Reference:
DK/ED/SOM
Country:
Somalia/ Somaliland
Job Title:
Education Advisor
Contract Grade: B
Contract Length: 6 months
New Post or Replacement: New
Accompanied / Unaccompanied: Unaccompanied
Exact Job Location: Nairobi with frequent travel to Mogadishu and occasional travel to Hargeisa
Reports To: Programmes Director
Liaises With: Education Programme Manager, Education team members, Programme Director, other Programme Managers, Somaliland Area Manager, Grants & Information Manager, M&E unit, Dublin-based Education Advisors
Job Purpose:
The purpose of this position is to provide technical support to the Education Programme in Somalia/Somaliland, including the provision of strategic oversight for the programme, while building systems and capacities that can continue the quality work after the contract ends. The Education Advisor will provide support to improve the quality of programming – particularly literacy teaching and assessment in primary schools – as well as emergency education programmes with IDPs, and literacy support for other groups such as TVET students and womens’ self help groups. The position will represent Concern in the Education cluster and any relevant meetings related to education, as well as in the EU Education Consortium proposal development process.
Main Duties & Responsibilities:
Programme Development and Technical Support:
- Provide technical guidance on all Education components of programmes in Somalia/Somaliland, giving support to Concern staff and implementing partners during planning, designing and implementation of Education-related programme activities, in line with proposals and donor requirements.
- Formulate and provide technical support in developing a teacher/CEC capacity building strategy, manuals and procedures with emphases on literacy, pedagogy and SRGBV.
- Review and strengthen the literacy training provided for self-help groups, TVET students and any other community groups Concern supports with informal adult education, building the capacity of the education team to implement new literacy initiatives.
- Support the programme teams to continuously review the Education strategy and programme approaches to appropriately address and accommodate shifting and/or emerging field contexts. Propose innovative Education approaches relevant to the fragile context of Somalia.
- Support the programme teams to develop proposals, concept notes and budgets for Education activities/projects/programmes in consultation with the Programme Manager, the Grants Manager and the Programmes Director.
- Support the Education PM to submit high quality and timely programme reports.
- Support the education team to develop, document and roll out written policies for schools, operating procedures and training materials and ensure child-centred teaching methodologies are applied across the board
- Ensure that there is creative and holistic approach to Education programming, assist the team in finding ways to integrate/link Education activities with water and sanitation, Health , Nutrition, Livelihoods, Food security etc.
- Provide guidance and training to Education staff to ensure that all work is carried out in a way that is sensitive to community needs, child protection and gender issues, and that all Education activities meet SPHERE/INEE/CHS standards.Coordination and Leadership:
- Participate proactively in Nairobi-level Education Cluster, Education in Emergencies and other relevant sectoral meetings and, at a technical level engage with UN agencies and other key actors within the sector. When necessary also engage with the line ministries in Somalia/Somaliland. Develop/build on existing networks with relevant Education actors.
- Share information on Concern’s activities and intervention and promote good relations and collaboration with other actors. Ensure that the 4W matrix is updated regularly and shared with the cluster every quarter.
- Develop strategies and plans that contribute to raising the profile of Concern as an expert organization in literacy teaching and application of early grade reading assessments (EGRA) in Somalia
- Promote on-going consultations and interactions with Concern’s head office Education Advisors as well as with other Education Managers/Advisors in Concern Country Programmes on emerging sectoral trends and best practices from other countries.Monitoring and Evaluation:
- Work closely with field teams on objectives, indicators and activities and develop clear monitoring frameworks for each program in collaboration with the M & E team.
- Maintain an effective monitoring and planning system, which informs reporting and programme design.
- Closely support the review, re-design, training and application of the annual EGRA assessments, and lead on analysis the data and write-up of the findings.
- Work with the team and the GIM to identify and document programme learning and success cases and disseminate learning.Staff Management and Development:
- Support the Education team in identifying training needs and help them to identify, design and facilitate appropriate training and follow up models.
- In particular, train staff (or update existing skills) in literacy, teacher training, child-centred pedagogy and other relevant issues.
- Participate in the recruitment of in-country Education staff and any consultants, as required. This includes supporting the preparation of job requisitions and job descriptions.Other:
- Work with the GIM to document lessons learned, good practices and programmatic experiences for both internal and external audiences as required.
- Together with other programme teams ensure HIV & AIDS, inequality and risk and vulnerability are analysed, mitigated against and responded to during the overall planning, implementation and management of the Education programme.
- Concern is committed to responding to emergencies efficiently and effectively in order to help affected people meet their basic needs, alleviate suffering and maintain their dignity. To this end, when emergencies strike and Somalia/Somaliland Programme is to respond, all staff are required to actively participate in the response, regardless of location and contribute to the efforts aimed at achieving the humanitarian objective of the organization.
- Any other ad hoc duties as may be assigned by CD that are consistent with the nature of Concern operations.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
ESSENTIAL
Education, Qualifications & Experience Required:
- Qualifications in a discipline related to Education (particularly primary) or development / humanitarian work
- Practical experience in designing, implementing and monitoring education programmes in complex humanitarian/development contexts
- Solid experience with early grade reading, literacy and/or phonics teaching and support
- Understanding of education in emergencies programming, the INEE minimum standards and the sector as a whole
- Good understanding of child protection issues as they apply to schools and school children/teachers.
- Ability to design and deliver training courses for staff and teachers
- Sensitivity to cultural differences, and the ability to work in a wide variety of cultural contexts.
- Excellent teamwork skills and the ability to build good relations both internally and externally.
- Experience in report and proposal writing.
Special Skills, Aptitude or Personality Requirements:
- Ability to organize and prioritize workload, using initiative when appropriate.
- Good team player, flexible and capable of working with a multinational country team, politically and culturally sensitive.
- Ability to cope with stress; work under pressure often to strict deadlines.
- Flexibility, adaptability, sense of humour, and patience.
- Ability to motivate and develop skills of others.
- Facilitation and interpersonal skills.
- Analytical and problem solving skills
- Commitment to Concern’s ethos and values.
- Sound IT skills, including Word and Excel.
- Strong written and verbal communications skills and good command of English.
DESIRABLE
Education, Qualifications & Experience:
- Carrying out, analysing data from and writing reports on EGRA assessments
- Experienced in training teachers and/or observing and providing helpful feedback on classroom teaching sessions, including where this takes place in a foreign language.
- Experience designing and delivering adult literacy courses.
- Understanding and experience of SPHERE/HAP/CHS.
- Understanding and experience of mainstreaming issues of gender equity, ethnicity and HIV and AIDS into project planning and implementation.
- Proven influencing and negotiating skills with internal and external audiences, experience working in partnership with Governments would be an advantage.
- Ability to train local staff and to motivate and develop skills of others.
- Experience of working in Somalia or East/Horn of Africa advantageous but not essential.
HOW TO APPLY:
All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date. 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.
