Education Specialist

Under the guidance and general supervision of the Chief Education, the Education Specialist – Access supports the development and preparation of the Education (or a sector of) programmes with special attention to the educational needs of children in emergency situations and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting the progress of education programmes/projects within the country programme with a focus on education in emergency. The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of results on education programmes/projects in general and emergency response, to improve access to equitable and inclusive education.

Summary of key functions accountabilities:

• Support to programme development and planning
• Support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the education programmes to ensure that current and comprehensive data on education issues, especially in emergency context, is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy, advocacy, intervention and development efforts on education programmes.
• Help supervisor set priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme discussion on the planning of education programmes with attention to the emergency context. Formulate, design and prepare programme proposals for the sector, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and Country Programme.
• Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies and implementation plans for the sector using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM).
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results throughout the educational sector with a focus on education in emergency.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Plan and collaborate with internal colleagues and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector on education programmes.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programmes/projects through field visits and surveys, and exchange information with stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular and mandated programme reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

Technical and operational support to programme implementation:

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and country office partners and donors on interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices and approaches on education with a focus on education in emergency and related issues to support programme management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in education programme meetings including programme development and contingency planning to provide technical and operational information, advice and support.

Networking and partnership building:

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, national stakeholders, global partners, donors, and academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results on education programmes.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best practices in education management. Identify, assess and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on education and related programmes/projects.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, economics, psychology, sociology, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education is required.
• Experience working in a developing country and/or familiarity with emergency is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in French and good working knowledge, especially the ability to write reports, of English is required. Knowledge of local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

Source:https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/579767