Senior Education Manager at International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Reference No.: req14218
Location: Damaturu, Yobe
Employment Type: Full-Time
Sector: Education
Employment Category: Fixed Term
Open to Expatriates: No

IRC Nigeria Program
The IRC has been present in Nigeria since 2012 when the organization responded to flooding in Kogi state. In February 2014, the IRC moved into Adamawa State in North East Nigeria to provide humanitarian interventions through a multi-sectoral, integrated approach for conflict affected populations. IRC Nigeria now operates a country office in Abuja and field offices in Mubi and Yola of Adamawa State, Maiduguri and Monguno of Borno state and Damatru of Yobe State. The IRC is responding at scale to the humanitarian situation across sectors including Education, Child Protection, Health, Nutrition, Women Protection and Empowerment, Environmental Health, Economic Recovery and Development, Protection and Rule of Law, and Governance.

Job Summary
The IRC is currently implementing the following education projects to create improved access to quality education in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) States.

• FCDO-funded Education in Emergency project(2017 – 2021) that aims to ensure that 54,000 children are able to learn in a safe environment responsive to their needs (literacy, numeracy and social and emotional skills) in Borno and Yobe States by September2021.
• A USAID-funded project (2019 – 2021) in collaboration with Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, which aims to test the delivery model of an array of flexible social and emotional activities and games in IRC-supported schools in Borno and Yobe states.
• A GIZ-funded School-Based Education System Strengthening Project that aims to benefit 63,000 children with quality education services in safe, functioning, and responsive schools in Adamawa state.
• ECHO - funded ‘Protective and adaptive Education Approaches for Children in Emergencies (PEACE)’ which aims at supporting more than 81,000 school-aged boys across BAY states  to access and learn in safe educational environments, together with Child Protection.
• Educate A Child Programme  “Improving Access to Education for Conflict-Affected Children in Northeast Nigeria” that aims to reach 20,000 children in BAY States with quality non-formal education services.
• The Senior Education Manager will be responsible for the overall management of education projects in Yobe State, and assist the Education Coordinator in ensuring program quality,  effective and timely implementation of education projects across BAY states, and identifying new areas for Education program expansion across the IRC operation geographical areas.  
• The position is based in Damaturu (Yobe) with 30% travel to Borno and Adamawa for technical assistance, and support. Under the supervision of the Education Coordinator, the Senior Education Manager will directly supervise a team of Education Staff and Education M&E staff in Yobe and is responsible for providing supervision and guidance in line with agreed performance objectives.  
• He/she will liaise, on a regular basis, with Senior Area Manager, Sector Managers, SC and Finance Managers in Yobe; and other education staff members in Borno and Adamawa States; and Yobe State and local government officials and program clients as required. 

Key Responsibilities
Program Development and Management:

• Coordinate and oversee effective implementation of education activities in Yobe State.
• Ensure that the identification, set up and management of and non-formal learning opportunities expands adhering to relevant policies and standards, and mitigating risks to harm.
• Oversee training, coaching and on-going support of educators and learning facilitators in order to improve instructional practices in literacy, numeracy and social and emotional skills.
• Develop actionable work plans to ensure the timely implementation of project activities, in collaboration with Education Officers.
• Contribute to the development of robust data collection systems to ensure that the education program is data-driven and that programmatic decisions are grounded in evidence.
• Monitor progress towards the objectives and intended outputs of projects using routine data, spot checks, observation, and other methodologies.
• Provide regular written and verbal reports on education activities to supervisor, senior management and donors.
• In collaboration with the supervisor, review Budget vs. Actual expenditures on a monthly basis, providing relevant feedback to the finance department and adjusting activities as required.
• Enforce stewardship and accountability by ensuring that resources are efficiently and effectively utilized within the project for the intended purpose.

Technical Quality:

• Provide technical supervision and guidance to Education Staff and Education M&E staff and implementing partners as required.
• Ensure that all education activities adhere to agreed technical standards, protocols, policies and guidelines, as outlined by the IRC, the Federal Ministry of Education and related State Ministries, Agencies and Departments.
• Coordinate with the M&E team on the development of monitoring tools and collection of quality data and provide guidance to improve data systems.

HR & Team Management:

• Provide supportive supervision to Education Staff and Education M&E staff
• Lead the development of performance plans for all Education Staff and Education M&E staff based on job descriptions, project objectives/work plans and past performance reviews.
• Review performance evaluation of direct reports on a bi-annual basis and oversee the performance review cycle for all direct reports.
• Actively build the capacity of education program staff, ensuring each staff member has a specific capacity development plan, receives opportunities for training, mentoring and on-the-job learning opportunities.

Coordination:

• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders including government actors, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors.
• Closely collaborate with all project partners
• Develop strategic partnerships with local organizations
• Represent IRC to local communities, government departments, international agencies, and local partners as required.

Sector-wide Support:

• Contribute to strategic objectives of the program and identifying new areas for Education program expansion across the IRC operation geographical areas. 
• Assist the Education Coordinator in ensuring program quality, technical leadership and effective coordination of the education projects across BAY states.
• Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.

Key Working Relationships:

• Position Reports to:  Education Coordinator
• Position directly Supervises:  All Education and Education M&E Staff in Yobe
• Key Internal Contacts: Senior Area Manager, and Education Managers
• Key External Contacts: SUBEB, SAME, other key education development actors(INGOs, LNGOs).

Qualifications

• University degree in education; advanced degree preferred.
• At least five years of relevant professional experience with an international or civil society organization, including direct implementation of education programming
• At least one year of experience in a managerial position and demonstrated capacity in team leadership and capacity building
• Experience working with displaced or otherwise marginalized communities required
• Demonstrated experience in project management, including financial, HR, and grants management
• Strong verbal communication skills and effective in representation and liaison with external actors
• Excellent spoken and technical writing ability in English, including report writing; Hausa proficiency preferred.
• Excellent computer skills in programs including MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook
• Ability to work under pressure in challenging working and living conditions
• Willingness to travel extensively in northeast Nigeria, including to remote and/or insecure locations.

Equal Opportunity Employer

• IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.

Standards of Professional Conduct:  

• The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Code of 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, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation, Combating Trafficking in Persons and several others.

Gender Equality:

• IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances.