Education Officer at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Education Officer

Job ID: 230000MR
Location: Ogoja, Cross River
Team/Programme: UNHCR 
Grade: 4
Employee Status: Fixed Term
Contract Length: 1 year
Reports to: Education Specialist

Child Safeguarding: (select only one) 

• Level 3: The post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff. 

Role Purpose

• Save the Children through UNHCR funding will deliver education-related assistance to Cameroonian Refugees and host communities’ children within ages 6-17 in the densely populated/concentrated states of Cross River and Benue.
• The goal of this project is to improve  access to primary and secondary national education systems by leveraging SC's ongoing BPRM funded integrated child protection and education interventions for refugees across Benue and Cross Rivers states in the target communities.
• Children identified as being out of school will be enrolled in school and will receive education support.
• Through a more holistic response, education related support will be provided for PoC girls and boys, including children with disabilities in primary and secondary schools, to develop foundational and intermediate skills in literacy and numeracy and be able to thrive 
• The Education Officer will be responsible for the day to day implementation of UNHCR Education activities in respective LGA.
• The Education Officer provides both operations and technical assistance relating to Education in Emergencies project.
• The job holder provides coordination and engagement with relevant Education stakeholders including; SUBEBs, Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs), State Ministries of Education and other relevant State Ministries. The job holder will also be working closely with community leaders, religious leaders as well as community member. 
• Under the guidance of the Education Specialist, he/she will ensure that Education Intervention is implemented in a coordinated, harmonized and aligned manner, in line with donor requirements and commitments.
• The Project Officer Education will be responsible for sharing the progress reports and updates on timely manner from the field. 

Scope of Role:

• Reports to: Education Specialist  
• Staff reporting to this post: None 
• Budget Responsibilities: None  

Key Areas of Accountability: 

• Implement delegated portfolio of UNHCR Project in line with proposals, strategies and donor requirements, and ensure high technical quality 
• Ensure that procurement and distribution of materials and equipment is timely and in line with SCI policies and procedures; ensure accuracy of portfolio inventory (assets, supplies, materials) 
• Contribute to assessments (baseline, needs, market) 
• Ensure accurate project documentation, including collection of monitoring data and tracking of progress on output indicators; utilize data to contribute to reports as requested by management 
• Facilitate relationships with communities and community leaders to ensure buy-in and Do No Harm 
• Supervise and manage the teachers, including facilitation of teacher training  
• Support newly enrolled school pupils in primary school with School Uniforms & Sportswear & footwear 
• Facilitate payment of school fees for primary school pupils in government schools per term 
• Support Profuturo coaches to deliver digital learning in targeted schools 
• Provide support on youth/adolescent programming, including, life skills, catch-up classes, basic literacy/numeracy, and alternative/accelerated education 
• Support identification of needs, and development and facilitation of training programmes for teachers, PTAs, SBMCs 
• Contribute to proposal and strategy development through input on needs/gaps 
• Any other task relevant to the position as requested by the line manager 

Operational Planning and implementation:

• Work closely with Project Education Specialist, to ensure planning of day to day implementation, implementation, monitoring, documentation and reporting for UNHCR Education activities. 
• Ensure timely implementation and budget performance in line with the projects plans and budgets. 
• Effectively support the teachers and partners in proper service delivery are in line with UNHCR Education Project design and Save the Children International planning guidelines and ensure compliance with the agreed work plans and that programme objectives and targets are being realized in line with the funding proposals. 
• Ensure that UNHCR Education Project implementation are to the desired standards and on time. 
• Maintain high standard of transparency and accountability in the course of programme implementation while ensuring integrity and timeliness of activities implementation in meeting programme objectives, compliance with donors & Save the Children policies. 
• Provision of regular operations and implementation updates on project progress and challenges to allow for timely interventions and corrective actions by management. 

Program and Financial Reporting. 

• Contribute in the preparation of timely and high quality progress and end of projects narrative and financial reports which are in accordance to the donor reporting schedule and formats. 
• participate quarterly follow ups and progress review meetings to address key performance issues from the reports. 

Internal and External Engagements 

• Ensuring that the program experience is represented and given recognition at stakeholder meetings, workshops, donor, networks and any other engagements.  
• Develop and maintain regular channels of communication with partners and key stakeholders at all levels (Community, LGEA and State). 

MEAL:

• Effectively manage projects design and study processes which include assessments, baseline and evaluation studies, putting in place a functional Activity Tracking Table. 
• Ensure that the projects quality bench marks are followed. 
• Collecting and managing complaints and feedback in close coordination with MEAL team and Projects Officers. 
• Ensure regular monitoring of projects results, documentation of projects case studies, lessons learnt, significant changes and best practices and coordinating learning and reflection meetings/sessions  
• Ensure an effective programs/ projects monitoring and evaluation systems is in place. 
• Monitor programs/ projects activities to ensure quality, timeliness and adherence to both Country Office and international Save the Children policies and procedures. 

General: 

• Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child protection, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures. 
• Other ad hoc tasks as requested by Line Manager. 

Behaviour (Values in Practice) 
Accountability: 

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values 
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved. 

Ambition: 

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourage their team to do the same 
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others 
• Future-orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale. 

Collaboration: 

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters 
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength 
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to. 

Creativity: 

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions 
• Willing to take disciplined risks. 

Integrity: 

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity 

Qualification  

• Minimum First Degree qualification - BSc/BA/HND level in a relevant subject or equivalent field experience 
• Experience in the implementation of Education in Emergencies projects especially in a Refugee settings would be desired but not required. 

Experience and Skills:
Essential 

• At least 3 years of accrued working experience in program implementation in an international NGO and those applying partnership approaches is desirable.  
• Experience of working with local partners and Local Government and State Authorities in Education, Child Rights Governance, Health, Nutrition, Education, or Child Protection is an added advantage. 
• Ability to establish and maintain conducive collegial relations and perform effectively as a member of a team. 
• Willingness to travel and work in hard-to-reach areas, occasionally under strenuous conditions. 
• Computer literacy and excellent documentation skills are a must. 
• Availability and willingness to work extra hours during times of humanitarian responses. 
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures 
• Ability to intervene with crisis management or troubleshooting as necessary.  
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching 
• Excellent time management and planning capacity. 
• Fluent English language skills (written and verbal)  
• Prior work experience in community mobilization and advocacy in Northeast Nigeria. 

Additional Job Responsibilities: 

• The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience. 

Equal Opportunities:

• The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures. 

Child Safeguarding:

• We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse. 

Health and Safety:

• The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures. 

Application Closing Date
24th February, 2023.

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