Career Opportunities: ECCD&EDUCATION PROGRAM MANAGER (40075)

Requisition ID 40075 – Posted 22/03/2021 – Country (1) – ECCD

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters, and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

ROLE PROFILE    

Role PURPOSE

Plan International is a rights-based development and humanitarian organization working for better life for all children. We are independent of government and have no political or religious affiliation. Our purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

Our global strategy has a specific focus on girls, as they are often the most marginalized and most often left behind. We have committed ourselves to the ambitious target of reaching 100 million girls over 5 years, to ensure they can learn, lead, decide and thrive. This is our contribution to reaching the sustainable development goals and in particular the goals on gender equality. Our organization is transforming itself to meet this enormous challenge everywhere we work. We need bold, forward-thinking, and innovative individuals to lead our country operations, driving change and delivering results that will allow us to reach our target of 100 million girls.

Plan International Rwanda Strategy statement.

Our global strategy has a specific focus on girls, as they are often the most marginalised and most often left behind. We have committed ourselves to the ambitious target of reaching 100 million girls over 5 years, to ensure they can learn, lead, decide and thrive. This is our contribution to reaching the sustainable development goals and in particular the goals on gender equality.

Our organization is transforming itself to meet this enormous challenge everywhere we work. We need bold, forward-thinking, and innovative individuals to lead our program units which represent our point of contact with girls, their families, and their communities.

The role provides specialist leadership, guidance, and support on Education & Early Childhood Development inline the Country Strategy. The position will provide overall management-lead of our direct programming in Education & Early Childhood Development, primarily delivered through local implementing CSO partners and local government. The major technical focus of our direct programming is early stimulation and early years learning, with aspects of child protection, nutrition, and health coming in as cross-cutting considerations.

management scope, reporting lines, key relationships

Direct reports – The post holder will report to the Head of Programs and will directly manage the Project Managers under this thematic area  

Key relationships

Internal

• Country Leadership/Management Team members
• Internal technical networks as relevant
• Global and Regional functional and thematic leads
• Functional departments Heads at PIR
• Plan Inc. National Organizations
• Plan Inc. Liaison Offices

External

• National and Local authorities
• Other INGOs

Level of contact with children

High contact: Occasional interaction with children

Physical Environment

• Typical Office environment with % travel in PIR’s programming areas.

Accountabilities and MAIN WORK ACTIVITIES

Strategic Planning and Program Development (%)

• Contribute in the implementation of the CS through formulating country-specific policies, strategies, and goals on Education & Early Childhood Development for quality programming that embed our gender transformative programming
• Support the development and review of country strategy and thematic programme plans that reflect a rights-based approach to programming and demonstrates good practice in Education & Early Childhood Development.
• Contribute towards Education & Early Childhood Development program strategies in the development of the CS, ensuring direct beneficiaries/ primary actors’ contributions and issues form the basis of Plan programs
• Model our value-based leadership framework underpinned by our feminist leadership principles.
• Oversee the development of country-level on Education & Early Childhood Development implementation action plans and ensure follow-up on actions in order to achieve maximum levels of compliance and competence.
• Support the HoPs and Business Development Manager (BDM) in analysing donor priorities and development of proposals for new programming in Education & Early Childhood Development.
• Provide input on partner selection, and provide technical coaching of partners in Education & Early Childhood Development, including sharing of relevant publications, tools and training opportunities.
• Undertake in-depth Education & Early Childhood Development power and policy analysis of the structures, systems, and networks in Rwanda to identify opportunities for changes in law, policy, budget, and behaviour at the national level that will drive the achievement of the CS.
• Liaise with and communicate with government bodies, donors, other Plan offices, and local and international agencies stakeholders – as required and directed by the HoP.

