For 60 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.
UNICEF Nigeria is recruiting :
Job Tittle : Chief Education ( Ref No : E-VN-2013-001560)
Location : Abuja, Nigeria
Contract Type: Long-term Staff (FT)
Purpose of the Position
- Under the overall guidance of the Representative/Deputy Representative, responsible for the development, design, planning, implementation and management of the programme for Education within the country programme, and administering programme budget.
- As head of section, directs a significant group of professional and support staff to develop and administer the Education programme.
Responsibilities
- Supervises the activities leading to the completion of the Situation Analysis for the sectoral programme, and its periodic update.
- Formulates sectoral programme goals and objectives and develops strategies.
- Supervises preparation of the sectoral inputs to the Country Programme Recommendation and related documents, such as the Plan of Operation, and annual Plan of Action, CPSS, PSS, etc.
- Provides leadership, guidance and direction for programme management and evaluation of the (sectoral) programme through periodic meetings, individually and in groups, with the various sectoral team members.
- Ensures exchanges of information, experience, identifies new strategies and courses of action to accelerate/improve delivery of services and achieve programme requirements and objectives.
- As head of a large section, responsible for the overall development and establishment of the workplan, monitoring compliance, and providing technical leadership and guidance to make sure objectives are met. This entails identification of internal human resource requirements, training and performance planning and monitoring.
- As part of the senior management team, ensures the integration of the sectoral programme with other sectors in all stages of the programming process (i.e., the Situation Analysis, CPR, programme strategy, planning, monitoring and evaluation, and courses of action for achievement of programme objectives).
- Interacts with the government and other partners, NGO`s, UN and bilateral agencies in the different stages of programme implementation, to follow up on implementation of recommendations and agreements.
- Liaise with donor partners in country, and assume a leadership role in UN and education sector group as well as in GPE (Global Partnership for Education) as necessary. Provides technical support, orientation and guidance to government officials, technicians and partners on appropriate technical and institutional capacity-building measures, to achieve programme goals and expand coverage of services.
- In coordination and collaboration with other professional colleagues, establishes and develops effective information and reporting systems to monitor and evaluate the impact of the programme and achievement of targeted goals.
- Ensures the development of effective communication materials and strategies to support advocacy and social mobilization efforts.
- Monitors developments at the international, national, zonal and state levels; develops methodologies and new approaches for improving programme effectiveness.
- Participates in programme workshops and consultations at the regional and country levels to exchange knowledge, ideas, and approaches.
- Conducts field assessment visits for evaluating programme effectiveness, identifying problems and instituting remedial measures
- Monitors the overall planning and disbursement of programme funds for the sector, ensuring they are properly administered, and utilized in accordance with the Plan of Action and the programme budget allotment.
- Work on resource mobilisation and prepare concept notes and proposals for education sector and multi-sectoral work for promotion of quality education.
- Prepares and submits timely progress/status reports for management, Board, donors, budget reviews, programme monitoring and evaluation, annual reports, etc.
Qualifications
- Advanced university degree in Education, other Social Sciences or a related technical field with background in Monitoring and Evaluation.
- Ten years of relevant work experience at the national and international levels in programme planning and management in a related field, with emphasis on strategic planning, leading policy reform in a developing country environment, sectoral coordination, sector financing and sector leadership.Sufficient experience in working with donor partners. Strong networks in the sector and strong programme management required.
- Peer reviewed publications in the sector and substantial experience working in at least 2 developing countries in both emergency and non-emergency environments preferred.
- Fluency in English and another UN working language required.
- A first level university degree with a relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Competencies
- Has highest-level communication skills, including engaging and informative formal public speaking.
- Creates and encourages a climate of team-working and collaboration in a multi-cultural environment.
- Consistently achieves high-level results, managing and delivering projects on-time and on-budget.
- Has high-level leadership and supervisory skills; provides others with a clear direction; motivates and empowers others; recruits staff of a high caliber; provides staff with development opportunities and coaching.
- Sets, develops and revises organizational strategy and develops clear visions of the organization`s future potential.
- Analyzes and integrates diverse and complex quantitative and qualitative data from a wide range of sources.
- Quickly builds rapport with individuals and groups.
- Actively nurtures good relationships with people across all organizational levels and boundaries, and with government leaders and stakeholders.
- Identifies urgent and potentially risky decisions and acts on them promptly; initiates and generates organization-wide activities.
- Negotiates effectively by exploring a range of possibilities.
Application Closing Date
30th August, 2013
Method of Application
Interested candidates should :
Click here to apply