Education Technical Adviser AT International Rescue Committee

Requisition ID: req32089

Job Title: Education Technical Adviser

Sector: Education

Employment Category: Regular

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: No

Job Description

This position can be based in Abidjan, Yaounde or Dakar. However, limited additional locations may be considered.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

The IRC’s vision is to lead the humanitarian field by implementing high-impact, cost-effective programs for people affected by crisis and by using our learning and experience to shape policy and practice. To achieve that vision, the IRC’s Technical Excellence (TE) provides technical assistance to IRC’s country program staff and shares what we learn to influence policy and practice.

TE has three central objectives that we work towards:

1)    Guide program design to achieve outcomes by incorporating the best available evidence

2)    Build technical capacity of country program staff to implement, measure and continuously improve programs

3)    Influence the IRC, peer agencies and donors to use proven interventions and generate new evidence to achieve change in peoples’ lives

Position Summary:

The Education Technical Advisor (TA) will be responsible for supporting a 36-month AFD-funded grant titled Feminist Solidarity Fund for Girls’ Education (FSF). Through this project, FSF Consortium will support a range of feminist CSOs and WROs working in our 7 target countries and/or at a regional level to accelerate gender equality in and through education. These include:

·       CSOs providing direct support to girls and their families to remove individual-, family- and community-level barriers to education.

·       CSOs working directly with schools and other sub-national institutions to improve the quality of support for adolescent girls in school as well as access to education for out-of-school girls.

·       And, CSOs conducting research and/or advocacy to advance the rights of girls, including access to education

Priority will be given to CSOs working with the most marginalised, vulnerable or under-served subgroups of adolescent girls such as those that have experienced violence, those living through multiple crises, those that are marginalized because of their gender identity and sexual orientation.

The TA will guide the program design, provide direct technical support, and build technical capacity to implement, measure and continuously improve the proposed project in in close collaboration with the Women’s Protection and Empowerment Technical Advisor.

This is a primarily a field-facing position with the central responsibility focused on program quality. The remaining 0-20% of their time is spent on influence, advocacy, research and internal initiatives at the discretion of their supervisors. The Technical Advisor’s specific responsibilities are as follows:

•         Provide technical leadership to ensure a shared regional framework, as well as context-appropriate adaptation, for program design, innovation, influence, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning for the FSF project;

•         Support consortium partner staff to undertake FSF activities, ensuring that they are aligned with the project strategies which include contextualizing education outcomes and including interventions chosen based on best available evidence;

•         Provide support to ensure proposed activities are responsive to client needs and preferences based on sound context and gender analysis;

•         Document and share cross-context learning internally (with country program staff) and externally (in relevant meetings, conferences, etc. in national, regional, and global  fora);

•         Regular communication and coordination with the Project Manager and key home office staff  as well as other regional Technical Advisors on  technical and project management issues;

•         Give technical input to relevant communication materials such as fact sheets, briefs, papers, and presentations that can be disseminated and used for influence at the national and global level; 

•         Produce technical inputs to internal and external reports, as needed;

•         Act as lead technical focal point for education in emergencies technical questions with the donor.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Education Deputy Director located in Washington, DC

Job Qualifications:

Education: Master’s/post-graduate degree in education or relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.  Participate in ongoing training courses and share knowledge and skill sets within the unit. 

Work Experience: A minimum of 6 to 8 years of implementing and/or managing large education programs and teams is required, within a humanitarian or international development setting, as are at least 1—2 years acting in an advisory capacity on education programming. Experience in technical tools and materials development, monitoring and evaluation, innovation, and research in relation to education is highly desired.  Expertise in one more technical areas of focus within education preferred (e.g. reading, math, edtech, inclusive education, etc). Experience in strategy development and working across sectors or disciplines is highly desired.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies: Demonstrated expertise in program design, monitoring and evaluation, with the ability to turn concepts and strategy into measurable action.  Strong verbal and written communication skills.  Demonstrated commitment to renewing and maintaining currency with best practices. 

Language Skills: Fluency in English and French required. 

Working Environment: Up to 40% travel may be required. 

The IRC and IRC staff must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation