Nigeria: Education Coordinator

Background/IRC Summary: The International Rescue Committee responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, the IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

The IRC has been present in Nigeria since 2012 when the organization responded to flooding in Kogi state. In early 2014, IRC opened a field office in Mubi town of Adamawa state followed by offices in Yola in Adamawa state in November 2014 and Maiduguri in Borno state in October 2015. With rapid expansion in late 2016 and early 2017, the IRC opened additional field offices in Monguno and Gwoza in Borno state and Damaturu in Yobe state. The country office is in Abuja. The IRC Nigeria implements programs in primary health care, nutrition, environmental health, women's protection and empowerment, protection, child protection, education, food security, and livelihoods.

The Boko Haram insurgency has created nearly 1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northeast Nigeria. Up to 40% of children aged 6-11 in the region are out of school. Factors impeding school attendance include children providing labor at home and on farms, widespread poverty and inability to afford fees, and cultural bias against formal education from parents, particularly for female students. The armed conflict has greatly exacerbated challenges in accessing education as Boko Haram deliberately targeted and destroyed education facilities, leaving communities without functioning schools and with no teaching or learning materials. Intensive violence, including violence targeted towards teachers and students, has created much fear of attending school among children. There is a shortage of teachers trained to deal with the psychosocial effects of the insurgency and even children with the desire and resources to attend school may opt to remain at home due to security concerns. IDP children are particularly affected.

Position overview/summary : The IRC Nigeria is currently expanding its education portfolio in the northeast of the country in line with its five-year Strategic Action Plan (SAP). A priority outcome for the country program is that girls and boys enroll in and attend safe, functioning, responsive education services. The IRC aims to both rebuild, reequip, and staff damaged school infrastructure and enhance the quality of education through curriculum improvements in formal and non-formal institutions, with a particular focus on social and emotional learning.

The Education Coordinator will be responsible for the overall strategy, management, coordination, and implementation of education activities across three states in northeast Nigeria. S/he will be responsible for monitoring and assuring technical quality, overseeing budget and grants management, the creation and dissemination of training materials, and managing relationships with external actors including government authorities, humanitarian working groups, and project partners.

S/he will report to the Senior Emergency Program Coordinator (SEPC) and will receive technical guidance from the IRC's Education Technical Unit.

Responsibilities

Program Development and Management

• Provide strategic direction, leadership and overall technical and management support to education programs in Nigeria
• Lead the education team to implement timely, effective, and relevant project activities in line with identified needs, donor requirements, and strategy objectives and indicators
• Lead and/or contribute to project design processes for new or adapted education programming, including the development of budgets, proposal narratives, logframes, and other supporting documents
• Utilize the IRC's Outcomes and Evidence Framework (OEF) and related theories of change in project design and promote understanding of OEF tools among education staff
• Coordinate closely and liaise regularly with the SEPC, Deputy Director of Programs, and grants unit to ensure quality grant management and compliance to donor requirements
• Ensure that the education department produces and utilizes high quality project management tools, including but not limited to activity plans, work plans, procurement plans, financial forecasts, and budget vs. actuals analysis
• Ensure that all internal and external reporting requirements are met, that reports are of a high quality, and are submitted on time
• Coordinate with the M&E unit on the development of monitoring tools and collection of quality data; provide guidance to improve data systems

Technical Quality

• Ensure all projects are implemented in accordance with global technical guidelines and best practices in the education sector
• Liaise with Education Technical Advisors on a regular basis and proactively pursue technical guidance as needed
• Stay abreast of developments in the IRC Education Technical Unit and global working groups related to new tools and guidelines
• Identify, monitor and report on unmet needs and make informed recommendations to senior management on the capacity of the IRC to address identified needs
• Provide technical assistance including supportive supervision to IRC and partner education staff.
• Contribute to the technical interpretation of M&E data and apply output and outcome indicator findings to improve program quality
• Support the development and maintenance of a coherent education strategy across IRC's areas of intervention in Nigeria

HR & Team Management

• Supervise and provide technical support to Education Managers and other education staff to implement IRC education programs to a high quality standard
• Ensure timely recruitment, comprehensive onboarding, and the general growth and wellbeing of team members
• Maintain open and professional relations with colleagues, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions
• Ensure team members are aware of job expectations and have clear performance objectives; regularly review performance and initiate corrective action as needed
• Identify training needs and develop specific capacity building plans for education staff to promote progressive levels of management responsibility
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures

Coordination

• Regularly attend technical working group meetings and other relevant coordination structures to ensure harmonized implementation approaches
• Lead communication and coordination with consortium and project partners, government actors, and others
• Coordinate with the SEPC and Field Coordinators to ensure field concerns and challenges are brought to relevant stakeholders for the development of improved standards and procedures
• Proactively collaborate with other sector technical leads to promote program integration and an outcome-based approach
• Play an active role in the execution of the country Strategic Action Plan

Other

• Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Position Reports to: Senior Emergency Program Coordinator Position directly supervises: Education ManagersOther internal and/or external contacts: grants unit; finance, HR

and supply chain departments; other sector coordinators

Professional Standarts

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum of five years of professional experience in the management of education programs in emergencies
• Masters degree in education or other relevant area
• Strong knowledge of technical tools, resources, and standards related to education in emergencies and post-conflict settings
• Competency in literacy, numeracy, and social and emotional learning methods for children affected by crisis, familiarity with the Healing Classrooms model an advantage
• Demonstrated experience developing training materials and facilitating workshops and trainings for adult learners
• Excellent budget planning and management skills, previous experience developing and effectively managing multi-million, multi-donor grants required
• Previous experience managing diverse teams to deliver results on short timelines, including the development of spending plans, procurement plans, and work plans
• Strong verbal communication skills and effective in representation and liaison with external actors
• Proven technical writing ability in English including skills in proposal and report writing
• Capable of applying skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including direct implementation, advisory functions, training and the transfer of technical knowledge and management skills to others
• Promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle stress and pressure with professional grace
• Previous experience in an insecure or conflict-affected setting preferred
• Experience with remote management preferred

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The position will be based in Yola, Nigeria with frequent travel throughout Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states. The situation in northeast Nigeria continues to be volatile and the security phase is orange or red depending on location. The Education Coordinator will be provided shared housing in a comfortable guesthouse with electricity and internet. This is a non-accompanied position.

Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=a2F0cmluYW1pbGxlci42MDc0MS4zODMwQGlyYy5hcGxpdHJhay5jb20