Education Programme Team Leader at Oxfam Nigeria

Req ID: 2461
Location: Damboa, Borno, North-East Nigeria, with regular travel in country
Start date: As soon as possible
Duration: 5 months, with possibility of extension

Background

• Over the past year, insurgency has intensified attacks which have spread from North-East Nigeria to Cameroon, Chad and Niger, affecting some 20 million people. Suicide bombings and raids targeting civilians in villages and in cities around the Lake Chad basin have caused widespread trauma, prevented people from accessing essential services and destroyed infrastructure. Across the region, over 2.8 million people are displaced; most of whom are sheltered by communities that count among the world’s most vulnerable.
• The combined effect of growing insecurity, fast population growth and severe vulnerability resulting from a changing climate, environmental degradation, poverty and under-investment in social services is translating into record numbers of people in need of emergency relief.
• Oxfam is committed to providing timely humanitarian assistance to those affected by conflict and natural disasters and to increasing programme impact by strengthening the effectiveness and accountability of our humanitarian work.
• This Oxfam Education in Emergency (EIE) intervention is a pilot project including EIE in the Oxfam humanitarian response. The pilot project focuses on non-formal education activities for adolescent and youth and teacher capacity building in coordination with Education Authorities and communities/parents.
• The post holder will lead and manage setting up of field activities; and starting implementation of non-formal literacy, numeracy and life skills training for 300 adolescent and youth, capacity building of 50 teachers and cooperation with Education Authorities and communities/parents.

Key Responsibilities include
Support Oxfam’s Humanitarian response programme:

• Employ, lead and task manage a small team of education staff to implement and monitor the education pilot project in the North-Eastern Nigerian emergency contexts.
• Identify and assess the current resources and capacity of national counterparts, Humanitarian agencies and government authorities to respond to education needs in the current the emergency. Participate in already established coordination mechanism and develop flexible modalities for working in partnership with them.
• As part of the Education in Emergency Working Group (EIEWG) support ongoing and future assessments of the education needs, gaps and risks faced by communities affected by the emergency.
• Start implementation of the education pilot project, including selection of learners and teachers in collaboration with communities and Authorities and support communities affected by emergencies, mobilizing them to act in support of rebuilding education; and if necessary, make appropriate project adjustments to the context.
• Work in collaboration with other Oxfam teams (e.g. EFSVL, protection and WASH) to create synergy and efficiency.
• Contribute towards future planning and proposal writing in order to support continuation of education interventions, and ensure clear objectives / indicators for education projects, including participation and gender.

Capacity building:

• Build the capacity of Oxfam staff and potential partners through mentoring and coaching, on the job supervision and informal and formal training. Contribute to joint facilitation of inter-agency training initiatives where appropriate.

Programme learning and reporting:

• Document and disseminate good practice examples from the project deployment. Maximise sharing of lessons learnt between countries and regions.

Coordination and Representation:

• Coordinate education within Oxfam and with external agencies. If appropriate, provide briefings to Oxfam staff and supporters and to the media in agreement with the programme coordinator, the Oxfam Humanitarian Department and Media Office.
• Represent Oxfam at local, state and national level to other agencies and authorities, including the EIEWG and at other inter-agency forums. Where appropriate, play a lead role in developing education strategy and technical standards.

Contributing to programme quality standards:

• Ensure that the education work aims to meet INEE and Sphere Standards and adheres to Oxfam’s guidelines and protocols.
• Ensure that accountability to affected communities is central to the ways of working and promotes the full and equal participation of women.

What skills and competencies are we looking for?

• Graduate qualification or equivalent in one of the following, or a related discipline: education, social sciences, anthropology, community development.
• Substantial experience in a variety of countries, including African countries, and experience in education programmes in emergencies.
• Experience of working in a participative way with communities; strong counterpart/ capacity building skills
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.  Sensitivity to cultural differences and the ability to work in a variety of cultural contexts and communicate with a diverse range of people
• Sound understanding of the importance of gender and participation in programme implementation; sensitive to the needs of displaced and disadvantaged populations.
• Excellent spoken and written English.

What do we Offer

• A competitive salary and benefits package.