Federal Lead at Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI)

Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) is an international development company. For more than 45 years, we have worked on the frontlines of international development, tackling fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. Currently, DAI is delivering results that matter in some 80 countries.

Our development solutions turn ideas into impact by bringing together fresh combinations of expertise and innovation across multiple disciplines. Our clients include international development agencies, international lending institutions, private corporations and philanthropies, and national governments.

We are recruiting to fill the posiiton below:

Job Title: Federal Lead

Location: Abuja
Reports to:  Head of Programmes
Contact Duration: August 2022 - August 2024
Type of Contract: Naira based contract

Project Overview

• Nigeria PLANE will be a seven-year programme funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and represents one window of intervention in a broader package of investment intended to enable a more inclusive and effective basic education system.
• It seeks to do this through improvements made in teaching and learning, focusing on foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics. It aims to unlock governance bottlenecks that support education service delivery improvement, improve the regulation of the non-state sector and embed the use of data and evidence in the programme and within the system.
• It has four primary outputs: (i) Teaching & Learning: Evidence-based teaching and learning approaches & materials in use in better-managed performance-focused schools and teaching colleges; (ii) Governance of state systems: Improved planning, personnel management and public financial management practices; (iii) Governance of non-state systems: Improved management and performance of the non-state sector; and (iv) Use of Evidence and Communication: Effective generation, communication and use of evidence to inform citizen engagement and improve service delivery. PLANE will work in Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa, the South West, South East, and the federal capital territory.

Job Summary

• The Federal Lead will provide strategic leadership for the federal-level engagement activities and effective management of education reform support.
• They will work closely with all Output Leads, with a focus on Output 4 to lead on monitoring, evaluation and learning.

In addition,

• Facilitate research, design, implementation and monitoring for evidence-based policy approaches to education within federal and state governments;
• Maintaining strategic relationships with federal government counterparts and other relevant stakeholders, including state governments, civil society, other reform programmes and development partners;
• Taking overall responsibility for the operation and delivery of federal activities;
• Managing work planning and budgeting of federal activities;
• Ensuring efficient and effective use of resources while achieving the best value for money in the commissioning of activities;
• Facilitating and delivering regional governance reform activities whilst providing governance reforms are owned and delivered by the federal government under their own agenda;
• Using a rapidly learning, flexible, responsive and adaptive approach to facilitating federal governance reform;
• Facilitating possible issue-based approaches to resolving specific service delivery problems with a connection to governance as models for governance reform and improved service delivery;
• Facilitating a reform outreach, knowledge management, and knowledge market approach to supporting governance reform within Nigeria;
• Working with the central knowledge management unit and ensuring cross-learning at federal level and between national and states, through the identification of existing networks, and the development of new peer learning platforms and locally-developed tools
• Implementing work plans and budgets;
• Overseeing monitoring of implementation and overseeing result tracking for federal activities;
• Coordinating reform advisors, reform facilitators and short-term advisory support;
• Reporting to and liaising with senior management serving as the primary focal point for federal work;
• Contribute to engagement with stakeholders, as appropriate. 

Job Requirements

• A Master’s Degree, preferably in Education, Public Policy and/or Economics.
• At least 10 years of experience in the development sector, preferably with FCDO funded programmes.
• Experience of working with the non-state sector in education, including low-cost private schools and public-private partnerships in education.
• Experience in managing, designing and leading education-related research studies, learning assessments and evaluations.
• Demonstrated understanding of Nigeria’s education sector.
• Extensive professional experience in Africa, particularly Nigeria.
• Experience of working with government and donor counterparts.
• Knowledge of management of change and organisation development in the public sector.
• Meeting facilitation and on-the-job training experience.
• Ability to develop well written, cohesive analyses and reports.
• Proven experience with relationship building and team building skills.
• Demonstrated experience of work in politically sensitive and volatile environments.
• Ability to develop well written, cohesive analyses and reports.
• Proven experience with relationship building and team building skills.
• Proven experience working at Federal Level in the education sector.

Application Closing Date
6th September, 2022.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should please send their CV and Cover Letter to: ng_recruitment@dai.com using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

Note: DAI will only contact candidates that are successful at this pre-qualification stage.