Job Vacancies at the International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Background of the Project

• In partnership with the European Commission of Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO), IRC’s Governance sector is implementing a project titled “From Response to Resilience (R2R)” in Maiduguri, Borno State. The project seeks to empower local authorities and three local communities to jointly prepare them for and respond to risks associated with natural and man-made hazards.
• In collaboration with local communities and local authorities, the project created and is partially implementing Neighborhood Resilience Plans to help reduce these risks and ensure that the neighborhoods are better able to adapt and grow in the face of hazards.
• R2R seeks to address three interlinked problems: (1) the need for state and local authorities to plan for and manage urban risk, (2) the need to enhance community structures and civil society coordination’s opportunities to engage state and local authorities and hold them to account, and (3) the need to link up neighborhood-grounded and data-driven initiatives which are inclusive of urban displaced communities with community engagement strategies and city-wide capacities for resilience.
• Project staff have collaborated closely with state and local authorities and local communities to strengthen their capacities to plan for and participate in inclusive, coordinated, and actioned disaster risk reduction plans that address these three interlinked problems.  The timeline for this project is May 2019 to April 2022. 

Purpose of Consultancy

• The purpose of this consultancy is to design and implement the monitoring, evaluation, and learning assessment of “From Response to Resilience in Maiduguri”, as the project nears the competition of a nearly 3-year implementation period on April 30th, 2022. 
• This evaluation should build from previous data collection and analysis to assess the uptake of knowledge and positive practices for shock response and disaster recovery. 
• IRC is also seeking to understand the effectiveness of the project’s innovative area-based approaches and potential applicability to additional locations in Maiduguri and Northeast Nigeria. 

Scope of Work
Desk Review:

• Review of ECHO R2R project proposal and MEAL requirements, including initial project terms of references and donor-approved outcome level indicators.  
• Desk review of existing IMPACT Initiatives evaluation documents and learnings to date, including the research design, data & processing, and outputs for the following assessments: Neighbourhood Delineation (Oct 2019 - Dec 2019), Vulnerability, Needs, and Service Assessments (January 2020 - April 2020), and Durable Solutions Analysis (March 2021 - January 2022). 
• This task will include: Review of all available documents

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Assessment:

• Building from the existing baseline and midline evaluations and in collaboration with the R2R project team and IRC MEAL team, design and execute the methodology for the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Final Assessment.
• Evaluate the differences in knowledge and practice related to shock response and disaster recovery amongst civilians in targeted locations and local authorities in Maiduguri.  Differences should be measured against baseline and mid-line data previously collected.
• Through participatory infrastructure mapping approaches, map critical services and infrastructure changes in targeted locations. Use of GIS is suggested.    
• Execute stakeholder analysis detailing perceptions of the effectiveness of the area-based approach activities implemented within the project.  Activities evaluated should include: (1) the City-Level Collaboration Forum, Neighborhood Working Groups, and Community Review Forums; (2) capacity strengthening approaches with state and local authorities to build capacity for inclusive planning, coordination, and action; (3) capacity strengthening approaches with community leaders and representatives to lead and manage risks within their own neighborhood; and (4) actions that strengthen joint planning, coordination, and action between communities and authorities.   
• Assess the potential of scaling up area-based approaches to other neighborhoods across Maiduguri and throughout Northeast Nigeria, by identifying the action’s strengths, weaknesses and limitations. The effectiveness of the approach will be measured through key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders and end-line community engagement mechanisms, such as surveys, FGDs, or town halls. 
• This task will include:
  • Determine the appropriate methodology and sampling procedures
  • Develop/review data collection tools
  • Undertake field data collection, including training and collaborating with enumerators, as well as subsequent data management and cleaning
  • Conduct data analysis

Reports:

• Produce one comprehensive report that include a presentation of fundings and insight on all assessment topics, identifying crosscutting themselves and outlining progress between baseline and end line values. 
• This task will include:
• Share preliminary report with IRC team as per agreed timeframe.  Finalize the report including clear measurements.
• Facilitate a virtual or in-person data validation workshop. 

Methodology

• The IRC suggests a mixed methods approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative methods, ensuring collection and reporting of corresponding end line data.  Data triangulation and integration including, key informant interviews, focus group discussion (FGD) with communities and local authorities, and direct observations of service delivery points and infrastructure will be very essential.  The consultant is free to suggest an appropriate methodology that fully addresses all ToR requirements.

