State Policy Reform Advisor at Creative Associates International

Creative Associates International is a fast-growing, social impact company that specializes in the areas of education, economic growth, democratic transitions, and stabilization in post-conflict environments. Based in Chevy Chase, Maryland (within the DC metro area), this global development organization has a field presence in more than 25 countries and a strong client portfolio that includes the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department. Since its founding in 1977 by four enterprising women, Creative has earned a solid reputation among its clients and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike. Creative Associates International has been working in Nigeria for more than a decade to support education programs in Nigeria.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: State Policy Reform Advisor

Reference ID: 2022-2569
Location: Abuja
Category: Program Management

Program Description

• Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and in close partnership with federal partners and select Nigeria States (designated as legacy [Bauchi and Sokoto], launching and technical assistance), the five-year Leveraging Education Assistance Resources in Nigeria (LEARN) project will support sustainable improvements in reading outcomes for first and second grade pupils.
• The goal of LEARN is to strengthen and scale early grade reading (EGR) best practice by ensuring that standards-based, context-appropriate assessment, materials, training, and administrative supports needed to improve literacy skills for P1-2 pupils are embedded within the federal policy, funding, and monitoring frameworks, and state and local authorities have the implementation protocols, capacity, and resources to carry out and sustain standards-based, data-driven EGR reform.
• The project objective is to instill ownership in and build capacity of school-community, local, state, and federal systems to establish a base for adequate, consistent data-driven funding, monitoring and performance that increase the equity, inclusion, and wellbeing necessary to achieve sustained EGR gains.
• LEARN will therefore be building on lessons learned from prior Nigeria reading programs to introduce a flexible, cost- efficient EGR intervention model that can be tailored to state contexts.

Position Summary

• Work with state governments and other stakeholders to map and review existing education policy frameworks, especially focused on primary schooling access, instruction quality, and management.

Reporting & Supervision:

• The State Policy Reform Advisor will report to Senior State Policy Reform & Planning Advisor.

Responsibilities

• Work with government agencies to provide systems and procedures to sustain existing policy initiatives and facilitate development and implementation of new policies, particularly in the areas of operations and administration, school quality and support, and monitoring and accountability.
• Support development, implementation, and monitoring of policy action plans.
• Facilitate policy review meetings focused on system capacity and develop tools to assess impact.
• Support dissemination of new policies and opportunities for bottom-up feedback at all levels. Support the development of a common web based EMIS/TMIS using existing open-source software that can be customized by state and LGEAs to meet unique information needs.
• Provide ongoing technical support to ministries, departments, and agencies’ staff to review progress, trouble shoot problems, and support use of EMIS/TMIS data.
• Provide support for inter-state training for SMOE, SUBEB, as well as planners, analysts, and policy makers focused on gathering, analyzing, and using data from the NEMIS/EMIS, literacy assessments, evaluations, and research to make decisions and plan education improvement initiatives.
• Support planners and policy makers to use data for decision-making. Help set up systems to gather data for access to quality education at the state level.
• Support a process with federal, state, and local governments and other stakeholders to map and review existing education policy frameworks, especially around systems, access, reading instruction, and assessment.
• Provide support to improve the capacity of government education officials to develop leadership, managerial, and supervisory skills to sustain EGR policies and regulations.
• Provide technical assistance for the dissemination of new policies and opportunities for bottom-up feedback at all levels through state-level workshops involving government education officials, community meetings, paper publications, and ongoing media campaigns.
• Any other duties as may be assigned.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Undergraduate Degree in Education, Public Policy, or related field required; Master’s Degree preferred.
• At least six years’ experience relevant to this position required, with at least four years in a leadership position responsible for developing policy frameworks, preferably in the field of education.
• At least three years of supervisory experience with groups or teams of staff required.
• Demonstrated experience working with government agencies, actors, and stakeholders at the federal and state levels.
• Demonstrated expertise in federal and state system planning and budgeting.
• Demonstrated expertise in systems development and roll-out.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead workshops, trainings, and strategic planning sessions.
• Experience in developing and using monitoring and accountability systems.
• Knowledge in data management, analysis and report writing.
• Fluency in written and spoken English highly desired, advanced proficiency required.
• Proficiency in Hausa, Igbo, or Yoruba fluency preferred. 

Preferred Experience & Skills:

• Previous experience in similar role.
• Proven experience directly and indirectly supervising and managing staff and teams.
• Experience with a USAID-funded or other international organization implementing a program operating in insecure areas is desired.
• Strong ability to deploy and use various forms of tracking tools.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills are required.
• Excellent record keeping, and documentation skills are required.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.