Job Description:

In education, CRS programs works closely with schools, families, and communities to influence and strengthen the education system’s capacity to provide high quality learning opportunities to all children and youth. Currently, CRS has education programming in over 40 countries, with specific interventions aimed at strengthening children’s literacy outcomes in 13 of those. Areas of particular focus for CRS include foundational literacy and school readiness; parent and community engagement in literacy; and strengthening responsive pedagogy, especially for literacy instruction in multi-lingual contexts.
Job Summary:
You will provide technical advice and support to a range of program design and implementation issues in the area of Education/Literacy in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ literacy programming is across the globe.
Roles and Key Responsibilities:

  • Support the development and contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools and best practices in child literacy development that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
  • Collaborate with project staff, education technical staff, and others to lead initiatives aimed at ensuring that CRS’ education and literacy work is inclusive, innovative, and effective.
  • Provide technical solutions to CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
  • Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals. Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating innovations and learning, as well as donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
  • Support capacity strengthening initiatives in child literacy development programming for staff and partners through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
  • Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the education learning agenda.
  • Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions, participate in forums in the area of education and literacy to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Basic Qualifications

  • Master's Degree in education, international development, or related field required.
  • Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in education, required. Significant experience in child literacy development (especially in multi-lingual contexts), teacher training, and/or materials development, preferred.
  • Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in education generally, and child literacy development specifically. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
  • Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.
  • Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
  • Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
  • Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.

Required Languages – English (required); professional working knowledge of French, Spanish, or Arabic (preferred)
Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 25%, as needed and as conditions allow.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

  • Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
  • Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
  • Good technical writing skills
  • Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
  • Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Preferred Qualifications

  • Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Supervisory Responsibilities (if none, state none) None
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: PIQA Education Team and Education RTAs; PIQA/HSSE staff (other sectors); PIQA/MEAL (especially TAII-Education); IDEA (Project Support Officers, Donor Liaison Officers and BD staff); Education staff worldwide
External: Partners; peer agency staff; donor representatives; BEC staff; universities
*Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitati on. Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
*CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer*

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

This vacancy is archived.

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