Deliverables

• One comprehensive report incorporating:
• End-line summary report outlining differences in knowledge and practice related to shock response and disaster recovery amongst civilians in the 3 targeted locations and Maiduguri government stakeholders. 
• Infrastructure mapping in targeted neighborhoods
• A stakeholder analysis detailing the stakeholders’ perception of the effectiveness of the Area Based Approach activities implemented within this action
• A summary report outlining the potential, including SWOT analysis of scaling up the area-based approach to other neighbourhoods across Maiduguri and throughout Northeast Nigeria.
• Research design, datasets, and all other outputs drafted related to this evaluation.

Qualifications
Consultant Profile:
This consultancy is open to all interested and qualified national and international consultants meeting the under-listed criteria:

• At least 5 years proven experience in research, assessments, and evaluations in humanitarian and development programming, preferably in disaster risk management.
• In-depth knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Excellent analytical, presentation and writing skills in English.
• Experience in similar assignments or context in urban resilience programming.

Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications to: nghr.consultantsapplications@rescue.org using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

The criteria for submitting Expression of Interests are outlined below:

• Technical proposal with clear understanding and interpretation of the ToR, including detailed tasks, recommended methodology summary and proposed schedule, relevant experience, how you meet the profile required and details of time required (maximum 2 pages)
• Financial proposal, including daily professional fee and any other associated costs for the assignment. The consultant should itemize all costs for the duration of assignment, lumped up costs will not be accepted in the financial proposal. IRC will only cover field related costs while in-country. All costs need to be clearly stated in the bid submission.
• CVs of key personnel that will be involved in executing the assignment.
• One written samples of relevant past consultancies conducted within the last 3 years.

go to method of application »

Requisition ID: req29476
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Employment Type: Full Time
Employment Category: Regular
Sector: Education

Contextual Background

• One of the impacts of COVID-19 is that an unprecedented 1.6 billion students across the world have been out of school; however, 258 million children were already out of school before the pandemic.
• Half of these children live in crisis-affected countries. And while progress has been made towards achieving universal education over the past twenty years, these “last mile” children remain largely out of reach.
• In response to this crisis, the Nigeria country team in coordination with the Education Global Research & Innovation Priority (GRIP) at Airbel Impact Lab and the Education Technical Unit will implement an innovative program in a number of crisis-affected contexts that reaches last-mile children and parents and caregivers, providing them with quality education solutions.
• Unlike other emergency-constrained contexts, Nigeria has a large commercial EdTech market with solutions that address many of the infrastructure characteristics that we would normally consider unique to the humanitarian context.
• This results in a large portion of existing commercial EdTech solutions with the potential to serve humanitarian needs.
• This is the result of Nigeria’s large market economy and because most of the country (including urban areas) faces similar baseline constraints as humanitarian contexts such as intermittent power, connectivity, and insecurity.
• Due to this intersection, many EdTech companies already build with these conditions in mind as part of their commercial strategy.
• Building for these conditions is not a humanitarian issue, so new solutions usually don’t need to be built up from the idea stage.
• In Nigeria, we will work with market-ready companies with “dual-use” commercial applications to generate solutions for the humanitarian education context.

Job Overview / Summary

• We are seeking to hire a full-time Education Technology Innovation Specialist (Edtech) in Nigeria to launch projects across our portfolio of the education Global Research & Innovation Priority (GRIP).
• Our multi-disciplinary teams build, facilitate and contribute to projects that span research and ideation through to prototyping, piloting, evaluation and scaling. Our solutions are co-created in partnership with colleagues and partners from the regions where we work.
• You must be comfortable in a fast-paced, collaborative and flexible working environment to help to manage the diverse, multi-disciplinary work.
• Experience in working in cross-functional teams is essential.
• We are looking for a self-motivated, highly organised individual with an eye for detail to support the process of developing exciting new educational programming in Nigeria, scope existing solutions globally and locally, and manage existing GRIP initiatives in the country.
• The successful candidate will report to the Education Coordinator in Nigeria and coordinate with the global Education GRIP Led to support the delivery of the programs.
• The successful candidate will be responsible for managing a number of programme budgets, project/resource management and reporting.

Major Responsibilities

• The Innovation Specialist (EdTech) will be an integral part of the Nigeria Country team and will work collaboratively with the Airbel Research & Innovation team and the Education Technical Unit (TU) at various stages of innovation and research.
• EdTech solution scaling and thought leadership
• Oversee EdTech pilots in coordination with the technology, education and humanitarian partners, while building roadmaps to scale
• Ensure solutions identified have global relevance and opportunities for replication and scale
• Support further understanding of localized student and teacher needs for education, preferably in humanitarian contexts
• Landscape existing EdTech solutions in the global and local markets

Regional innovation partnerships & convening:

• Build and maintain a network of the innovation process and education solution partners who can support the development of new educational products and services. This includes individuals, collectives, implementers, consultancies and startups.
• Work with local innovators in Nigeria, the Airbel team and other key internal & external stakeholders (remote and/or in person) to plan, facilitate and synthesize design sprints, incubators and accelerators to spur innovative projects, while ensuring alignment and synergies across projects and with broader GRIP strategic goals.
• Lead a humanitarian EdTech challenge prize from inception & design to mentoring & pilots with the selected edtech partners.

Program & Project Management:

• Manage delivery across several projects with multi-disciplinary teams that include education, technology, design, innovation, implementation and research expertise.
• Support the recruitment and hiring of team members and consultants as may be needed.
• Ensure that projects are delivered to agreed goals, on time and on budget. Oversee program budget and ensure targets are being met within the team.
• Support the project procurements activities in collaboration with the Supply Chain team.
• Actively participate in continuous improvement activities eg. retrospectives delivery team meetings.
• Clear monitoring and reporting (monthly, quarterly and annually) against program-level deliverables and KPIs.

Business development:

• Support business development through scoping proposals prior to inception.
• Attend and represent IRC at meetings and events.

Program Development:
Staff Performance Management, Learning & Development:
Required for all positions with supervisory responsibility, if special considerations are needed (e.g. remote management), make this additive to the base language here.

• Hire, supervise, and build the capacity of team members in relevant technical and management competencies.
• Develop and implement remote management capacity-building approaches to build the strengths of the team in Syria.
• Coach, train, supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting annual performance objectives, providing regular and timely positive and constructive performance feedback, and providing documented semi-annual performance reviews.
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• Approve and manage all time, attendance and leave requests to ensure adequate departmental coverage; ensure monthly, accurate timesheet submission and carry out probationary reviews.
• Hold high-quality meetings with each direct report on a regular and predictable basis, at least monthly.
• Provide a measurable development plan including on-the-job learning with the aim of strengthening technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing guidance on career paths.
• As required identify staff performance issues and work with Human Resources to document and address these in accordance with the National Staff Employment Policies.
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• Promote and monitor staff care and well-being. Model healthy work-life balance practices. Support appropriate interventions in response to identified staff care needs of both national and international staff.
• Look for opportunities to support staff in their career growth, where appropriate. As part of a succession plan and nationalization goals, identify, train and develop the capability and capacity of national staff to successfully transition roles and responsibilities, by the end of the assignment.
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures, and communicates through word and example a high standard of compliance with all applicable policies and regulations.

Research, Learning and Analysis:

• Coordination & Representation

Key Working Relationships:

• Position Reports to:  Education Coordinator
• Indirect/Technical Reporting: Edu, TA, Airbel lab
• Position directly Supervises: N/A
• Key Internal Contacts: M&E, Grants, HR, Supply chain and Finance
  • Country Program: 
  • Region/Global:

Qualifications
Education/Work Experience:

• Preferably a Master's Degree in Education Technology, Bachelor’s Degree in Education, International Development or a related field.
• 4-5 years of experience delivering projects and programs ideally in an NGO or social enterprise setting.
• Experience in working with cross-functional digital teams.
• Experience in delivering innovation projects (ideally education technology and innovation ones) end-to-end, on time, on budget and to a high quality.
• Experience in financial management at project and program levels.
• Good understanding of, and experience with, project planning software and a range of cloud-based technologies (esp Asana, Mavenlink, Hubspot & Excel)
• Enjoys collaborative working, flexible structures and working with a geographically dispersed team.
• Ability to multi-task and move quickly between projects through effective prioritization.
• Organized and with excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to apply a diversity and inclusion lens and approach to work.
• Cares about the mission and goals of the IRC.

Desirable:

• Preferred experience working in education in humanitarian contexts.
• Preferred experience creating or incubating digital solutions.
• Experience in working on projects with a diverse range of non-profit, commercial and entrepreneurial stakeholders.

Demonstrated Technical Skills:

• Demonstrated Managerial/Leadership Competencies: N/A

Languages:

• English
• Hausa or Kanuri is desirable 

Computer/Other Tech Requirements:

• Full professional competency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.  Add position-specific (e.g. accounting software, statistical software, etc.).

Ability to Travel:

• 30% of the time if applicable.

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.

Working Environment:

• IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.