Deputy Team Leader - PLANE Nigeria at Palladium Group

Project Overview and Role
Nigeria faces a learning crisis. Literacy rates are low, and lower still for marginalised children. It has the largest number of primary-aged children out of school in the world. Public investment in education is insufficient, and millions of children are failing to learn the basics. Improving participation of marginalised children in schooling, and ensuring children learn when in school, is critical to avert a demographic crisis and meet the SDG commitments.

PLANE is a DFID funded education programme aimed at influencing policy making and strengthening education systems at all levels. The programme is set to run for 8 years (2019-2027) in Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa and selected Southern states, and is valued at up to £90m.

PLANE’s overall objective is to enable a more inclusive and effective state and non-state systems to deliver foundational skills to all children through:

• Improved teaching techniques, learning approaches and materials
• Improved state systemspersonnel management, planning and financial management
• Improved performance of non-state systems/actors to delivering basic education
• Effective mining and communication of results to allow for citizen engagement and education service delivery

Achieving more inclusive and effective education in Nigeria is unfinished business and it can't be business as usual. Palladium is looking for a driven, reform-minded, passionate and politically savvy Deputy Team Leader to help the programme have a sustainable impact on the future of education in Nigeria.
The position is contingent on contract-award.
 
Responsibilities
Relationship Management:

• Bring and manage strong working relationships with the programme’s contact points at all levels of the Government, national agencies and the private sector; DFID and other donor programmes; project partners and other stakeholders.
• Represent the programme both with DFID in-country and other DFID offices, and external audiences as needed, including with national and global communities of practice.
• Develop strong working relationships and a regular dialogue on programme progress and challenges with Palladium and the programme steering committee.

Strategy and Operational Planning:

• Lead on the development of the Theory of Change and an adaptive approach to deliver a politically smart programme in cooperation and consultation with the Team Lead, technical advisors, Project Director, DFID, project partners, the government and other key stakeholders.
• Maintain a strong working relationship with the Team Lead and Project Director and reach a consensus on PLANE’s overarching, as well as component specific, technical approach and direction.
• Support the Team Lead and the Project Director in the preparation of work plans and budgets; staffing plans; performance improvement plans and other plans as required.

Project Management:

• Provide guidance, oversight and quality assurance for all project activities, outputs and deliverables.
• Support the Team Lead in overseeing the effective implementation of work plans to ensure delivery is on time, within budget, meets Client and stakeholder expectations and is contractually compliant
• Monitor implementation progress; maintain up to date project logs and registers; work to resolve issues, manages and mitigates risks; and escalate material issues and risks as appropriate.
• Develop and implement plans for results measurement, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management, value for money analysis and communication management.
• Ensure good staff management practices including staff planning, recruitment, on-boarding, appraisal and development.

Financial Management and Administration:

• Ensure the project provides and demonstrates Value for Money.
• Assume responsibility for consistent implementation of company Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Guidelines, Security Protocols and, where applicable, recommends modifications.
• Ensure the programme adheres to the budget and oversee budget variations and contract amendments.

Requirements

• Relevant Academic qualification in a related field
• A passion for education in Nigeria
• An intricate knowledge of the context of basic education policy development, planning and delivery in Nigeria
• An understanding of the power dynamics and the political economy of the education reform in Nigeria, gained during years of working on education advocacy, policy development, planning and/or delivery
• A known relationship broker who can navigate different agendas and build coalitions leveraging his/her existing relationships with influential stakeholders in the government, the private sector and the civil society
• Experience working in management and leadership positions on large donor (preferably DFID) funded programmes
• Strong expertise in leading complex programmes, including managing complex, inter-disciplinary teams and mentoring senior members of staff
• A creative, lateral thinker willing and able to adapt and try different approaches
• Ability to speak, read and write in English. Fluency in other national and local languages is an advantage.