Out of School / Almajiri Advisor - PLANE 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 position below:

Job Title: Out of School / Almajiri Advisor - PLANE

Location: Abuja
Reports to: Deputy Team Leader

Duties and Responsibilities

• The Out of School/Almajiri Advisor will provide strategic leadership for the PLANE’s support to the key government agencies involved in efforts to bring children back to school.
• He/She will be responsible for Output 3 under PLANE Window 1 and will work closely with the Federal Government and the States where PLANE is engaged to support the development of workable reform strategies aimed at reducing the number of out-of-school children.
• They will be responsible for building on and reshaping the current work that has been undertaken under Output 3 – primarily focused on the governance and financing of the non-state sector, as well as some work on public-private partnerships. challenge.
• He/she will be a lead technical resource in the provision of our smart technical assistance programme for the purpose of supporting the development of workable reform strategies that will support the delivery of the objectives of bringing children back to school and also integrating or infusing basic education into existing non state provision that lack basic literacy and numeracy programmes.

In addition, he/she will be:

• Responsible for the development and delivery of the Output 3 workplan and budget;
• Establishing and maintaining strategic relationships with federal and state government counterparts working on the out-of-school children agenda, as well as other areas of the Output 3 workplan.
• Maintaining relationships with relevant stakeholders, including civil society, other reform programmes and development partners to achieve the goals of bringing out-of-school children back to school
• Provide technical leadership to the out-of-school activities, and work closely with NCAOOSC and other Federal bodies to support the development of evidence-based plans that will meaningfully reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
• Manage and oversee the Output 3 team to ensure that the Output achieves its targets, leveraging the team's expertise to deliver the Output as required.
• Ensuring efficient and effective use of resources while achieving the best value for money in the commissioning of activities under Output 3.
• Demonstrate the ability to use a rapid learning and adaptive approach to facilitating governance reform related to the management of out-of-school initiatives
• Working with the central knowledge management unit and ensuring cross-learning between National and State Governments, through the identification of existing networks, and the development of new peer learning platforms and locally developed tools.
• Supporting monitoring of implementation and overseeing result tracking for the out-of-school initiative under the direction of the monitoring and evaluation team of PLANE
• Collaborate with State Team Leaders, Regional Leads, and coordinate with reform facilitators and short-term advisory support to ensure quality and consistent approaches across out-of-school initiatives.
• Reporting to and liaising with senior management, serving as the primary focal point for the engagement on the work stream deliverables
• Contribute to stakeholder engagement as appropriate.

Essential Requirements

• A Master’s Degree, preferably in Non-formal education, Social Science or related disciplines
• At least 10 years of experience in the development sector, preferably with FCDO-funded programmes.
• Demonstrated experience of working on issues of marginalisation and disadvantage in the education system, and ideally, experience working closely with the Federal Government on these issues.
• Experience of working on government policy reforms to improve access and equity issues in basic education service delivery.
• Demonstrated experience of working on government policy reforms in education for children in emergencies and conflict areas.
• Experience in managing, designing and leading education programmes for the marginalised and the excluded populations.
• Experience in collaborative work with other donor agencies to deliver support to government systems to enhance the delivery of educational opportunities to the underserved and disadvantaged population.
• Experience of working with the IQTE, Tsangaya, Quranic education systems and influencing the infusion and integration of basic education into such systems.
• Extensive professional experience in systems across Africa or globally that have been deployed to bring back children to school effectively, that are adaptable and could be adopted to suit the Nigerian context.
• Experience of working with non-state school associations with potential for using those platforms for bringing children back to school in the context that those experiences are applicable.
• Desirable knowledge of the Accelerated Basic Education Programme ( ABEP) that the federal government has adopted for the purpose of bringing back and integrating out of school children to basic education in Nigeria.
• Experience of working with national institutions saddled with the responsibility of delivering non-formal education like NMEC, NCAOOS, etc and NERCD, which is responsible for curriculum development for basic and secondary education.
• Meeting facilitation and on-the-job training experience.
• Demonstrated experience of working in politically sensitive and volatile environments.
• Ability to develop well-written, cohesive analyses and reports.
• Proven interpersonal skills, experience with relationship building and team building skills.

Application Closing Date
30th July, 2025.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: ng_recruitment@dai.com using the Position Title as the subject of the email.
Or
Click here to apply online