TA Education Specialist P4, (6 months) at UNICEF

Job Number: 517166
Location: Abuja-Nigeria
Work Type: Temporary Appointment

How can you make a difference?

• Under the guidance and general supervision of the Senior Education Specialist / GEP3 Manager (Level 5), the Specialist supports the development and preparation of the Education programmes and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting the progress of education programmes/projects especially the Girls Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3) and the Educate a Child (EAC) project as technical lead, within the country programme.
• The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of results on education programmes/projects to improve learning outcomes and equitable and inclusive education, especially for children who are marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded in society.

Key Functions, Accountabilities and Related Duties/Tasks
Support to programme development and planning:

• Assist 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. Formulate, design and prepare programme proposals for the sector, ensuring alignment with UNICEF's Strategic Plans and Country Programme and coherence/integration with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• 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.
• 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, and performance indicators to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned interventions and output areas of the education programme.
• Participate in monitoring exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and weaknesses in programme management.
• 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 and contribute to regular and mandated programme/project 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 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.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use

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.
• 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.

Technical Competencies
Technical competencies must be demonstrated in the following areas:

• Understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health, and Communications within UNICEF).
• Programme management in education, including programme design, costing, value for money monitoring and evaluation and reporting.
• Education sector planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different sub-sectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Inclusive Education), cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues with a focus on school based governance and management.
• Ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programme and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.
• Education and policy sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education data sets and indicators; tools for analysis of equity; determinants of student access and learning; budget, costing, and financial management in education systems; political economy; and education policy and strategic planning.

Job Requirements
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• An advanced university Degree in one of the following fields is required: Education, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of eight years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education is required.
• Experience of working with Government departments and understanding of government systems will be an advantage.

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results:

View our competency framework at: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf