Education Advisor – Tchad At Concern Worldwide

About the role: This is a 12-month renewable contract with unaccompanied terms based in N’Djamena with frequent travel to Goz Beida and programme areas and a salary of Grade 4 (€45,457 – €50,509). This role is subject to funding.

You will report to the Programme Director (PD) and will have technical line management of the Education Project Manager (PM). You will work closely with the Programme Quality and Development Coordinator (PQDC), Area Coordinator, Country Finance Controller, Monitoring, Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Manager, Grants, Donor Compliance and Communication (GDCC) Manager, as well as various other technical PMs and Head Office Education Advisors. You will represent Concern at external education events and discussions with Government authorities, UN agencies, local and international NGOs, Clusters and Sectoral Working Groups.

We would like you to start by 2 September 2024.

Your purpose: The Education Advisor will provide technical guidance and support to the management of Concern Chad’s education portfolio. To do so, you will help establish and strengthen systems to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of Concern’s education response as well as support the development of Concern Chad’s Education Strategy to support the diversification of education funding. You will also represent Concern externally in the education sector in Chad.

You will be responsible for:

Programme Management and Development

• Provide technical guidance and advice to Concern’s education programmes, ensuring that implementation is in line with Concern’s organisational strategy, government regulations, and donor requirements.
• Strengthen needs-based approaches and carry out assessments to identify emerging educational needs and inform future education programmes.
• Carry out regular field visits to provide support and guidance to staff and ensure quality control of education projects and activities.
• Undertake regular support visits to schools and communities to monitor and assess programme implementation.
• Ensure that education-related programme targets are reached in accordance with agreed programme objectives, as per contracts with donors, in line with the overall programme approach and ensure integration with other programme activities.
• Ensure that all resources (technical, financial, HR) are in place to implement the various education projects in accordance with the work plans and milestones agreed with the donors.
• Design new education programme proposals and budgets, ensuring participatory project design with the involvement of staff, partners, local stakeholders and programme participant representatives; aligning to the Concern Education strategy.
• Ensure that gender, equality, school-related-gender-based-violence, inclusivity, conflict sensitivity, accountability, risk and vulnerability are factored into the design, implementation and monitoring of all education projects.
• Manage relations with stakeholders (e.g. relevant government departments, donors and partner agencies) and participants of Concern’s education programmes.

Coordination and External Representation

• Participate proactively and contribute in the Education Cluster, sharing information on Concern activities and interventions
• Actively engage at strategic and operational levels with the Ministry of Education to support and influence the development and implementation of effective education policy and strategy, which fully includes people living in extreme poverty and other vulnerable groups.
• Provide technical support to the Education Delegation in Goz Beida to achieve joint planning and implementation of programme interventions to help ensure maximum sustainability.
• Lead advocacy interventions related to the programme at national and international level, using programme results and information to advocate for national-level policy development/implementation.
• Strengthen links with Education departments in other NGOs and implementing agencies through effective and on-going coordination, information sharing and results dissemination.
• Coordinate with Concern staff, partners, local authorities, ministries and communities with a view to identifying and/or verifying emerging needs, gaps and priorities in the educational sector as part of a continuous programme review and improvement process.
• Develop strategies and plans that contribute to raising the profile of Concern as an expert organization in the education sector in Chad.
• Consult and coordinate with Concern’s Education Advisors in Dublin, as well as with other education staff in other programmes, about emerging sectorial trends, best practices from other countries and ensuring alignment with Concern’s Education Strategy.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• With the support of the MEAL Manager and PQDC, strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems for educational programmes, including plans, guidelines and indicators.
• Ensure that the monitoring framework for the programme is implemented, including baseline data, secondary data, reviews, end line surveys, donor reporting and internal/external evaluations.
• In collaboration with the PQDC, establish systems for the team to identify and document project learning and success cases and disseminate learning.
• Prepare all programme reports including progress reports, annual reports and final reports for donors.
• Organise donor visits, evaluations and programme reviews as necessary.

Financial management

• Support the Education Project Manager with financial management, project expenditure, forecasting and cash-flow planning, ensuring all implementation teams have updated spending plans.
• Support the Education Project Manager, to ensure that all project expenditure is undertaken in line with Concern’s finance policies and procedures, are donor compliant and that all resources are optimally utilised.
• In collaboration with the Grant Manager, Oversee grants compliance to ensure the best use of resources and work closely with finance teams to ensure timely submission of financial and narrative reports to donors.

Team management and staff development

• Support the programme team to ensure all activities are planned, carried out, and monitored efficiently and effectively using appropriate tools, with due consideration to gender, access and inclusivity issues.
• Strength the technical capacity of the Education team by identifying capacity building needs in education and other programme teams and assist HR in the development and delivery of trainings;
• Ensure full compliance of all staff with Concern’s security plans and protocols, and with Concern’s Code of Conduct and associated policies.
• Participate in the recruitment of in-country Education staff and any consultants, as required. This includes but not limited to supporting the preparation of job descriptions and participating in interviews and the induction of recruited staff. Periodically review and recommend revisions to staffing structure and job-descriptions in coordination with the PQDC and the PD.

Accountability

• Promote and ensure compliance with the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) commitments and quality criteria
• Ensure that all staff are familiar with the principles underpinning accountability, safeguarding and Concern’s Feedback Complaints and Response Mechanism (FCRM) and ensure that information about Concern’s commitments on accountability and safeguarding are disseminated among programme participants and communities
• Ensure that the FCRM is functional, child friendly, effectively implemented and accessible in all programmes’ locations, enabling safe reporting of both programmatic and sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns
• Ensure that complaints are welcomed, managed and responded to in a timely, fair and appropriate manner; ensure that sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns, are handled with utmost confidentiality and that the safety of the complainants and those affected is prioritised at all stages.
• Strengthen the child friendly approach to the FCRM system in place within Education programmes.

Other tasks

• Undertake any other reasonable duties or tasks that may from time to time be requested by your line manager, including supporting Concern’s emergency response programming.
• Regularly brief the PD and Senior Management Team on programmes, the context, changes in the operating space and emerging unaddressed needs.

Your skills and experience will include:

Essential:

• Masters level qualifications in education or a related field
• Solid experience with early grade reading, literacy and/or phonics and numeracy teaching and support as well as assessments such as EGRA
• Ability to design and deliver training courses for staff, teachers and ministry counterparts
• Demonstrable experience in gender, inclusion and conflict-sensitive programming and in safeguarding and protection approaches
• Excellent teamwork skills and the ability to build good relations both internally and externally
• Strong communication skills and experience in report and proposal writing
• Experience of networking and representation with government and non-government stakeholders at national and other levels
• Proven financial management skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Commitment to Concern’s ethos and values
• Flexible, adaptable and patient
• Sound IT skills, including Microsoft Office, data analysis software, M&E software etc.
• Fluency in French
• Proven experience (at least 4 years) in programme management or 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 system
• Experience in humanitarian or complex development settings, preferably in the Sahel
• Experience of managing/ or engaging with large grants from major international donors including ECHO, BHA, AFD, FCDO, UN, ECW etc.

We would also like:

• English language skills
• Experience working in the Sahel or a similar context
• Experience in logistics, HR, Finance, and administrative processes
• Ability to organise and prioritise workload, using initiative when appropriate
• Good team player who is capable of working with a diverse team
• Ability to motivate and develop skills of others
• Facilitation and interpersonal skills
• Analytical and problem solving skills