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:

The Senior Education technical Specialist is an important member of the PDQ team. Under the general direction and guidance of the Programme Development and Quality Director, the Senior Education and Child Development Specialist will ensure that all early childhood development (ECD) and basic education interventions are of a high technical quality and attract significant donor funding which contribute to Save the Children’s strategic objectives; that monitoring processes are in place, and that programme quality and relevance is continually assessed and solutions quickly put in place to reflect changing contexts.

The Senior Education technical Specialist is expected to strengthen the capacity of the existing ECD and basic education team, conduct training and provide technical advice and support to project staff, with frequent visits to the field to support high quality programme implementation and ensure programming objectives are successfully achieved. The position technically supports the ECD and education program in both development and humanitarian contexts. The Senior Education and Child Development Specialist is also expected to provide technical advice and support to ECD and basic education implementing partners.

Current thematic priorities include:
• In ECD: Emergent literacy and maths for children aged 4-6 and parenting education for children aged 0-3
• In Basic Education: Ensuring that children, including the most marginalized, have the skills, support and materials they need to achieve literacy and numeracy skills.
• Literacy sector: Supporting the development of a rich literacy environment though continued support for the development of the Kinyarwanda language book sector.

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Programme Development and Quality Director
Staff reporting to this post: Book Development and Use Specialist
Technical support and supervision: ECD and Basic Education Program Managers, Senior Education MEAL Specialis.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY :

General management
• Demonstrate behaviours that are consistent with Save the Children’s Mission, Vision and Values and ensure their broader application by staff across the programme.
• Contribute to a conducive and productive work environment.
• Contribute to the wider country programme agenda.
• Participate actively in PDQ meetings, planning and review activities
• Participate in any Donor visit to project(s) within the country office portfolio, as required.
• Carry out the responsibilities of the role in a way which reflects Save the Children’s commitment to safeguarding children, in accordance with our Code of Conduct and Child Safeguarding Policy.
• Comply with and promote Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child safeguarding, staff safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures.

Programme Quality

• Overall responsible to ensure the programme quality of Save the Children’s ECD and basic education programming;
• Provide, or obtain from members/external sources, appropriate high level technical support on methods and practices to be rolled out within basic education and child development programming;
• Lead the continuous assessment of ECD and basic education needs and ensure that these are appropriately reflected in sector strategy and program;
• Work collaboratively with other sectors on ways to integrate child development and education with other programs, in order to maximize impact for children and families
• Conduct regular visits (up to 30% of time) to the education and child development programs;
• With the ECD and Education Program Managers and the MEAL team, collaborate on the development of tools to monitor and improve the quality of education and child development work. Where necessary provide technical training for staff and partners as required (assessment tools, programme quality tools, case management, etc.);
• Lead the process of lessons learning to ensure high quality programming, with support from the MEAL Specialist, coordinating the collection of documentation across all the programme areas;
• Improve/strengthen the coordination of Save the Children’s work with the relevant ministries on education and child development;
• With the Program Managers and Awards Manager, ensure reports to donors are of the highest quality, that there is alignment between the narrative and financial, and that they are submitted in a timely fashion;
• Ensure recognized international best practices and Save the Children policies are applied in the work with children;
• Ensure program products and learning are maintained within the Save the Children country program.
• Provide technical support to the ongoing humanitarian program.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• In collaboration with the Education Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Specialist: Oversee knowledge sharing across the ECD and basic education teams, and in coordination with other sectors, and ensure that monitoring and evaluation results are understood and used to improve programmes;
• Review reports, lessons learned and extract for internal and external use;
• Develop programme quality assurance tools, such as needs assessment tools, programme level indicators, quality checklists for use in spot checks, complaints and response mechanisms, internal review and programme evaluation work plans, and others;
• Work with the MEAL team to ensure clear plans in place for monitoring and evaluating project activities in relation to the objectives and that lessons learnt are shared and capitalized on;
• Ensure that projects are monitored regularly, and that data is collected on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis;
• Regularly visit project sites to ensure that teams are appropriately supported.

Capacity building, team work

• Work with program implementation department to ensure adequate capacity building and technical support to the field;
• Support the recruitment, training and promotion of ECD and education staff as appropriate and ensure availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff.
BEHAVIOURS (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 encourages 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
QUALIFICATIONS
• A child development or education professional with a Master’s degree in education, child development or relevant field;

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential:
• At least 5 years professional experience in education and/or ECD, including experience working at a senior management or technical level in child development or education for NGOs;
• Excellent understanding of the ECD and education sector, particularly issues related to literacy, holistic child development, pedagogy, teacher training, curriculum development, child protection and child rights either in development and humanitarian context;
• Clear understanding of the intersection of ECD and education with other thematic areas
• Proven representation skills;
• Strong commitment to capacity building of national staff and partners with willingness to adopt participatory and consultative approaches;
• Experience writing donor funding proposals;
• Ability to compile narrative sections and thematic budgets for proposals; ability to edit/write narrative reports, with reference to financial reporting;
• Highly developed oral and written communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching;
Desireable:
• Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mindsets;
• Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner;
• Fluency in English, verbal and written, required;
• Commitment to Save the Children values, including willingness to abide by and enforce the Child Safeguarding policy.

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.

Location

: Kigali

Employee Status

: Permanent