Programme Implementation (%)

• Provide oversight in the implementation of program interventions.
• Overall responsibility for the achievement of the annual plans and planning targets and objectives;
• Ensure the effective application of CCCD as Plan’s human rights-based approach;
• Oversee implementation schedules as per the Annual Plan, and adjust as needed;
• Review and authorize Project outlines modifications and PCRs as appropriate and within financial limits and in accordance to the operations manual.
• Enable the sharing of lessons, programme models, good practices, etc. within the country and wider organization for organisational learning

Programme Quality (%)

• Support the mainstreaming of child right programming across Plan programming, ensuring collaboration with other technical sectors
• Lead in the development of local Education & Early Childhood Development procedures in line with global guidance.
• Promote and scale up Education & Early Childhood Development activities in all Plan program areas thus at the districts and national levels.
• Provide technical advice and support to field staff in managing Education & Early Childhood Development projects and program.
• Ensure effective participation of direct primary actors/beneficiaries and other key stakeholders in program implementation
• Facilitates the operationalisation of the Education & Early Childhood Development policies, standards, and guidelines within Plan Rwanda.
• Work with PAs to understand and develop strategies that address Education & Early Childhood Development issues.
• Integration of Education & Early Childhood Development policies and standards within sponsorship processes and projects to proactively manage related risks.
• Participate effectively in Education & Early Childhood Development related forums within Plan and at the national level ensuring meaningful contributions and timely strategic positioning.
• Assist in the development of tools for project staff and partners to improve the quality of Education & Early Childhood Development work.

Partnerships (%)

• Review and strengthen Education & Early Childhood Development systems and processes within partner/donor agencies ensuring there is an understanding of and commitment to the requirements of Plan’s Education & Early Childhood Development.
• Develop and strengthen collaborative relationships at international, national, provincial, and district levels in child rights, protection, and safeguarding.
• Support and participate in children and youth related partnership activities, alliances, and networks.
• Provide leadership and strategy in influencing, lobbying, and advocating on child rights issues at the national and regional levels.
• Identify best practices in child rights programming, share and exchange experiences and lessons learnt from within Plan and other partner organizations.
• Support civil society strengthening to hold duty bearers’ accountable to policies, including through participation in relevant national level working groups, forums, and coordination meetings.
• Strengthen capacities of existing local groups in Plan Rwanda’s operational areas to ensure sustainable children rights, protection, and safeguarding activities
• Support in the identification of potential partners to implement Education & Early Childhood Development related interventions in line with the Country Strategy.

MERL (%)

• Working closely with the MERL Manager, develop and implement a MERL framework that measures the effectiveness of Plan’s Education & Early Childhood Development programming.
• In collaboration with the MERL Manager and Influencing Manager, ensure active dissemination of programme findings and lessons learned through the production of high technical quality lessons learned documents and their effective dissemination to key stakeholders inside and outside the organization.
• Ensure strong linkages with Monitoring, Evaluations, Research and Learning (MERL) so that Education & Early Childhood Development advocacy and policy approaches are based in evidence.
• Ensure that learnings are captured and shared with Education & Early Childhood Development stakeholders in Rwanda, as well as with internal Education & Early Childhood Development colleagues.
• Ensure early and rigorous implementation of quality and accountability mechanisms, as well as feedback from the relevant stakeholders is considered throughout all phases of Plan’s Education & Early Childhood Development project design and implementation activities
• Act as focal point within the Rwanda CO on national, regional and global Education & Early Childhood Development research initiatives, ensuring coordination of the various stakeholders.
• Support in the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework and key indicators (with M&E team) for Education & Early Childhood  that helps each project improve quality of reporting, clearly articulate progress and impact of projects, identify issues for advocacy and input for new programmes/projects in the future.

• Support in the design of baseline, mid-term and end of project evaluations for Education & Early Childhood Development programmes, including working with M&E staff on Terms of Reference and consultant selection.  Monitor the evaluation process and provide input and clarification as needed.  Review evaluation findings and ensure that lessons and recommendations are captured in the Lessons Learned database

Fundraising

• Contribution to thematic capacity statements on Education & Early Childhood Development
• Provide technical support on proposal writing especially in the area of Education & Early Childhood Development.

