Back Education Advisor – Niger

About the role:

This is a 24 month (renewable) new role with accompanied terms based in Niamey, Niger with frequent travel to programme areas in Tahoua, Diffa and Tillabery and a salary of Grade 4 €41,603 to €46,226

You will report to the Programmes Director and will work directly with Concern’s Niger Education Project Managers in Tahoua, Diffa and Tilabery and their respective teams. In addition, you will liaise closely with the Grants Officer, the Ministry of Education at national and regional level and all other education sector external stakeholders.

You will be overall technical coordinator on all education activities for Concern Niger and you will liaise with the Dublin-based Education technical advisor.

We would like you to start as soon as possible.

Your purpose:

The purpose of this position is to provide technical support and coordination to all Concern’s education projects in Niger. This includes the provision of strategic oversight for the Education sector, while building systems and capacities that can continue the quality work after the contract ends. The Education Advisor will also play an active role in supporting the implementation of a three-year AFD (Agence Francaise de Developpement) funded project in Tillabery. It is expected that the role enhance Concern’s profile in the education sector in key forums and platforms and reinforce our collaboration with key education actors, NGOs, UN and our local partner IED.

Key elements of this position will include supporting the effort to continue to improve the quality of programming – particularly literacy and numeracy continuous teacher professional development and assessment in primary schools –Safe school – Gender sensitive pedagogy, as well as emergency education Programmes with IDPs, and the piloting of education by radio in Tillabery. The position will represent Concern in the education cluster and any relevant meetings related to education, including coordinating closely with AFD for the 3 years project in Tillabery.

You will be responsible for:

Strategic and Technical Management:

· Review and strengthen wellbeing component of education programming in development and emergency contexts including initiatives related to SRGBV prevention and response, social and emotional learning and non-specialised psychosocial support.

· Provide technical guidance and support to strengthen Concern’s current Education programmes and activities in Niger and to position for future education programming and donor funding. This includes effective technical support to the design, planning, implementation, monitoring& evaluation, and reinforce management capacities of the education project managers. You will be assisting in the development of technical briefing papers, concept notes and high quality proposals that are in line with Concern and sector strategies and meet donor requirements.

· Lead programme quality through the development of the education technical approaches and methods that assist in reaching targets.

· Support the programme teams in the development of proposals, concept notes and budgets for Education projects/programmes in collaboration with the Grant Officer and the Programmes Director.

· Support the teams to continuously review the education programme strategy and approaches to appropriately address and accommodate shifting and/or emerging field contexts. Propose innovative Education approaches relevant to the context of Niger.

· Review and strengthen continuous teacher professional development and training approaches related to Literacy and Numeracy for formal and non-formal education settings including piloting a radio education initiative. This includes building the capacity of the Concern education and partner staff (IED) to implement new literacy and numeracy initiatives.

· Support the Education PMs to submit high quality and timely programme reports

Coordination and networking:

· Participate proactively in Education Cluster at national level, Education Sector Coordination and other relevant sectoral meetings, and engage with UN agencies, the Ministries of Education and other key actors within the sector building on existing and developing networks.

· Develop / update strategies and plans that contribute to raising the profile of Concern as an expert organization in education in general.

· Promote consultations and interactions with Concern’s head office Education Advisors as well as with Education Managers/Advisors from other organizations in Niger on emerging sectoral trends and best practices.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E):

· Work closely with the M&E Coordinator to create technically sound monitoring and evaluation guidelines, frameworks and indicators for the Education projects, in line with donor-approved documents.

· Provide technical support to education ministries in order to embed M&E and accountability in the design, planning and implementation of education projects.

· Work closely with Concern’s education staff develop and maintain clear monitoring frameworks that inform programme reporting & design in collaboration with the M&E team.

· Collaborate with the M&E Coordinator to support the review, re-design, training and application of the annual EGRA, and lead on data analysis and write-up of findings.

· Conduct monitoring support visits to programme areas where security permits to assess performance against agreed program objectives and indicators.

· Work with the education team and the Grant Officer to identify and document programme learning, success cases, good practices and disseminate learning for both internal and external audiences as required

Advocacy, Communications and Visibility:

· Coordinate advocacy, communication and visibility activities of Concern’s education projects in Niger, in line with relevant donors’ communication and visibility guidelines.

· Collaborate with the Grant Officer to produce briefing papers and other publications, coordinate approval with the appropriate stakeholders, and ensure wider dissemination to influence practice and policy and promote the work of Concern Worldwide.

Staff Development:

· Support the Education team in identifying training need assist in the development of a training plan and undertaking of identified trainings.

· Facilitate staff trainings as per your areas of expertise and where appropriate.

· Participate in the recruitment of in-country Education staff and any consultants, as required. This includes supporting the preparation of job requisitions, job descriptions, terms of references, etc.

Other:

· Together with the Concern Niger education team, ensure inequality, risk and vulnerability are analysed, mitigated against and responded to during the overall planning, implementation and management of the Education programme.

· Concern is committed to responding to emergencies efficiently and effectively in order to help affected people meet their basic needs, alleviate suffering and maintain their dignity. To this end, when emergencies strike and Niger programme is to respond, all staff can be required to actively participate in the response, regardless of location and contribute to the efforts aimed at achieving the humanitarian objective of the organization.

· Support the development and implementation of the country strategic plan and in the context of the education sector priorities and needs.

· Any other ad hoc duties as may be assigned by your line manager or the CD that are consistent with the nature of Concern operations.

Your skills and experience will include:

Essential

· Appropriate qualification at Master’s degree level or above, in education, or development administration or a relevant social science.

· Proven experience (at least 5 years) in senior programme management and leadership positions within the Education sector, working with national governments, INGOs, NGOs, CBOs, other civil society groups.

· Experience with coordination mechanisms such as the cluster

· Experience of managing/ or engaging with large grants from major international donors.

· Solid experience with early grade reading, literacy and/or phonics and numeracy teaching and support

· Ability to design and deliver training courses for staff and teachers

· Excellent written and spoken French language skills.

· Strong analytical, interpersonal, communication and organisation skills.

· Strong coordination skills, both internal across programming sectors and support teams, and externally with implementing partners.

· Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with senior representatives of donor, INGO and Government structures and to represent the organisation at national or international level fora

· Thorough understanding of gender, equality and protection issues.

· Strong experience of financial management and donor compliance processes.

· Knowledge the key tools used by donor agencies, such as logical frame works, results chains, theories of change, results-based management and financial administration systems.

Desirable

· An understanding of accountability as applied within humanitarian and development programming; familiarity with the Core Humanitarian Standard and its application.

· An understanding of programme participant protection policies and international humanitarian standards.

· Experience of working in Sahel.

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.