Project Director Remedial Education Activity At Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance

Hello! We’re excited to see you found your way to this job opening. That must mean you share our ambition to ensure learners around the world enjoy their fundamental human right to quality education, without exception. we are hiring a Project Director for the anticipated USAID-funded Remedial Education Activity in Zambia.

Teaching at the Right Level, an approach developed by Indian NGO Pratham, is an evidence-based approach to improving learning outcomes. Contextualized and known in Zambia as Catch Up, this approach was first piloted by the Zambian Ministry of General Education in 2016-17. It is currently being scaled up by the government to more than 2,000 with the support of several partners, with the possibility of scaling to all 9,000 primary schools in Zambia in future years.

As Project Director you will lead all programmatic aspects of the Remedial Education Activity in Zambia, funded by USAID, ensuring that objectives are met on time and within budget. As a seasoned manager you mentor and guide project staff, you build successful relationships with all stakeholders involved in the program and you monitor all aspects of the project to better facilitate project learning and adaptation. You report to the Country Programmes Manager and you are the direct manager of a team of project coordinators, education & other advisors yourself.

You will:

• You are responsible for the overall management and implementation of the project and provide strategic and technical leadership to the project.
• You ensure the project meets stated goals, outcomes, benchmarks, reporting requirements and budget projections.
• You serve as the principal liaison with USAID/Zambia, as well as with key government officials, other donors and implementers, private sector and civil society partners, project beneficiaries, and other stakeholders, on management and technical matters.
• You develop and maintain effective partnerships with local, regional, and international organizations.
• You oversee and monitor quality of organizational capacity development to local organizations.
• You supervise, manage, and mentor project staff and work in close coordination with VVOB’s Country Programs Manager in Zambia.
• You oversee monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of project activities.

If you’re our Project Director Remedial Education Activity, your workweek at the office will include the following highlights:

• You have a discussion with the education advisors in your team about the progress and next steps of the project. Any challenges, e.g. in the cooperation with partners, are raised here.
• You have a meeting with Higher Education Institutions and the Ministry of General Education about integrating lessons learned into the further scaling of Catch Up.
• Lunch! A perfect way to informally check in and exchange best practices with some of your colleagues working on similar catch-up projects as yours.
• You discuss with your team members & afterwards finalize the progress report that needs to be submitted to the donor by the end of the month.
• You call a partner operating in North-Western province to discuss the logistics of the upcoming school administrator training.
• You have an evaluation conversation with one of your team members which you have prepared thoroughly, to discuss strengths and development areas and define a personal development plan.

Who are you?

This position is open to national & international (expat) candidates.

Qualifications, experience & competencies you bring to our team:

• You have a Master’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
• You have at least 5 years international (working) experience in Low and Middle income countries. Experience in the education sector in Africa, preferably in Zambia, is desirable.
• You have at least 5 years of experience successfully supervising, designing, managing and implementing complex donor-funded education projects, including past USAID-funded project management experience.
• You have strong and proven management and leadership skills with a track record of success in building effective teams and leading and motivating a diverse group of professional staff.
• You have demonstrated and successful experience in strategic networking and partnership building with a varied range of partners, including government partners, donors and investors. You have experience working alongside Ministry of Education staff.
• You have experience with capacity development processes and strategies, change processes and change management at institutional level.
• You have at least 3 years’ work experience in managing a project with an annual budget of more than $1 million. English proficiency: CEFR level C1.

Matching competencesVVOB core competences:***

• Cooperation
• Result Orientation
• Continuous Improvement

Function specific competencies:

• Giving Direction
• Persuasiveness
• Vision Building
• Agility
• Strategic Networking & Partnership Building

What we’re offering:

• A full-time contract until 30/09/2026, with the possibility of extension depending on the availability of donor funding
• An attractive, competitive compensations & benefits package
• A dynamic working environment in an international context
• An exciting job in a growing organization with varied responsibilities and opportunities for professional development

Join us:

As of October 1st, 2021. The exact starting date is subject to funding approval