Influencing and Advocacy (%)

• Identify and build strategic partnerships and engagement with organisations, networks, decision-makers, and other key stakeholders in Education & Early Childhood Development to further Plan Rwanda’s delivery of its influencing agenda.
• Lead in the development of key Education & Early Childhood Development influencing/advocacy messages, defining effective tactics and partnership strategies, leveraging our influencing strength to mobilise support for change
• Lead in the development and rollout of the Education & Early Childhood Development Influencing plan for achievement of the Country Strategy’s defined specific influencing goals.
• Support country office and PA teams with the development of specific Education & Early Childhood Development influencing goals for projects and leading the design, review, and implementation of corresponding Influencing plans for each project, taking an integrated approach to influencing.
• Contribute to positive policy and legislative changes around Education & Early Childhood Development, as well as an increase in national and local budgets, at the country level in order to achieve the Country Strategy and the Global Strategy.
• Represent and advocate for Plan with regional and international agencies, donors, Rwanda Government, NGOs, and others as required.
• Analyze and provide feedback on programme implementation to ensure gender equity for both the girl and boy child.

Reporting (%)

• Coordinate the annual SRHR implementation standards self-assessment and incident reporting exercises, providing reports on outcomes and trends to the country management team.
• Review relevant monitoring reports to donors to ensure that technical issues are well articulated and reports are of acceptable quality before submission.
• Coordinate compilation of quarterly reports on child-related offenses from Plan’s areas of operation and provide guidance and support to mitigate such abuses.
• Oversee and manage both internal and external reporting for the Education & Early Childhood Development programming
• Ensure that Plan International Rwanda is providing quality and timely Education & Early Childhood Development status reports to donors, National Offices, and the Global/Regional Hub.

Financial Management (%)

• Manage the overall budget for Rwanda Education & Early Childhood Development sector programming, ensuring that budgets are accurate, spending is as per agreed budgets and both internal and donor financial reports for the sector are accurate.
• Work closely with the Grants section to achieve overall grant activities, deliverables, and budget compliance within donor guidelines.   

Risk Management (%)

• Collaborate with and provide advice to key teams and/or departments within the offices to ensure that risk identification and management strategies of the country’s processes, procedures, and activities include assessment of Education & Early Childhood Development risks and appropriate mitigating actions are developed.
• Responsible for in-country Education & Early Childhood Development management processes.

 Capacity building and People Management (%)

• Where necessary provide technical training for project staff and partners as required (child rights programming and the role of duty bearers, investment in children, etc.)
• Coordinate delivery of mandatory Education & Early Childhood Development briefings, inductions, and/or workshops to staff, managers, and associates ensuring all are aware of what the Education & Early Childhood Development means for them and how to execute their specific responsibilities under the policy. Coordinate delivery of on-going refresher training and induction as necessary.
• Provide overall vision and direction to the Education & Early Childhood Development team through effective coordination, planning, prioritization, coaching, and supervision.
• Support staff to understand and comply with the organizational vision, mission, strategic direction, and organization policies.
• Socialize and nurture Plan Values and Behaviours.
• Create an enabling working environment to foster excellent teamwork and high-performing staff.
• Oversee the delivery of effective capacity-building support in key areas of finance, supply chain and administration (including ICT), safety and security, compliance, and human resources management.
• Establish, communicate and monitor standards of performance and behaviours of the team through the development of Individual Accountability Plans (IAP), and key performance indicators (KPI’s) that are agreed annually, and monitored and updated regularly.
• Support team members to gain the necessary skills through learning and development.
• Lead the team in line with the Country HR Manual and other guidelines & ensuring compliance in all core policies and business areas, including Gender and Child Safeguarding.
• Engage in the performance management of functional subordinates by working closely with the functional subordinate’s line manager.
• Manage the work environment to reduce risk from health, safety, and security hazards.

Safeguarding Children and Young People (Safeguarding) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI)

• Understands and puts into practice the responsibilities under Safeguarding and GEI policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), ensuring that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
• Ensures that all staff are properly inducted on and understands their role in upholding Plan International’s safeguarding and GEI policies;
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in day-to-day work.
• Ensures that Plan Rwanda contributes to Plan International’s global efforts to ensure safeguarding and GEI, including making sure that relevant reporting and data are submitted.

Leadership Competencies

• Setting high standards for self and others’ behaviour, inside and outside work. Championing our values and commitment to rights, gender equality, and safeguarding. Supporting the health, well-being and both physical and psychological safety of our staff, including their safety to speak out.
• Holding self and others to account for what we have agreed, dealing with poor performance quickly, firmly, and constructively.
• Creating a positive team spirit, helping people work well together, to reflect and continuously improve the efficiency and quality of what we do.
• Collaborating with team members, colleagues, and partners in finding creative solutions to problems by sharing information, experience, and ideas and actively seeking their input.
• Motivating and developing others by taking an interest, giving constructive feedback and praise, ensuring they are properly trained, and helping them develop their potential.
• Positive about change and supporting others in adjusting to it, helping them understand.

