Deputy Chief of Party (Gateway ) At Save the Children

TITLE: Deputy Chief of Party
TEAM /Program : USAID Gateway to Education Project LOCATION: Aden, Yemen

GRADE: 2 CONTRACT LENGTH: 12 months (Renewable)
Permanent 0
Fixed term 1

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: the role 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 in country programs; or are visiting country programs; ore because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) will provide technical leadership and oversight of Gateway programmatic activities to ensure quality, timeliness, and efficiency of all products and activities generated under this USAID-funded program. The DCOP will support the Chief of Party (COP) in the overall management of the project. This includes development of annual and quarterly work plans, preparation and presentation of project reports – weekly, quarterly and annual; monitoring of program budgets including forecasting and ensuring that project implementation and expenditures are consistent with the results framework and approved budgets; coordinating and monitoring project implementation as per approved DIPs. S/he will report directly to the Chief of Party and will supervise the Supply Chain Manager, Education Program Coordinators and Construction Engineers.

S/he will work with the Chief of Party, project team, USAID and partners to develop detailed annual implementation plans, management and resources plans on all components related to the project. S/he will oversee implementation to ensure quality and timely delivery and strengthen the team members’ capacity to deliver activities independently in remote, rural areas while paying attention to gender and social/disability inclusion. S/he will oversee the quality of project activities and build capacity of team to ensure collaboration and sustainability.

The Deputy Chief of Party will lead the Gateway technical team to develop and deliver the technical program in partnership with project partners, the MoE, and other development partners in Yemen. S/he will ensure program interventions build on existing evidence and are integrated with the relevant MoE priorities, particularly the Transitional Education Program, and other donor activities.

S/he will establish and maintain effective communication and coordination with relevant personnel from the MOE and local stakeholders, Save the Children US, as well as existing SCI/Yemen staff.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

* Manage the technical implementation of Gateway Activities
o Work with the Chief of Party, Education Program Coordinators, Creative Associates and the MoE, to develop and manage implementation of Gateway’s technical program activities, which include community participation, transitioning children from non-formal to formal education, inclusive education, school safety and planning, social and emotional learning, teacher wellbeing, and basic school restoration;
o Oversee the technical team and field staff by providing field-based support, follow-up mentoring and coaching to project staff, and monitor and support implementation to ensure quality content and approaches are used;
o Coordinate with the Chief of Party, education technical team members, and the MEAL teams to support and feed into monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure education activities are progressing and achieving results;
o Represent the COP in technical meetings at MOE (with Technical Office) and in Technical Working Groups organized by education development partners;

* Oversee high-quality education programming
o Facilitate quarterly reviews of program performance (which process will include all program and MEAL teams and Creative Associates program team) ensuring that program achievements and lessons learnt are captured on time; ensuring that challenges and constraints to implementation at the field level are understood and mitigated in program and strategy design;
o Coordinate with the MEAL team in the development and implementation of teaching, learning and wellbeing focused assessments and monitoring tools and work with the Chief of Party and Creative Associates to ensure learning is captured and incorporated into programming;
o Liaise with country office and field level staff on efforts to ensure integration of Gateway program activities with other program sectors.

* Lead project team and oversee technical program:
o Act as Chief of Party when s/he is out of the country;
o Lead the development of project-related strategies and quarterly implementation plans;
o Lead project report writing processes, ensuring production of high quality weekly, quarterly and annual reports;
o Provide technical guidance and support to the Education Program Coordinators and field staff in effective delivery of program implementation on time: monitor against the results framework, review actual vs target, review budget vs actual expenses, and advise corrective measures: review of work plan and prepare acceleration plan;
o Provide technical guidance and support to the Education Program Coordinators and MEAL team members to ensure the development of targeted assessments, robust MEAL plans and tools;
o Manage capacity strengthening of project field staff and partner staff to improve quality implementation;
o Support the Chief of Party in establishing strong working relations with the Ministry of Education and other key education development partners (including UNICEF, World Bank, UNESCO, WFP, GIZ and IsDB);
o Contribute to broader sector strategies through influence of and leadership within inter-agency coordination forums, such as the Education Cluster and Local Education Group (LEG), ensuring the specific needs of children are being addressed;
o Contribute to education related advocacy and communications content.

In addition to other areas of field-level quality as identified.

COMPETENCIES FOR THIS ROLE:

1. Applying Technical and Professional Expertise and Leadership
Applies the required technical and professional expertise to the highest standards; promotes and shared best practice within and outside the organisation
Level required: Accomplished

2. Delivering Results
Takes personal responsibility and holds others accountable for delivering our ambitious goals for children, continually improving their own performance or that of the team / organisation.
Level required: Accomplished

3. Problem Solving and Decision-Making
Takes effective, considered and timely decisions by gathering and evaluating relevant information from within or outside the organisation
Level required: Accomplished
4. Leading and Inspiring Others
Demonstrates leadership in all our work, embodies our values, and articulates a compelling vision to inspire others to achieve our goals for children.
Level required: Skilled

5. Developing Self and Others
Invests time and energy to actively develop self and others to help realist their full potential, and to build the organisation’s capability for the future
Level Required: Skilled

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential:
* Bachelor degree in education, international development, public/social policy, public administration, or a related field; Master degree preferred.
* At least 7 years of extensive experience in project management, leading teams, and implementing donor-funded projects in a development context that are of similar scope as Gateway, significant experience working in crisis-affected or fragile contexts.
* Ability to identify the quality issues in education in emergencies (EiE) in the given context and support the implementation of field-level solutions.
* Experience in capacity building and in strengthening various duty bearers understanding of and response to EiE.
* Experience working with education authorities, such as a Ministry of Education, in a development context.
* Strong analytical capability
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
* A high level of written and spoken English.
* Expertise in some of the following areas: strategic planning, early grade reading, community engagement/participation, professional development (CPD) of teachers/others, systems strengthening in an education context, gender and disability inclusion, SBCC and advocacy and managing development in conflict and/or post-conflict contexts.
* The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
* Commitment to and understanding of child rights, the aims and principles of SC, and humanitarian standards such as the Sphere Charter and the Code of Conduct. In particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

Desirable:
* Previous experience of working with Save the Children and USAID.
* Good knowledge of and experience in using established inter-agency standards or SCI packages in EiE, such as the INEE MS, TICC, LWiE, PSS/PFA, Life Skills, DRR, etc.
* Experience implementing or technically advising on education in emergencies programs.
* Experience with adaptive management techniques to program development and implementation (in contexts such as COVID 19).