Education Advisor Save the Children South Sudan

JOB PROFILE

Job Title:	Education Advisor
Grade:	3.1
Reports to:	Director Programme Development and Advocacy
Child Protection Level:	3 - The responsibilities of the post may require the postholder to have regular contact with children or young people

Introduction

South Sudan emerged as the world’s newest nation in July 2011, amidst jubilation and celebration, crowds took to the streets to welcome their new country into being. Just over a year down the track and the situation for the people of South Sudan is precarious, with escalating conflict on top of the inheritance of some of the worst development indicators in the world. Generations of children were affected by the past decades of conflict and now the future of a new generation of children is in jeopardy.

Save the Children is a child rights organisation working in 9 of the 10 states of South Sudan, in the themes of Education, Child Protection, Nutrition, Health and Child Rights Governance, and we need dedicated and highly capable staff to work with us at this pivotal time. Save the Children International is a 'dual mandate' organisation and as such equal priority will be given to both humanitarian and development work. This is the only way we are able to ensure that some of the fundamental rights that we believe children have, such as survival, safety and constant access to protection and education, can be guaranteed.

This is a crucial, difficult and very rewarding period in which to make a change to children’s lives, in one of the poorest and most troubled countries on earth.

Job Purpose

To support the quality design, delivery, and representation of Save the Children’s Education programming in South Sudan (which includes early childhood education, primary education and transition to secondary school as well as non-formal education) and to uphold and contribute to Save the Children’s mission to create a positive and lasting impact in the lives of children in need.

Key accountabilities

· Establish and lead the implementation of Save the Children in South Sudan’s Education strategy, consistent with organizational goals, the Country Strategic Plan and resource availability. Ensure that programme remains relevant to the external environment and needs of children.

· Lea and design Country Annual Planning for the Education sector.

· Ensure quality programme implementation across education programming areas. To be responsible for the overall technical aspect of Save the Children education programme work in South Sudan.

· Serve as the point of contact for all matters related to education, particularly the scaling up or down of the Save the Children education programmes, emergency response capacity, policy development and capacity building

· Work at the policy level with high-level decision makers from the host government, participating in strategy development, policy making, and technical discussions, as well as negotiating to determine priorities for development.

· Be fully aware of national policies, strategies and other initiatives and developments by government and other stakeholders relating to the education, and related Child Protection, Livelihoods and Child Survival issues. Regularly assess and communicate the implications for Save the Children’s programme and priorities of any changes in the operating environment relevant to this theme in close collaboration with the relevant advisor(s).Advocate for policy reforms that will promote the effective implementation of Save the Children’s education strategy.

· Promote the sharing of best practice and learning in relation to programming, advocacy and campaign activities amongst Area Programmes in the country, including among Save the Children International in the region

· Ensure that the core principles and policies of Save the Children International regarding child rights, child protection, and children’s participation are practised in the education work.

Monitoring and evaluation: ensure adequate ongoing monitoring and evaluation of all education programs.

· Review relevant monitoring reports to donors to ensure that technical aspects are well articulated and reports are of acceptable quality before submission. Provide support where necessary to improve report writing skills.

· ensure that the Global Impact Monitoring system is applied to and integrated within the education sector.

· Where external consultants are required to technically support or monitor and evaluate projects, lead the recruitment and subsequent management of contracted consultants as per the recruitment guidelines.

· Ensure the development of an M&E framework that helps each project improve quality of reporting, clearly articulate progress and impact of projects, identify issues for advocacy and new programmes/projects in the future.

Human Resources: work with human resources unit and managers in drafting job descriptions, targeting adverts, developing an organogram, and interviewing candidates for the education sector. Undertake technical performance appraisal of Education Project Managers, with their line managers.

Emergency Response: Act as Education Technical Lead for any education emergency response in South Sudan. Lead emergency education assessments as necessary, education preparedness and response plans with exit strategies.

Capacity building / technical support: To provide capacity building and technical support to education staff, partners and government authorities as required.

Coordination and Programme Development: to represent Save the Children at national level cluster meetings, technical working group meetings, Ministry of Education meetings, and other relevant forums. To meet regularly and liaise closely with relevant authorities (i.e. District / National Ministry of Education / UN / other NGOs / Education Cluster

• Work in close partnership with the Child Protection Advisor and Livelihoods Advisor regarding integrated programming

• In consultation with communities, local government authorities, non-state actors, and relevant national technical departments, supervise the design of new Education (or proposals with educational components) proposals. This responsibility also includes ensuring links across the whole programme

• Keep abreast of international developments and debates regarding education, in order to advise and assist Save the Children to effectively respond to developments and participate in debates.

• Help to identify high value and high potential fundraising and mobilization opportunities for education programs working in close collaboration with relevant management staff, fundraising and Policy teams to ensure that new funding proposals are in accordance with country and global strategies and policies.

• Analyzing donor priorities and positions on issues related to education; identifying institutional funding opportunities and developing and maintaining contacts with potential donors, partners and key technical agencies

• Any other tasks as requested.

Working contacts

• Internal (including Alliance): The post holder will be expected to work with senior management team, technical support, other sector Advisors and Deputy Directors, Field Managers, Programme Managers & with staff throughout the programme.
• External: The post holder will be expected to develop and maintain personal links and effective relationships with UN (especially UNICEF), NGOs, INGOs, Partners & key stake holders, counterparts, donors, government Authorities.

Person specification

Essential

· A education professional with a Masters Degree in education or equivalent

· Significant (at least 5 years) professional experience of working at a senior advisory level in education for international NGOs in complex settings such as South Sudan.

· Strong commitment to capacity building of national staff and partners with willingness to adopt a participatory and consultative approaches.

· Substantial progressive, professional-level experience at the management level with background in early childhood education and primary education

· Ability to make links between education, livelihoods, educations and health interventions within the context of an integrated program approach

· An ability to effectively negotiate with prospective donors and a demonstrated ability to develop and write detailed technical project proposals meeting donor requirements, including budgets for the same. Strong report writing skills,

· Ability to perform at a senior policy level must be demonstrable, and good communication, advocacy and leadership skills are critical.

· The ability to liaise and effectively coordinate with government, local NGOs and community initiatives. Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate clearly and effectively at all levels, taking into account cultural and language difficulties.

· A desire to learn the south Sudan’s political, social and cultural characteristics is expected. Have a broad appreciation for the issues and process of participatory development.

· Proven experience of living and working in insecure environments, able to follow security guidelines

· The ability to research and utilise existing local government and other technical expertise where applicable.

· High level of computer literacy

· Fluency in English

· Ability and willingness to travel regularly into the field.

Desirable

· Previous experience in South Sudan

· Knowledge of local languages or Arabic

· Knowledge of donor financial policies and guidelines.

· Experience in promoting and mainstreaming Child Rights Based programming in education programme design, implementation and evaluation.

Application Process:

To apply for the position visit our website http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/jobs and apply for position 7413 by27^th August 2012.