Education Coordinator – North Shewa (2 Positions)

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; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children.  Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Recognized for our commitment to accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity and integrity, our work takes us into the heart of communities, where we help children and families help themselves. We work with other organizations, governments, non-profits, and a variety of local partners while maintaining our independence without political agenda or religious orientation.

The Education Coordinator will be under the direct supervision of FO Education and CP Program Manager and dotted line reporting relationship with the ECW-MYRP II Senior Program Manager and is responsible for the coordination and effective implementation of the program through supportive supervision and providing capacity-building support to implementing partners implementing the program in their assigned target area.

The Coordinator will work closely with the implementing partners responsible for direct implementation of the program in target woredas/settlement sites under their assigned field office in providing technical support and ensuring effective implementation of program activities. The incumbent will also collaborate with the field level staff of technical partners HI, NRC, and FAWE that provide technical support to the implementing partner.  This role will focus on coordinating project implementation, capacity building, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of education initiatives under ECW-MYRP II.

Background

Ethiopia’s Multi-Year Resilience Programme (ECW-MYRP II 2024-27) aims to improve learning through equitable access, crisis-sensitive and quality relevant education for 173,311 emergency-affected children (60% girls, 10% children living with disabilities) in 10 zones/17 prioritized woredas and 5 refugee camps/settlements in Ethiopia. MYRP II program will be implemented in Amhara, Tigray and Somali Regions of Ethiopia. Under the Amhara region the project is implemented in selected target woredas and IDP settlement sites in North Shewa Zone

MYRP II is an ambitious plan jointly designed by the Ministry of Education together with Education sector stakeholders. SCI plays the role of grantee and consortium lead. The MYRP II consortium includes two INGO members (HI, NRC) and four Local NGOs (TDA, FAWE, DEC and OWS-DF). TDA, DEC and OWS-DF are responsible for the direct implementation of the program on the ground, while SCI, HI, NRC and FAWE will mainly provide technical support to the implementing partners. NRC is also involved in small-scale implementation work.

Project Management and Coordination

• Oversee the coordination and implementation of the ECW-MYRP II project in target woredas under the North Area Office, ensuring alignment with program design and donor requirements.
• Track project progress and ensure timely and quality delivery of project activities and submission of regular updates and reports.
• Ensure effective engagement with communities and local government partners to foster responsive and sustainable programming in line with Save the Children (SCI) policies and compliance procedures.
• Support the development of a detailed implementation plan (DIP) in collaboration with the project team and implementing partners’ staff.
• Take part in consortium-wide technical discussions relevant to MYRP II program, apply and track implementation of agreed action plans
• Collaborate with the National and sub-national Cluster Coordinators and provide support in the course of implementation of cluster-related activities in MYRP II as deemed necessary

Capacity Building and Support

• Facilitate technical capacity-building sessions for implementing partners, tailored to their specific needs.
• Provide ongoing mentorship and support, and roll out technical guidelines, tools, approaches and quality benchmarks to enhance the capacity of partners to deliver quality education interventions.
• Organize workshops, training, and learning events at the field office level to strengthen partner and staff capacity, ensuring that they are well-planned and efficiently executed
• Identify gaps in partner capacity and propose actionable solutions to address them.
• Ensure that cross-cutting issues of resilience, gender, child protection, disability and others designed in MYRP II are properly executed and tracked in the course of program implementation

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

• Collaborate with the MEAL team to ensure accurate data collection, tracking of key performance indicators, and monitoring of project outcomes.
• Support foundational learning baseline assessments and other evaluation activities in the field in collaboration with technical teams and implementing partners.
• Ensure regular monitoring of project results, documentation of project case studies, lessons learnt, significant changes and best practices
• Coordinate and participate in learning and reflection meetings or sessions.
• Ensure timely submission of quality project reports and adherence to monitoring and evaluation systems.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Liaise with local government offices, particularly with the zone and woreda education offices, to ensure coordination and smooth implementation of the program.
• Represent Save the Children in local-level coordination forums, meetings, and stakeholder engagements.

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Save the Children values
• Holds suppliers accountable to deliver on their responsibilities

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and take responsibility for their personal development.
• Widely shares their vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future-orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, Members and external partners, and supporters
• Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Cuts away bureaucracy and encourages an entrepreneurial approach

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency, builds trust and confidence

Displays consistent excellent judgment

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in education, Educational Planning and management or other related social science field of study.
• Experience in managing integrated programs across different thematic areas such as education, child protection, and child rights governance is desirable.
• At least 6 years of accrued working experience in program implementation with a minimum of 3 years in a coordinator position in an INGO set-up organization or other related that had a good reputation within the region.
• Experience in strategic thinking and planning skills, be able to set priorities, prepare manageable plans and to evaluate progress.
• Strong analytical skills and strategic planning abilities.
• Ability to establish and maintain conducive collegial relations and perform effectively as a member of a team.
• Willingness to travel and work in hard-to-reach areas, occasionally under strenuous conditions.
• Computer literacy and excellent documentation skills are a must.
• Availability and willingness to work extra hours during times of humanitarian responses.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Ability to intervene with crisis management or troubleshooting as necessary.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching.
• Excellent time management and planning capacity.

Desirable

• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the Ethiopian Education Policy, Policy frameworks and strategies, as well as the education sector development program and the challenges.
• Experience of working with the Ministry of Education at national or regional, Woreda or school levels.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation, and coaching.
• Very good skill in evaluation methods and report writing.
• Experience in solving complex issues through analysis, the definition of a clear way forward, and ensuring.
• Fluency in English, both verbal and written, is required.
• Familiarity with the target area.
• Local language is advantageous.