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

• Understands relevant sectoral context including how the Education & Early Childhood Development  operates in terms of funding and governance and awareness of Plan’s purpose, values, and global strategy.
• Manages legal and reputational risk including risk assessment, communication, risk management, and reporting in full compliance with risk-related standards, including in areas such as Child and Youth Safeguarding and Protection, Gender equality and inclusion, Counter Fraud, Safety, and Security
• Managing activities and resources including skills in strategic thinking, planning and organizing, financial planning and monitoring, negotiation and programme and project management
• Managing people and information including skills in assessment and coaching, evidence-based management, communication skills, both speaking and writing and digital working, including personal digital skills

Technical expertise, skills, and knowledge

Qualifications/ experience essential:

Knowledge

• A master’s degree in education, or equivalent qualification.
• A minimum of 5 years’ relevant work experience at a similar level in education programs
• Understanding of integrated development issues and critical analysis of child poverty
• Knowledge of strategic planning processes and theories of child-rights programming
• Knowledge of development issues, trends, challenges and opportunities, and implications to community development

Specific skills of this position:

• Proven ability to develop project proposals and concepts
• Excellent networking and partnership building skills
• Research, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Good communication, facilitation, and report writing skills
• Strong team-building and motivational skills
• Strong negotiating, strategic thinking, and influencing skills
• MS office skills

Desired

• A relevant Master’s degree is a distinct advantage

tECHNICAL cOMPETENCIES

• Understanding issues: Health, Safety and Nutrition Practices.  Understanding Child Growth and Development. Appropriate Child Observation and Assessment. Partnering with Families and Community. Learning Environment. Effective Interactions (Teacher/Student and Student/Student). Program Management.
• Driving Quality: Conduct an annual program evaluation and share the information with appropriate stakeholders. Help stakeholders understand implications of evaluation results for developmental outcomes of children and their families. Use assessment results to develop action plans for professional development of staff members. Invite stakeholders to participate in analyzing and interpreting implications of assessment data for program revision. Respond to feedback from governing or advisory board or council and take leadership for continuous quality improvement. Plan, implement, and revise as needed, systemic procedures for assessing progress toward achieving program mission and goals.
• Adapting to Context: Communicate to family members the program’s guidelines for responding to emergencies and assist program leader by suggesting strategies for emergency responses. Offer materials to encourage and assist families to develop home and family-based plans for response to emergencies. Help others understand and plan effective strategies for facilitating emergency response plans. Develop and enforce a written plan for responding to emergencies based on current recommendations from agencies and organizations that specialize in emergency preparedness.

Behaviours:

• Demonstrates clear respect to all and especially children without discrimination
• Ability to develop, motivate and coach and mentor others
• Promotes high-quality child rights programs
• Having initiative and able to work independently
• Promotes innovation and learning within the child rights realm
• Communicates clearly and effectively on child protection issues
• Confident in taking initiative and exploring new opportunities
• Assertiveness and shows cultural sensitiveness

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

We create a climate of trust inside and outside the organization by being open, honest, and transparent. We hold ourselves and others to account for the decisions we make and for our impact on others, while doing what we say we will do.

We strive for lasting impact

We strive to achieve significant and lasting impact on the lives of children and young people and to secure equality for girls. We challenge ourselves to be bold, courageous, responsive, focused, and innovative.

We work well together

We succeed by working effectively with others, inside and outside the organization, including our sponsors and donors. We actively support our colleagues, helping them to achieve their goals. We come together to create and implement solutions in our teams, across Plan International, with children, girls, young people, communities, and our partners.

We are inclusive and empowering

We respect all people, appreciate differences, and challenge inequality in our programmes and our workplace. We support children, girls, and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives. We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential.

Location: Kigali

Reports to: Head of Program

Grade: D2

Closing Date: 31st March 2021

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights, and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.