voluntary) with Concern Worldwide will not be made pending a clearance check being conducted on the applicant. For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office. Concern Worldwide is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
How to apply:
All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date 6 May 2012…. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length. All candidates who are short-listed for a first round interview will be notified via email after the application deadline OR Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.