Education Specialist at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and offers assistance within the shelter, emergency food security, and water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Education Specialist

Job Identification: 9618
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Job Schedule: Full time
Job Category: Education
Reports to: Head of Programmes
Project number: NGFM 2203
Contract Period: 12 months contract-possible renewal
Grade: 9
Travel: 40%

Context

• The Norwegian Refugee Council has been working in north-eastern Nigeria since June 2015, implementing Livelihoods and Food Security, Shelter, WASH, Information Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA), Camp Management and Education activities to benefit internally displaced, returnee and host communities.
• NRC’s Education Core Competency is currently implementing projects focused on support to formal education and non-formal literacy, numeracy and vocational classes including teacher training, construction of temporary learning spaces, community mobilization and training for school-based management councils with funding from ECHO, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Education Cannot Wait and UNICEF.

Role and Responsibilities

• The Education Specialist will provide technical oversight and strategic direction to Country and Area offices to further the development of the Education Core Competency (CC).
• The Specialist will provide quality assurance for all projects, develop a collaborative country strategy, capacity build staff through mentoring and training to increase the technical capacity of the staff, and develop a donor strategy to further grow the program.

The following is a brief description of the role:
Generic Responsibilities (Max 10):

• Develop Education CC strategy, technical guidance and Macro LFAs
• Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
• Contribute to fundraising, develop and revise funding proposal, budgets and donor reports
• Identify trends technical standards and donor priorities.
• Follow up on compliance with contractual commitments within CC, ensure high technical quality and synergies in project implementation.
• Provide technical direction and project implementation support to the implementation team
• Ensure that key learnings are extracted from CC implementation, and incorporate them in CC and staff development processes
• Provide systematic training and build capacity of Education staff
• Represent NRC in relevant forums/clusters, including with national authorities and donors
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy

Specific Responsibilities:

• Responsible for leading technical innovative programme development (including approaches such as Accelerated Education) and quality of CC in country (including through the use of Quality Assessment Tools)  to ensure relevance of NRC education programmes in country.
• Support and promote holistic programming (with other CCs) ensuring harmonisation and consistency across CC projects in line with NRC Global Education Strategy and Programme Policy.
• Provide technical lead and support on the integration of the Better Learning Programme across the education response.
• Lead the process on proposals, budgets, modifications, project reviews and reporting and ensure high technical quality.
• Take the lead on quality project deliverables to ensure high technical outputs
• Provide strategic leadership on the development of programming that recognizes the challenges and wellbeing needs faced by conflict-affected youth
• Support programmatic M&E and indicator tracking in conjunction with project teams and M&E department.
• Ensure workplans and spending plans in line with donor budgetsare developed and maintained by supporting Project Coordinators, Managers and Area Managers
• Lead on the transition of program teams regarding the split of Area Officer and the transition from leadership by a PDM to technical supervision by a Specialist in compliance with co-op
• Develop and lead on conducting needs assessments (in collaboration with Area Program teams, Protection team and M&E team), baseline, mid-and end-evaluations.
• Represent NRC with relevant donors, government ministries, and in relevant humanitarian coordination meetings in country
• Create strong linkages with other Education and Child Protection actors, and ensure strong referral pathways are in place
• Actively promote and operationalize synergies between Education and other NRC programmes to move toward integrated programming (focus on WASH, LFS and ICLA)
• Provide support and input to the recruitment processes for all Education staff
• Accountable for organisational learning from programme implementation, sharing of best practice and capacity building

Critical Interfaces:
By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Programme development: Core Competencies section (HO Oslo, Region, in-country), Country Program Department, Area Programme teams
• Proposal development: Area Managers, Project Managers and Coordinators, Program Department
• Quality control/ support: Area Managers, Project Managers and Coordinators
• Capacity development: Education staff

Scale and Scope of Position

• Staff: No direct management of staff however close technical support and capacity building of Education team
• Stakeholders: UN agencies (focus on UNICEF),Education cluster and Working Groups, INGOs, local NGOs, civil society, governmental bodies
• Budgets: Not budget holder, however support and oversight of Education team financial management and budgeting within new grants development
• Information: Information resources the postholder is responsible for include GORS, Agresso, Intranet
• Legal or compliance: Legal or compliance responsibility fordonors’ contractual obligations, beneficiary personal data, GDPR, SSD.

Compentencies
Professional Competencies:
These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

Generic professional competencies for this position:

• Minimum of 4 years of Education experience within a humanitarian/recovery context.
• Experience working in complex and volatile contexts.
• Education expertise (as Specialist/TA or Project Manager).
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities.
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile.
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal.

Context / Specific Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• Knowledge of the Lake Chad Basin region and north-eastern Nigeria context specifically.
• Experience with start-up or expansion of new programmes
• Experience in team capacity building
• Advanced computer skills, especially in Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook
• Experience with youth/adolescent programming, particularly vocational training is desired
• Experience with alternative education in a humanitarian context an asset
• Understanding of INEE Minimum Standards is required
• Candidates with an advanced degree preferred; significant experience in the field of Education, PSS or Child Protection considered in lieu
• Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Behavioural Competencies (Max 6):
These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, the following are essential for this position:

• Handling insecure environments
• Strategic thinking
• Empowering and building trust
• Influencing
• Initiate action and change
• Analysing

Performance Management:
The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:

• The Job Description
• The Work and Development Plan
• The Mid-term/End-of-trial Period Performance Review Template
• The End-term Performance Review Template
• The NRC Competency Framework

What We Offer

• Grade 9 on NRC salary scale
• An opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause
• A chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.

Application Closing Date
24th February, 2023 (12:59 AM).

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Female candidates are strongly encouraged to join our work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility: At NRC we think outside the box.
• We encourage ideas and give responsibility to all employees at all levels, to help solve the complex issues that we face. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.