Education Officer at Save The Children

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children is a leading independent organization creating lasting change for children in need around the world. With its headquarters in London, UK, SC works in over 120 countries globally, including Nigeria, helping children survive, learn and be protected by improving their education, health, nutrition, protection and economic opportunities, and in times of acute crisis, mobilizing rapid life-saving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters.
Save the Children International (SCI), Nigeria is implementing an Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) programme in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, Nigeria. This is a 4-year initiative intends to work with communities, Federal, State, and local education stakeholders to establish and validate a model for community-based, inclusive ECDE programming. The project is a private donor funding by the Whitehurst’s.
The Whitehurst project is designed to build an evidence base to prove the impact and value of supporting the development needs of children ages 3-5 from across all incomes, races, ethnicities, and cultures to promote their learning, development and resilience. The project will support children, caregivers, teachers, communities, and stakeholder to advocate for and develop an ECDE model that can be a catalyst for increase Nigerian government and donor investment in ECDE. The project approach, strategies, and interventions are gender-sensitive and has a high level of child-safeguarding measures. Adequate attention will be given to the learning environment, providing facilities and teaching-learning supplies and processes to ensure child-friendly and enabling environments in schools’ full participation and development of foundational competencies in literacy and math.
The Education Officer will provide operational and technical support to the Whitehurst team under the leadership of the Education Programme Manager to implement all Education activities for the project. This includes, supporting in the development of the Detailed Implementation Plan, participating in stakeholders’ meetings, and contribute to narrative reporting in line with donor requirement. The job holder will also be working closely with stakeholders at the community, LG and State level.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Project Coordination & Management

• Implement the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) project across the BAY States, Nigeria in line with the design of the project and donor requirements.
• Support the Education Programme Manager to establish, maintain, and strengthen linkages in the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) project.
• Contribute to assessments (baseline, needs).
• Ensure that procurement and distribution of materials and equipment is timely and in line with SCI policies and procedures; ensure accuracy of portfolio inventory (assets, supplies, materials).
• Ensure accurate project documentation, including collection of monitoring data and tracking of progress on output indicators; utilize data to contribute to reports as required.
• Facilitate relationships with communities and community leaders to ensure buy-in and Do No Harm.
• Create and sustain positive working relationships with the partners, government officials and other key stakeholders and work in collaboration with relevant education authorities to support the review of the national policy on IECD.
• Supervise and manage the teachers/learning facilitators, including facilitation of teacher training.
• Support in planning and coordinating State and LGAs level engagement with education authorities and other key stakeholders.
• Facilitate recruitment of volunteer teachers in the project.
• Contribute to ensuring timely and quality reports are submitted as per the reporting requirements to the Head of Education.
• Working closely with Education Programme Manager to ensure quality programme design, delivery, documentation and reporting of education activities in the respective States.

Operational Planning and implementation

• Work closely with the Education Programme Manager to provide support in developing, planning and monitoring project detail implementation plan, procurement plan, phased budget, MEAL Plan with documentation and reporting for all Education interventions in the State.
• Recommend technical solutions to speed up the implementation and budget performance in line with the project plan and budget.
• Effectively support the projects staff in developing annual plans, in line with best practices for education project design and Save the Children International planning guidelines and ensure compliance with the agreed work plans and that programme objectives and targets are being achieved in line with the funding proposal.
• Maintain high standard of safeguarding, transparency and accountability during programme design and support in expediting implementation while ensuring integrity and timeliness of project duration and meeting programme objectives, compliance with donors & Save the Children policies.
• Support in providing regular operations and implementation updates to the Project Manager on project progress and challenges to allow for timely interventions and corrective actions by the management.
• Ensure the timely reviews and adjustments for the project operational and implementation plan and budget as may be required from time to time.

Finance and Budget Management

• Support project monitoring, suggest necessary revisions and prepare draft reports for corrective actions.
• Support the Education Programme Manager in ensuring that the budget variance analysis (BVA) is monitored and reported as per in time and with accurate information.

Safeguarding

• Ensure safe programming in the planning, implementation, monitoring, training of teachers and construction/rehabilitation of classroom environment across the ECDE project period.
• Adhere to the Do no Harm principles across the entire steps within the Programme Management Cycle.

Financial Reporting.

• Support the review and preparation of timely and high-quality progress and end of project narrative and financial reports which are in accordance with the donor reporting schedule and formats.
• Participate in reviewing all programme financial reports ensuring that donor guidelines have been followed and high standard met. The project deadlines met in reporting and keep a track record of reporting (Narrative and Financial).
• Participate in progress review meetings to address key performance issues from the reports.

Internal and external engagements

• Ensuring that the program experience is represented and given recognition at stakeholder meetings, workshops, donor, networks and any other engagements.
• Develop and maintain regular channels of communication with partners and key stakeholders at all levels (LGA, State and National).

MEAL

• Effectively support teams in MEAL aspects, which include assessments, baseline, and evaluation studies, putting in place a functional Activity Tracking Table.
• Ensure that the projects’ quality benchmarks are followed up and implemented in project interventions.
• Collecting and managing complaints and feedback in close coordination with MEAL team and Education Team.
• Ensure regular monitoring of projects results, documentation of projects case studies, lessons learnt, significant changes and best practices and coordinating learning and reflection meetings/sessions.
• Ensure effective programs/ projects monitoring, and evaluation systems is in place.
• Monitor programs/ projects activities to ensure quality, timeliness and adherence to both Country Office and Save the Children policies and procedures.

Human Resources Management And Development

• Working together with the Education Programme Manager to identify learning needs and develop specific plans to address the learning needs.
• Coaching and mentoring the project teams on the provision of technical support and implementation of quality programmes.
• Participate in monthly/weekly project management meetings to enable adequate staff support.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition
 

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Education (Early Childhood Development and Education is an advantage) or other related fields. Experience in managing integrated programmes across different thematic areas such as Education, teacher education, Early Childhood Development and Education, Teacher Professional Development (TPD), Cahild protection, child rights or governance is an advantage.

Essential

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• At least 3 years of accrued working experience in program implementation with an NGO and those applying partnership approaches is desirable.
• Experience in strategic thinking and planning skills, being able to set priorities, prepare manageable plans and to evaluate progress.
• Experience of working on and supporting the implementation of ECDE interventions in humanitarian or development setting is an added advantage.
• Ability to coach, mentor and build the capacity of ECDE teachers in a humanitarian or development setting will be an added advantage.
• Experience of working with diverse group of stakeholders at the community, LG, State and National levels.
• Strong analytical skills and strategic planning abilities.
• Ability to establish and maintain cordial relations and perform effectively as a member of a team.
• Willingness to travel and work in hard-to-reach areas, occasionally under strenuous conditions.
• Computer literacy and excellent documentation skills are a must.
• Availability and willingness to work extra hours during times of humanitarian responses.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Ability to intervene with crisis management or troubleshooting as necessary.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching.
• Excellent time management and planning capacity.
• Fluent English language skills (written and verbal) and any local language.